Among other decisions, the board also decided that there will be no co-ownership between registries and registrars for new gTLDs.

For .XXX, the board resolved to direct ICANN’s CEO and general counsel to finalise a report of possible process options for further consideration. This report is to be made available with a number of options for public comment within 14 days to enable the community to provide input on the board processes.

The report will be posted for public comment for no less than 45 days, which will enable the board to consider the possible process options no later than ICANN’s 38th international meeting in Brussels.

The purpose of the Trust is to promote and support forums in New Zealand for education and sharing of knowledge about IPv6 and its adoption.

In other IPv6 news, The Broswer notes APNIC recently announced there are less than 10 percent of IPv4 addresses left available, and the activity of IPv6 taskforces globally is ramping up in response.

In New Zealand, the IPv6 Taskforce is focusing on helping different industry sectors, including health, education and government, to develop roadmaps for IPv6 adoption.

Planning is also underway for another New Zealand IPv6 event, to be held this year, and the taskforce is examining a range of possible new technical and general purpose IPv6 training options.

For more information, and for a copy of the New Zealand IPv6 Taskforce’s Action Plan please visit:
www.ipv6.org.nz

The above information was sourced from the February edition of The Browser. More information on internet happenings in New Zealand, not just related to domain names, can be found in The Broswer at:
www.internetnz.net.nz/media/browser/2010

To register your .NZ domain name check out Asia Registry here.

Applications to pitch your business to a group of qualified angel investors can be made at www.targetedtraffic.com/test-track.php. If you have an early stage company with a great domain, great idea, or both, and you are looking for investors to help you reach the next level, take the time to fill out the above mentioned form. If selected, you will have the chance to pitch to a group of angels that are looking for people just like you.

Rick Latona Auctions is looking for quality submissions for Traffic Milan:

The auction for domain names at Traffic Milan, run by Rick Latona Auctions, is looking for premium domain submissions. If you have considered selling one or more domains at Traffic Milan, now is the time to submit them for consideration before all of the slots fill up. Submissions can be made at www.ricklatona.com/auctions/submission-form.

Upcoming deadlines for Registration at Traffic Milan and the Milan Marriott:

There are only six days left to get the Early Bird price for Traffic Milan, which is EUR 449, or about 680 USD. Also, there are only two weeks left for the discounted hotel reservations at the Marriott Milan. Sign up now at www.targetedtraffic.com to obtain your ticket and book your rooms to TRAFFIC Milan.

About Targeted Traffic

Targeted Traffic (www.targetedtraffic.com) is the domain industry’s premier domain conference with eighteen shows on three continents. Targeted Traffic is the largest and most successful domain conference in the world! The purpose of Targeted Traffic is to bring domain owners and aggressive, forward-thinking sponsors together along with investors, so that each can maximize their effort. Collectively, the core attendees control over 20 million domain names and over 50 million DAILY unique visitors.

About Rick Latona Auctions:

Rick Latona Auctions is an industry leader in the brokerage of domains and domain auctions. This industry has exceeded 544,000,000 US Dollars in public sales1 representing over 72,000 individual domains sold since October 2003. Auctions attract branding managers and executives looking to buy domains to increase their company’s market share against their competitors. Registered bidders from a live audience and those watching the live online video and audio broadcast compete with one another buying domain names. Rick Latona Auctions is proud to be the exclusive auction company for all six Targeted Traffic Conferences in 2010. Rick Latona Auctions also can assist you by acting as your domain name broker for a domain purchase or sale. For additional information, please visit www.RickLatona.com/auctions.

The proposal for the .XXX TLD, specifically for adult websites, has been resurrected following its rejection by ICANN in 2005 and then an independent review last month that concluded the decision was unfair and it should be reconsidered. The proposal has been scheduled to be discussed at ICANN’s board meeting this Friday.

If approved, Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry who proposed the new TLD, has said they could be selling .XXX domain names by the end of 2010. However an ICANN spokesman said there was “no indication what action the ICANN board will take”. And it is most likely the board will decide to consult with other members of ICANN and the internet community.

In other sex-related domain news, the SEX.COM domain name is set to be auctioned next week with the potential it could set a record for the highest reported domain name sale.

The domain name is up for auction on 18 March with opening bids starting at $1 million. The domain name has had a controversial past, expertly described by Kieren McCarthy in his book called Sex.com. In the publicity for the book McCarthy asks “how far would you go to get the internet’s most valuable property?”

The sex.com saga has been a battle between two men - Gary Kremen and Stephen Cohen who have gone to extraordinary lengths to gain ownership of the domain name.

In his book, McCarthy outlines “the full story behind the battle for Sex.com from its registration way back in May 1994, to its theft a year later by lifelong con-man Stephen Cohen,” according to the book’s website.

