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CENTR is hiring a Director of Strategic Initiatives (DSI)!

14 October 2019

		We are looking for an experienced Director of Strategic Initiatives to join our small, fabulous team and serve our multicultural and multilingual membership.

5 excellent reasons to attend Administrative Working Group workshops and more...

21 October 2019

Dear members, we wanted to send you news from the Administrative Working group. We had an exciting workshop in Oslo (thanks again to Unni for organising it!). Thank you again to those who attended (including remotely). You were very active, and the discussions definitely helped us develop and improve as a group.

CENTR holds its 62nd General Assembly in Brussels

14 October 2019

On 9 October 2019, CENTR held its 62nd General Assembly (GA) in Brussels, Belgium.

CENTR holds its sixth pan-European Registrar Day

22 October 2019

On 8 October 2019, CENTR held its sixth Registrar Day in Brussels, attended by almost 100 registries and registrars.

Photos available from the 2019 CENTR Awards! (members only)

11 October 2019

We are delighted to announce that the photos are available from the 2019 CENTR Awards!

18th CENTR Security workshop

28 October 2019, Stockholm, Sweden

3rd CENTR Academy

14 November 2019, Brussels, Belgium

4th Webinar on Policy

19 November 2019

15th CENTR R&D workshop

27 November - 28 November 2019, Pisa, Italy

(.at) Another TLD coup for nic.at’s RcodeZero DNS

nic.at’s RcodeZero DNS service has just started supplying Anycast technology to the Polish domain extension .pl . This means that nic.at infrastructure provides supplementary hosting and security to the seventh biggest ccTLD in the EU with over 2.5 million domains. Read more

(.be) To do(h) or not to do(h), … that is the question!

Over the past few months, DoH or DNS over https, has been the reason for many raised eyebrows in the sector covering registries, ISPs and alike. Read more

(.be) Fraud through 'malvertising'

In malvertising, malware is spread through false advertisements shown on the websites that you visit. What actually happens and how can you protect yourself? Read more

(.ca) Exposing the hippo in the room: How to detect fake news

Have you heard of house hippos? They are small, timid creatures. Rarely seen but known to inhabit the dark shadows of family dwellings. And the subject of a cherished Canadian public service announcement created in 1999 to challenge what is fact and what is fiction. Twenty years later, they’re back. Read more

(.ca) The SEO advantages of a .CA domain

Brock Murray of digital marketing agency seoplus+ lays out the connection between domain names and local search. Read more

(.ch) SWITCH Journal October 2019

Read the October 2019 edition of the SWITCH Journal, with a focus on 30 years of SWITCHlan. Read more

(.ch) SWITCH Security Report 2019-09/10

The new SWITCH Security Report is online, covering the following topics: Data security becomes a challenge for challenger banks; Break time is over: Emotet is back with a vengeance; Hackers worm their way to Apple’s core – and spy on iOS devices for two years. Read more

(.cz) International organization of domain registry administrators honored CZ.NIC researcher's work

This week, Maciej Andziński, a research of CZ.NIC Labs, received the R&D Working Group Champion Award from CENTR, which associates domain registries in Europe and beyond. Read more

(.cz) When less (technology) means more

Last month, at the invitation of my colleagues from the Polish Safer Internet Center, I attended the conference “Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online”. One of the main themes of this event was how the digital world, together with IoT (Internet of Things) affects our lives. Read more

(.cz) Digital Footprint: on-line course for children in the Czech Republic

In September this year, the Czech Safer Internet Centre (CZ.NIC), in cooperation with the National Cyber and Information Security Authority, presented an online course called Digital Footprint, intended primarily for children aged 10-13. Read more

(.de) DENIC Makes Available Software Tool for High-Performance Measurement to Internet Community

DENIC has developed a software tool for performance measurement of DNS servers and has now handed it over to DNS OARC, a platform for DNS developers and DNS operators. Read more

(.de) Security Initiative Successful at CENTR Awards

Together with the registries in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria, DENIC was honoured at the CENTR Awards in the category "Innovation". Read more

(.dk) Høring om DIFOs rolle i kriminalitetsbekæmpelse

DIFO and DK Hostmaster have a wish to continuously contribute to the fight against crime on the internet with the tools associated with a domain administrator. We therefore invite you to a hearing about DIFO's continued role in the fight against online crime. Read more