“The fight soon hit newspapers and TV screens across the world and sucked in the most powerful company on the Internet, as well as the Supreme Court. Ultimately, it determined the future of how the law sees the buildings blocks of the Internet - domain names - forever. But much more than that, it revealed what men are capable of when all their worldly desires are contained within one possession.”

The last time it was sold, it cost the current owner $14 million and now there are around 120,000 people visiting the site each month.

The domain name is being sold by Maltz Auctions with more information available at maltzauctions.com/auction_detail.php?id=128401

For more information on Kieren McCarthy’s book on the saga, see sexdotcom.info

Domains that may be released are:

• all currently reserved one character domains in .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk and .net.uk
• all currently reserved two letter domains in .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk and .net.uk
• a series of domain names previously reserved such as domain names that use a gTLD at the third level (e.g. biz.org.uk) and domains that use a Second Level Domain at the third level (e.g. sch.org.uk ).

Nominet’s Policy Advisory Body (PAB) has recommended that two letter domain names should be available for registration and a PAB sub-committee agreed on the principles of how two letter domain names should be released. There are around 2,300 domain names to be released.

In addition the PAB also suggested the release of one character domains and some other short names which are identical to existing generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs).

These recommendations and suggestions have been reviewed internally and we consider that in general where there is no longer a technical or policy reason for a restriction in our rules, then those rules should be removed.

It is proposed that, should the domain names be released, there would be a two phase sunrise process. The first round would allow applications from holders of registered trademarks recognised and enforceable in the UK that must be identical to the two letter combination applied for.

The second round would be for domain names not taken up in the first round and open to holders of unregistered rights.

A consultation paper explaining the background to the decision to release the domains and outlining the proposal for releasing them is also available.

A full list of the domain names that could be released is available here.

Exceptions to one character domain names that could be released are available here.

For more information on the consultation process, see:
www.nominet.org.uk/about/consultations/reservedshortdomains

To register your .UK domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

The city government for Basel is currently looking at the economics of such an application, whether .BASEL would benefit the city and whether there is community support.

The canton government has called a meeting in early May with groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, trade associations, tourism groups, the city’s university and other groups who could possibly interested in such a proposal. Parties interested in the .BASEL proposal can contact the canton’s chancellery to express their interest.

The government estimates it will cost CHF500,000 to set up a .BASEL gTLD and around two million francs to operate annually. There is also no operator singled out to run a registry for .BASEL.

The above information was sourced from, in German, the following stories:
bazonline.ch/basel/stadt/Heisst-es-bald-wwwbazbasel-Regierung-prueft-InternetRegistrierung/story/28032591
www.badische-zeitung.de/basel/basel-reserviert-die-internetadresse-basel

The .PRO TLD was approved during the 2000 proof-of-concept round of new gTLDs and its original agreement is due to expire on 27 May 2010. The proposed .PRO renewal agreement is fundamentally the same as what was negotiated and approved for .BIZ, also an unsponsored/restricted gTLD, in 2006.

There are elements of the proposed renewal agreement that vary from the current .PRO agreement and the substantive changes include:

Registry-Registrar Separation

The current .PRO Registry Agreement (see Section 3.5.3 below) does not have a prohibition against cross ownership of registry and registrar functions within the same operating entity. Currently, RegistryPro has two ICANN-accredited registrar sister companies (Domain People and Hostway Services, Inc.) and all three entities are wholly owned subsidiaries of Hostway Corp. As such, while the lines around ownership among the three entities may be clear, the issue of direct or indirect control is less apparent.

The issue of registry-registrar separation is the subject of an ongoing GSNO policy development process and is being discussed as an implementation detail of the new gTLD program implementation plan. It would not be fair or correct to RegistryPro to delay renewal of their registry agreement until registry-registrar integration work has completed. Proposed language (See Section 7.1(c) below) includes ownership and control restrictions from the effective date of the new .PRO agreement and also acknowledges the ongoing relationship in the two affiliated registrars.

• Now: Section 3.5.3 of the current .PRO agreement provides that: Registry Operator shall not act as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD. This shall not preclude Registry Operator from registering names within the domain of the Registry TLD in compliance with Subsection 3.6. This also shall not preclude an affiliate of Registry Operator from acting as a registrar with respect to the Registry TLD, provided that Registry Operator complies with the provisions of Subsections 3.5.4 and 3.5.5.
• Proposed: Section 7.1(c) of the proposed .PRO agreement provides that: Restrictions on Acquisition of Ownership or Controlling Interest in Registrar. Registry Operator shall not acquire, directly or indirectly, control of, or a greater than fifteen percent ownership interest in, any ICANN-accredited registrar; provided, however that any ownership or controlling interest in any ICANN-accredited registrar as of the date of this Agreement held by Registry Operator or any of its affiliates shall not be in violation of this Section.

Digital Certificate Requirement

The current .PRO agreement, and specifically Appendices F and L, reference that registry operator will require ICANN-accredited registrars to provide digital certificates and other digital security services associated with each domain name. Further, registered names will be verified and periodically re-verified and will be signed by digital credentials (e.g., license number of certifying organization) in the registry database. RegistryPro will continue this process of verifying that registrants meet the registration restrictions defined in the proposed Appendix 11. RegistryPro has requested the requirement for ICANN-accredited registrars to provide digital certificates be eliminated for a number of reasons:

• The requirement to make digital certificates available does not enhance the security, stability or reliability of .PRO or for their registrants;
• There has been almost no demand for certificates. Of the nearly 40,000 .PRO registrations, just 150 registrants have purchased a digital certificate;
• The requirement is administratively burdensome to Registrars that are bound by the RRA to offer a certificate with each .PRO name;
• The market for certificates has opened up significantly since 2002 resulting in the availability of digital certificates from many sources and at low prices; and,
• RegistryPro is required to pay a burdensome fixed annual fee for little or no benefit to registrants to a third party certificate provider, regardless of certificate volume, in addition to a charge for each certificate ordered and this expense is a financial burden to .PRO.

Comments on the proposed agreement can be posted to pro-renewal-2010@icann.org no later than 23:59 UTC on 7 April 2010, and viewed at forum.icann.org/lists/pro-renewal-2010/. Comments will be considered by the ICANN Board along with the proposed .PRO renewal agreement at its meeting on 22 April 2010.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09mar10-en.htm

Despite their phenomenological diversities (law as community related, law as functional regulation of field global practices, law as an interstate or as trans-community normativity, and the like) legalities overlap, sometimes in unpredictable ways and on a case by case basis.

In the second part, I return to the concept of Rule of law, drawing on the institutional concept of it, as equilibrium and non domination, that I have at more length elaborated elsewhere. In the inevitable interference and confrontation between plural regulations bearing on the same activities, parties involved and legalities concerned have different depths, different “social embeddedness”, different addressees, legitimacy, functions, universalisability, purposes: how the fact of diversities of formats can be made to matter? This question prompts the role of the Rule of law, that is taken here as conceptually separate from other venerable ideals, concerning democracy or human rights. What does the Rule of law contribute in the frame of global governance? It can consistently be extended externally, being cherished internally. Rule of law concerns at this meta-level the relations among legalities, and can cause content dependent assessments to develop as a matter of confrontation in a pattern of legal public and rational discourse, making claims to be heard, differences to be considered, without supporting neither sheer self closure nor monistic dogmas. I explain how the Rule of Law contributes to re- frame a non substantive scheme of coexistence, a legal condition for the weaving of further rules of recognition: thus, out of the need of interaction and interdependence, this ideal concerning the quality of legal matrix works as well as a template of the tension toward responsible consideration of countervailing claims, preserving the equilibrium tension between the right and the good, and preventing one sidedness and unilateral conceptions of the good from being shielded “globally” by a merely instrumental code of legality.

To download this paper in full by Gianluigi Palombella,originally an International Legal Theory Colloquium Paper “Institute for International Law and Justice” at the New York University School of Law, from the Social Science Research Network website, see:
ssrn.com/abstract=1561289

The visit was Beckstrom’s first major bilateral visit since he was appointed president and CEO apart from a brief visit to Europe at the end 2009.

In a posting on the ICANN blog, Nick Thorne writes that “during the visit Rod attended a NomComm outreach event designed to encourage greater participation. Organised by the charming and effective Professor Hong Hue, Director of the Institute for Internet policy at Beijing Normal University and in the presence of Madam Qiheng Hu, President of the Internet Society of China. The event was very kindly sponsored by CNNIC, whose Director General, Dr. Wei Mao, also made a very positive contribution to our efforts to encourage greater Chinese participation in our multi-stakeholder model.”

To read the full posting on the ICANN blog and see a couple of photos, go to:
blog.icann.org/2010/03/notes-from-icann-ceos-visit-to-china/

In their update NIC Chile advised that during and after the earthquake, DNS service for .CL worked without interruption. Service continuity was achieved due to the actions implemented by NIC Chile in order to have a significant redundancy level in DNS servers and connectivity, to keep .CL always visible in the Internet. This service is provided using more than 50 DNS servers over different cities in every continent.