(.eu) EURid at the Portugal Digital Summit

EURid is currently taking part of the Portugal Digital Summit in Lisbon, where the Portuguese Digital Economy Association, ACEPI , will host several debates on the topics of the Digital Economy and Society. Read more

(.eu) EURid holds a course on cybersecurity at the S. Anna School in Pisa

For the third year in a row, EURid is holding a course at the S. Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa within the Master of International Security Studies. The course aims to give an overview of the current cybersecurity landscape. Read more

(.eu) EURid launches new eligibility criteria

As of 19 October 2019, internationally-based EU citizens will become eligible to register their own .eu or .ею domain name. Read more

(.fr) Afnic is raising awareness among 16-25-year-olds on mastering their online presence

Afnic, the association responsible for the .fr country-code Top Level Domain, has announced the introduction of a support scheme on 21 October to help 16-25-year-olds master their online presence, in partnership with the French federation of student associations (FFBDE - Fédération Française des Bureaux d’Étudiants). Read more

(.fr) Afnic is improving and simplifying .FR Lock, its domain name security system

Launched by Afnic in 2015, the .FR Lock system provides security against cyberattacks and hijacking in particular, in which an attacker steals a domain name in order to take control of it and thus to edit or delete data of its choice. Read more

(.fr) Afnic and Réussir en .fr at the Salon des Entrepreneurs trade show in Marseille

Afnic, the association responsible for .fr domain names, is announcing its attendance at the Salon des Entrepreneurs trade show in Marseille. It will be speaking with VSE and SME managers at its stand over the 2-day event to raise their awareness of the importance of an online presence in boosting their business. Read more

(.fr) Key success factors for Internet extensions: an evaluation grid

It isn’t always easy to explain the whys and wherefores of domain name market trends. Major indicators such as growth are usually generalised, given that they are based on data common to all stakeholders, but the causes behind fluctuations are hard to pin down. Read more

(.ie) “Sligo will continue to be a digital powerhouse for the West of Ireland” – Digital Town 2019

We have just wrapped up the Closing Ceremony of ‘Digital Town 2019’ – an initiative, now in its second year, which promotes awareness, knowledge, use and understanding of the internet in Ireland by its citizens, businesses and communities. Read more

(.is) ISNIC sunsetts old services

On January 14. 2020 the non-standard whois service running on whois.isnic.is:4343 will be turned off. Read more

(.it) A survey of Registro .it studies the relationship between the youth and the internet

“The orientation and perception of digital and domain names” is the title of the statistical and sociological survey that the Registro, in partnership with Centro Statistica Aziendale, conducted on 1400 young people (1000 of which aged between 19 and 25, whereas the remainder aged between 16 and 18) by Mrs. Monica Nardis. Read more

(.it) The roadshow of Registro ends in Erba, with a focus on design

Started in October 2018 in Lecce, the roadshow of Registro, which travelled across Italy and analysed the different sectors and met companies and entrepreneurs –– will end on 7 November in Erba. Read more

(.it) “Punto .it, success stories, Italy”, the event of the Registro at IF 2019

After the 4-days marathon, let us draw the conclusions of the last edition of Internet Festival 2019, with 280 events, tens of thousands of visitors and more than 20 thousand mobile devices authenticated on the network of the event, which took place in Pisa from 10 to 13 October. Read more

(.it) "Let's Bit!'' has reached Elba

The peer education project "Let's Bit!" will be proposed for the first time in an "insular" school, namely the R. Foresi high school of Portoferraio, Elba (LI), from 16 to 18 October. Read more

(.me) DNS Encryption (DoH, DoT) – What It Is, and Why Do Big Companies Argue About It?

There were a lot of big words on the topic of DNS encryption lately. With Google, Mozilla and Cloudflare on one side, and government regulators and internet service providers on the other, it is clear there is a strong disagreement on the vision of how a safer and more secure future internet should look – or at least on the steps we should take toward making it. But what is DNS encryption and why is it a topic followed by so much controversy? Read more

(.pl) NASK PIB increases security and efficiency of the DNS service for the .pl domain

The .pl domain registry at NASK increases security and efficiency of the DNS service for .pl domain by extending the network of anycast DNS thanks to cooperation with successive global providers of this service. Read more

.ru’s 25th anniversary marked in Voronezh

The tenth internet technology festival RIF Voronezh 2019 took place on October 18-19. Its partner, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, also participated. Those at the event got an opportunity to visit the regional premiere of the movie Internet for Everybody. Read more

(.ru) IP&IT law - 2020 contest open for entries

The Coordination Center for TLD.RU/.РФ and IP CLUB invite state and private university students, postgraduate students and young specialists to take part in the fifth National Youth Information Technology and Intellectual Property Law Contest IP&IT LAW - 2020. Read more

(.ru) EE DNS Forum 2019 concludes with “coaches’ training”

The second day of the EE DNS Forum 2019 concluded with the “Coaches’ training” dedicated to Universal Acceptance (UA). The training was held at the office of ISOC Armenia, which manages the country’s ccTLD .AM. Read more

(.si) Applications for the First Winter SIDI School – Internet Governance, Digital Policies and Innovation are open until October 27!