During this emergency, some of these 50 DNS servers suffered connectivity loss or power failure after the earthquake, but thanks to the redundancy, there was no service discontinuity. Everything came back to normal as of Monday 1 March by 11:30, with the recovery of the DNS server located in the city of Concepcion, Chile, very close to the epicentre.

However connectivity problems of some of NIC Chile’s internet providers caused zone updates for new domains to be delayed and some were not done with the usual frequency of half an hour. This issue was fully resolved by the evening of Sunday 28 February.

In addition, the website service (nic.cl) was affected between 04:04 and 09:14 (CLST) of Saturday 27 February due to connectivity problems of some of NIC Chile’s internet providers.

For more information on NIC Chile, see nic.cl.

To register your .CL domain name, check out America Registry here.

In this process, DENIC initially registers the Key Signing Keys used as Trust Anchor, and then publishes the corresponding DS records in the .de zone accessible in the testbed. Thus, for the first time, the participants in the testbed will receive DNSSEC-secured responses for the second level domains involved. This is a considerable improvement compared with the previous status.

After having successfully implemented the signed version of the .DE zone in the testbed environment in January, DENIC now makes available in the second phase of the project interfaces for registering and administering the key material of the delegated .DE domains. These new features are also supported by the information services “whois” and “domain query”.

To be able to participate in the testbed, domain holders must use a DNSSEC-capable name server software for their domain. This is an essential prerequisite. At the present moment, the implementation is primarily suited for domain holders who operate their own name servers. As in domain registration and administration, the Key Signing Key is registered by the Internet service provider or domain registrar who administers the domain. Thus, interested domain holders are requested to contact their providers directly and to consult them about their personal options for using DNSSEC.

Within the next months, DENIC will clarify technical and operational questions in detail together with the testbed participants. The goal is to gain additional important knowledge with the support of a large number of participants – also new ones – and to design workflows and procedures in terms of practical suitability.

You will find more detailed information about the DNSSEC testbed and how to actively participate in it on DENIC’s special webpages. Additionally, DENIC has established a testbed mailing list to which you can subscribe via the link mailinglists.denic.de/mailman/listinfo/dnssec-testbed-l. This list serves as a platform for mutual technical support and for exchanging experience.

To register your .DE domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

For example, an initial complaint will have to be submitted to the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center in Geneva (WIPO) by email only. The regulations previously stipulated that, as well as contacting WIPO by email, a complainant had to send five copies of the complaint by registered post.

In line with the UDRP

The changes being made to the Dispute Resolution Regulations for .NL Domain Names follow similar changes to the UDRP (the corresponding regulations for .com and certain other domain names), which came into effect on 1 March. Under the revised .NL regulations, a complaint about a .NL domain name will be forwarded to the name’s registrant by email. However, to make sure that the complaint has actually reached the registrant, WIPO will also write to the registrant’s postal address to say that a complaint has been made.

Copies of the updated Dispute Resolution Regulations, standard complaint form, standard response form and Notes on the Dispute Resolution Regulations are attached. A copy of WIPO’s Practical Guidelines is also available here.

Fast, easy and cheap

SIDN’s dispute resolution system is intended as a fast, easy and cheap option for settling disputes that involve .NL domain names without going to court. Disputes are resolved by independent, recognised experts in Dutch law on domain names and intellectual property rights. SIDN does not involve itself in the settlement of individual disputes.

To register your .NL domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

The major issue is whether private individuals should continue to register domain names in the PRIV.NO category or be allowed to register directly within .NO. In addition, the consultation is seeking comment on whether there is a need to decide whether individuals should provide documentation on their right to the name they apply for, whether there should be a limit on the number of domains per person, and how the transition to the new rules should be carried out.

The consultation document and information on how to submit your answer are available from www.norid.no/person/dittdomene.en.html.

For more information on registering domain names for individuals, see:
www.norid.no/person/domeneforlivet.en.html.

To register your .NO domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

“In .ZA, licensing regulations are expected to come into operation this year. The .ZA licensing regulations will allow Zadna to license the entities such as GOV.ZA and CO.ZA,” Vika Mpisane, general manager of ZADNA told SAPA. He said it would also license the internet service providers that want to register or sell .ZA domain names.

The changes will see licensing of registrars and a more thorough checking of whether registrations comply with the registration rules.

The changes come about following a public consultation that closed in February.

To register your .ZA domain name, check out Africa Registry here.

Other big sales over the last three weeks included Biking.com ($215,000), LoanCalculator.com ($215,000), CashUSA.com ($100,000), 46.com ($80,000), Fly.co.za - the largest country code sale over the three week period and golflessons.com ( both for $65,000).

To check out the sales over the three week period listed by Domain Name Journal, see:
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20100217.htm
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20100224.htm
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20100303.htm