The first SIDI Bucharest Winter School – Internet Governance, Digital Policies and Innovation – will be held in Bucharest, Romania, from 9 to 13 December 2019. Read more

(.uk) Nominet appoints nine new experts for its award-winning Dispute Resolution Service

Nominet, the profit with a purpose company responsible for running the .UK namespace, has today announced the appointment of nine new independent Experts for its award-winning Dispute Resolution Service (DRS). Read more

(.lu) Cybersecurity takes center stage

Within the Luxembourg Cybersecurity Week, the RESTENA Foundation, together with the University of Luxembourg, have raised awareness to both Luxembourg research and education community and students on issues related to cybersecurity. Read more

(.au) auDA 2018/19 Annual Report details ambitious transformation program

Australia’s domain name administrator has published its 2018/19 Annual Report. Read more

(.nz) Cyber Smart Week - doing your bit

It’s Cyber Smart Week, and I’m jotting this blog post from the breaks at my first ever purplecon. A blog post from Jordan Carter. Read more

(.nz) Long live NetHui!

NetHui 2019 is over - we managed to pack a few months of planning and hard work into two days full of breakout sessions, panel discussions and keynotes. Looking back on it, it was the best NetHui ever, and we aim to make the next one even better. Read more

(.nz) InternetNZ goes phishing

Welcome to the first in a series of posts about our response to growing online threats exploiting DNS framework. We’re trying to land all the bad fish in a good net. Read more

(.org) Gala Event Celebrates 12 Winners of the Inaugural .ORG Impact Awards

It’s official – 12 individuals and organizations were named winners of the inaugural 2019 .ORG Impact Awards! Read more

(ICANN) Proposed Changes and new Additions to the IANA SLAs for ccTLD Creation and ccTLD Transfers

(ICANN) About the FY20 Board Activities and Operational Priorities

(ISC) ISC receives Mozilla Award for Development of Foundational Technology

(eco) Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs): The Greek .eu Domain

(CircleID) Leading Domain Registries and Registrars Release Joint Document on Addressing 'DNS Abuse'

(CircleID) Celebrating Twenty Years of the UDRP

(CircleID) New Zealand's Top-Level Domain Manager Seeking New Registry Service Provider for .nz

(Goldstein Report) Almost Half of 20 Most Abused TLDs Are ccTLDs As Newly Detected Botnet C&Cs Reach All Time High: Spamhaus

CENTR publishes its Guide to ICANN66

30 October 2019

		CENTR just published its Guide to ICANN66, which will take place in Montréal from 2-7 November 2019. It covers key topics of interest in the ccNSO and GAC sessions.

20 years on... an interview with Richard Wein

24 October 2019

		In this week's interview, Richard Wein gives his views of what has changed in the industry and at CENTR, and where the future might lead us.

CENTR is hiring a Director of Strategic Initiatives (DSI)!

14 October 2019

		CENTR is a membership association which brings together national internet domain name registries such as the organisations that operate .de and .eu. Our members make the internet addressing system work.

3rd CENTR Academy

14 November 2019, Brussels, Belgium

4th Webinar on Policy

19 November 2019

15th CENTR R&D workshop

27 November - 28 November 2019, Pisa, Italy

(.am) N2 Forum

On 10-12 October 2019 Internet Society NGO along with other local and international partners organized the N2 Forum (Numbers and Names). Read more

(.at) The Internet turns 50

On 29 October 1969 two computers communicated with each other for the first time over the US science network Arpanet. This marked the birth of the Internet. In 1988, the domestic Top Level Domain .at was added to the Domain Name System, the WWW was invented in 1989 and Austria was connected to the worldwide Internet in 1990. Read more

(.cz) The new series #martyisdead shows the harsh face of the Internet

What led the fifteen-year-old good boy Martin, “Marty”, to film himself with his phone in situations that give you chills? Did he have to die for his parents to find out about the anxious feelings and horrific moments he had experienced before his death? Was he really a pathological freak or a victim of systematic blackmailing? Read more

(.eu) Latest news about .eu and Brexit

Following the recent developments in the UK withdrawal scenario, the entire plan outlined on Brexit page is on hold. Read more

(.it) National tournament of cyber quiz organised by the Ludoteca of Registro .it

On 27 October, on the occasion of the “Conversazioni sul futuro” Festival, the award ceremony of the National Tournament of Cyber Quiz, organised by the Ludoteca of Registro .it, will be held. During the event organised by Registro, the winning team, Grade 4 of Centro Montessori Lecce (school year 2018/2019), will be awarded. Read more

(.me) Almost 3,000 Premium .ME domains Open for Registration at Afternic

After more than ten years of running the Premium Domain Program and working mainly with startups and internationally and regionally established companies, we decided to improve and simplify the process of allocating .ME premium names by making them available to everyone via Afternic platform! Read more

.pt is an institutional partner of the Portugal Digital Week'19

This was the week of the Portugal Digital Week, an ACEPI initiative that has .PT as its institutional partner. Several initiatives took place during the week, in which .PT was involved: Portugal Digital Summit, Navegantes XXI Awards, Germany-Portugal eCommerce Roundtable and "Digital Economy in Portugal 2009-2025" study. Read more

(.ru) Explore the Internet & Govern It! Online championship: 10 days to go!

On November 6, registration will close for the 8th Explore the Internet & Govern It! Russian online championship. The main themes of the 2019 championship will be domains and domain industry management, IT technologies, and the 25th anniversary of the ccTLD .RU and Runet. Read more

(.ru) Real Project School competition kicks off

The 8th Real Project School expo has brought together employers who offer high school students real-life applied research projects to work on. The expo was held in Moscow on October 17, organized by the School of New Technologies and the Moscow Department of Information Technology and Education. Read more

(.sk) Virtual Slovakia is growing! The number of .SK domains exceeded 400,000!

The month of cybersecurity is also the month in which we have crossed the limit of 400,000 domains. Virtual Slovakia is growing with the number of those who enter the virtual world. In the Slovak one, we have the space for all who want to learn, communicate, travel, shop or have fun. Read more

(.uk) Fresh DRS faces for a long-standing service

Do you remember turning 18? In many countries it’s the age at which adulthood is recognised, and as Nominet’s award-winning Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) hits this milestone, we are marking the moment with a cohort of new DRS Experts, bringing the total on our panel of internationally renowned Experts up to 47. Read more

(.au) auDA Opens Ballot For Elected Director Candidates

auDA has opened a ballot for its Associate Members to elect four new directors. Read more

(.jp) JPRS Welcomed Junior High School Students as an Educational Support Activity

On 24 October 2019, JPRS welcomed students of Ishikawa Prefectural Kanazawa Nishikigaoka Junior High School. Read more

(.nz) Quarterly report

This quarter was flat in terms of growth, recording a slight reduction of 483 names from last quarter. Consolidation in the registrar market continues to impact growth. Read more

(.nz) Registry Replacement project

InternetNZ is considering options for a new replacement registry system and has decided to conduct a request for expressions of interest (REOI) process to enable InternetNZ to understand and evaluate what a suitable replacement for our existing SRS registry system could look like. Read more

(.com) Verisign Reports Third Quarter 2019 Results

VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $308 million for the third quarter of 2019, up 0.9 percent from the same quarter in 2018. Verisign reported net income of $154 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.30 for the third quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $138 million and diluted EPS of $1.13 for the same quarter in 2018. Read more

(IETF) Welcoming the new IETF Executive Director

(CircleID) Leading Domain Registries and Registrars Release Joint Document on Addressing 'DNS Abuse'

(BBC) Georgia hit by massive cyber-attack

(ICANN) Links to bookmark now and useful prep material

(ICANN) Evolution of WHOIS Protocol to RDAP - What You Need to Know

(ICANN) The First Message Transmission

ICANN History Project | Fireside chat with Vint Cerf, Leonard Kleinrock, and Steve Crocker

(APTLD) Afilias Co-Sponsors APTLD77

(APTLD) TAFDWG Chair's Letter to the APTLD Chair

(RIPE NCC) Analysing the Costs (and Benefits) of DNS, DoT, and DoH for the Modern Web

Netnod launch one of the first NTS enabled time services in the world

(WIPR) WIPO celebrates 20 years of UDRP; votes against reform

EU Policy Update - October 2019

7 November 2019

In a nutshell: The European Parliament is still working on its position on the e-Evidence package, while the upcoming Commissioner for Justice promises to prioritise EU internal discussions over the Transatlantic deal on the same matter. Europol issued its annual Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment report. The European Commission found inconsistencies with identifying the “operators of essential services” under the NIS Directive, including the diverging methodology within the TLD sector. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on electoral interference and disinformation. Member States submitted their comments on the challenges with the GDPR implementation. The European Data Protection Board issued guidelines on Article 6 of the GDPR in the context of online services. The European Court of Justice issued its rulings in the case of Google and its obligation to respect the ‘right to be forgotten’, and in the case of Facebook which can be ordered to monitor and remove identical and ‘equivalent’ illegal content worldwide in order to comply with the national court order.

20 years on... an interview with Isabel Miranda

7 November 2019

		In this final interview, Isabel Miranda, Customer Manager at .pt gives her views of what has changed in the industry and at CENTR, and where the future might lead us.

3rd CENTR Academy

14 November 2019, Brussels, Belgium

4th Webinar on Policy

19 November 2019

15th CENTR R&D workshop

27 November - 28 November 2019, Pisa, Italy

(.be) 4 Belgians out of 10 at risk of digital exclusion

Our society is rapidly developing into a digital society. In this kind of world, a basic digital knowledge is just as essential as being able to read and write. Unfortunately, many Belgians are at risk of missing the digitisation boat because they do not have the necessary skills. Read more

(.ca) CIRA expands partnerships in global ccTLD community Three new ccTLD partners announced at ICANN 66

On 31 October, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) announced a number of new partnerships in the international ccTLD community in advance of ICANN 66. Read more

(.ca) How to build your website on Squarespace

Using Squarespace to create a website is easier than you think with professional-looking templates and intuitive design tools. Read more

(.ch) How secure is digital Switzerland?

This year's global DNS hijacking campaigns made it clear how sensitive the Internet infrastructure is. In Switzerland, too, cyber attacks on companies, critical infrastructures and individuals are constantly on the increase. And yet Switzerland is one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to adapting Internet security standards. Read more

(.cz) After a great success on Indiegogo, the modular router Turris MOX is coming to the market

According to CZ.NIC association, the administrator of the Czech national domain, the first Turris MOX sets purchased within the Indiegogo campaign have already been shipped and the devices are now entering the retail market. Read more

(.eu) EURid at Euroconsumers International Forum

Over the past years digital markets have been enjoying growth on the promise of empowering consumers and citizens through information, choice and convenience. The Euroconsumers International Forum 2019 aims to bridge the gap between the consumers and businesses in the digital age. Read more

(.eu) EURid has been nominated for the 2019 ECO Award

We are proud to announce that our APEWS (Abuse Prediction and Early Warning System) feature is nominated for the 2019 Eco Awards under the “Domains” category. Read more

(.eu) EURid Q3 2019 Progress Report now available

EURid released its EURid’s Q3 2019 Progress Report, sharing its quarterly statistics and developments. Read more

(.fr) Afnic raises awareness among SMEs of their online presence at the Salon des Entrepreneurs in Nantes

Afnic, the association responsible for .fr domain names, is announcing its attendance at the Salon des Entrepreneurs trade show in Nantes. It will be speaking with VSE and SME managers at its booth over the 2-day event to raise their awareness of the importance of an online presence in boosting their business. Read more

(.it) Punto IT - news and stories from the internet, Italy

The space of Registro.it during Internet Festival 2019 was created in partnership with ‘Il Post’, online newspaper directed by Mr. Luca Sofri. For two days, Mr. Sofri and his newsroom brought a "real newspaper" on the stage of Officine Garibaldi, with press reviews, news, interviews and insights on the digital revolution, domain names, the Internet and its rules. Read more

(.it) Inquiry of Registro .IT: youth and digital

'Direction and perception of digital and domain names’ is the title of the statistical and sociological enquiry of Registro .it, the register of names .it managed by the Cnr-Iit of Pisa, performed in partnership with the Center for Business statistics (Csa). Read more

(.lt) Information security policy

The Internet Service Center at Kaunas University of Technology (Domreg.lt) received a certificate for the information security management system ISO/IEC 27001:2013. The scope of the certificate is the administration of the .lt domain registry and system. More about the .lt information security policy can be found here.

(.nl) Statistics of the month: DANE for e-mail

StartTLS is an extension to the classic SMTP e-mail protocol. It provides for the connection between a sending mail server and a receiving mail server to be encrypted to protect against snoopers. Sounds good, eh? Except that encryption isn't guaranteed. Read more

(.nl) Are SMEs ready for the growing cyber-threat?

The number of cyberattacks on SMEs is rising. Not just in the Netherlands, but worldwide, as highlighted by the Global State of SMB Cybersecurity Study 2019. Read more

(.nl) The Internet Measurement Conference Goes nl

SIDN was a proud sponsor of the 2019 ACM Internet Measurement Conference, which took place in Amsterdam. Talks covered our core research topics DNS, routing and IoT, including three contributions by SIDN Labs -- one of which received a Distinguished Paper Award. Read more

(.nl) Not one, not two, not three, but four CENTR awards!

On 8 October, the fourth CENTR Awards Ceremony was held in Brussels. CENTR -- the umbrella organisation for domain registries, which celebrated its twentieth 'birthday' this year -- makes the awards every two years. Read more

(.pl) Information on the change in the .pl domain name registration process

It is to be informed that NASK implemented a change in the .pl domain name registration process, consisting in shortening the BOOK_BLOCKED state from 90 to 30 days. Read more

(.pl) Information of the .PL Domain Registry on the entity named "DNS Poland"

In reference to the information, received in recent days by the Research and Academic Computer Network - National Research Institute with its registered office in Warsaw (hereinafter: NASK), on the activity of the entity, named "DNS Poland", using the website www.dnspoland.com, here is some further information. Read more

(.pt) Joint PT/EURid project at the Portugal Digital Summit '19

The Portugal Digital Summit'19, organized by ACEPI and whose institutional partner was the .PT, took place on 22 and 23 October in Lisbon and for the first time two registries, .PT and EURid, joined their forces and participated with a co-branded presence. This initiative was born in order to enhance the common values that both registries share and cultivate the meaning of collaboration in the Internet industry. The interesting panel hosted by .PT and conducted by Marta Moreira Dias, showed representatives from EURid (Giovanni Seppia), DENIC (Jörg Schweiger), NIC.br (Demi Getschko), ICANN (Andrea Beccalli) and the National Information Security Authority (António Gameiro Marques) sharing their thoughts and views on the topic of Digital Cooperation as a mean to “mitigate risks and challenges on security, equity and human rights in a digital age” (cit. Antonio Gueterres, UN Secretary-General). Find photos of the event  via WeTransfer here.

(.ru) The Internet helps

On November 5, the documentary, The Internet for Everybody, had its third regional premiere, at the 1st Growing Up Together National Educational Film Festival in Chelyabinsk. Created by the Social Film Foundation at the request of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ in time for the 25th anniversary of the Russian national domain .RU, the film opened the festival program. Read more

(.ru) Registration opens for 2019 MSK-IX Peering Forum

Registration for the 2019 MSK-IX Peering Forum is now open. The event is for those who build and develop communication networks and service platforms on the internet. Read more

(.ru) 2019 DOT Journalism contest deadline closes

On November 1, 2019, the deadline closed for the seventh annual DOT Journalism contest for journalists writing about domains and other internet addressing systems. Read more

(.ru) Anti-phishing self-regulation proves effective

On October 29 in the Deworkacy business space, accredited registrars had a working meeting with competent organizations that are cooperating with the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. The participants at the event summarized the results of their collaboration in 2019 and discussed their future plans. Read more

(.uk) Getting everyone ready for the future.now

The UK is facing a digital skills crisis. Over 17m workers lack the essential digital skills needed for their jobs, contributing to a gap that costs the UK economy an estimated £63bn annually in lost GDP. Meanwhile, every day, our personal lives demand we become more tech-savvy to manage them. Read more

(.uk) SME Advice: Manage your web presence to stay secure

Could your small business afford to lose £1,300 today? That’s the average cost of a cyber attack, according to research from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) into the almost 10,000 incidents happening to small enterprises every single day. Read more

(.cat) We have been waiting for it and the moment has now come!

We at .cat have opened the registration period for some very special domains: 1 or 2 characters. They are special because they are limited and also follow a different registration process to other domains. Read more

(.nz) Re-imagining the future of .nz

InternetNZ is undertaking a comprehensive review of its .nz policies. The last comprehensive review took place way back in 2004. Read more

(.nz) DNC newsletter - October 2019

This month the DNCL was active in our support of our two trusted MOU partners the Digital Safety Office of the Department of Internal Affairs and CERT NZ. Read more

(.nz) Panel phishes out issues and opportunities for .nz

The .nz panel has spent the last couple of months researching and listening to New Zealanders’ views essentially on how open, accessible and secure they want the Internet to be. Read more

(.us) Safer Domains: DNS Security and Resilience

Safer Domains explores the latest news, analysis and opinion on security and resilience in the domain name industry, from the team at Neustar Registry — leaders in Registry safety and security. Read more

ICANN66 Montréal GAC Communiqué Now Available

(ICANN) Proposal for Future Root Zone KSK Rollovers

APTLD Unites IDN Experts to Help LANIC

(CircleID) Colombian Government Releases Action Plan for the Selection of .CO Domain Registry Operator

(CircleID) Will Legacy TLDs Have a Long Legacy?

(CircleID) DNS Wars

(Goldstein Report) Kremlin takes on sweeping internet connection powers

(Domain Name Wire) ICANN Board finds no problems with new .Org contract

EU Policy Update - October 2019

In a nutshell: The European Parliament is still working on its position on the e-Evidence package, while the upcoming Commissioner for Justice promises to prioritise EU internal discussions over the Transatlantic deal on the same matter. Europol issued its annual Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment report. The European Commission found inconsistencies with identifying the “operators of essential services” under the NIS Directive, including the diverging methodology within the TLD sector. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on electoral interference and disinformation. Member States submitted their comments on the challenges with the GDPR implementation. The European Data Protection Board issued guidelines on Article 6 of the GDPR in the context of online services. The European Court of Justice issued its rulings in the case of Google and its obligation to respect the ‘right to be forgotten’, and in the case of Facebook which can be ordered to monitor and remove identical and ‘equivalent’ illegal content worldwide in order to comply with the national court order.

CENTR publishes its Report on ICANN66

13 November 2019

		CENTR has published its Report on ICANN66! As well as covering issues discussed at the ccNSO and GAC meetings, this report also provides updates on DNS Abuse discussions, DoH, ccTLD news sessions, WHOIS and Data Protection, the DotAmazon case and much more.

EU Policy Update - October 2019

7 November 2019

In a nutshell: The European Parliament is still working on its position on the e-Evidence package, while the upcoming Commissioner for Justice promises to prioritise EU internal discussions over the Transatlantic deal on the same matter. Europol issued its annual Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment report. The European Commission found inconsistencies with identifying the “operators of essential services” under the NIS Directive, including the diverging methodology within the TLD sector. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on electoral interference and disinformation. Member States submitted their comments on the challenges with the GDPR implementation. The European Data Protection Board issued guidelines on Article 6 of the GDPR in the context of online services. The European Court of Justice issued its rulings in the case of Google and its obligation to respect the ‘right to be forgotten’, and in the case of Facebook which can be ordered to monitor and remove identical and ‘equivalent’ illegal content worldwide in order to comply with the national court order.

Security Incident on the CENTR website

15 November 2019

You may have noticed that the CENTR website was down between Friday 1st November and Wednesday 6 November.

15th CENTR R&D workshop

27 November - 28 November 2019, Pisa, Italy

(.at) nic.at Domainfinder now online!

Have you ever experienced the situation that your preferred domain name is already taken? Or that the inspiration to create the perfect domain name will not come? No problem with the nic.at domainfinder - it will help you to find your .at domain! Read more

(.ch) Linked data for the future

Accessible and usable research data is the most important resource for safeguarding Switzerland's research and innovation power. Every day, scientists generate considerable amounts of data, which is often stored in domain or institutional silos. The resulting research data ecosystem is constantly evolving and fairly complex to access, even for researchers. Read more

(.cz) IANA has appointed Ondřej Filip a member of the prestigious TCR group

IANA, an international organization that, among other things, manages the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS), has appointed Ondřej Filip a member of the prestigious group of Trusted Community Representatives (TCR). Read more

(.cz) The favorite book ON-LINE ZOO is already available in the listening version

Within the project Safely on the Net, the first audiobook of the CZ.NIC Edition was created. The model for the audiobook became a popular children’s book ON-LINE ZOO. Read more

.ευ (.eu in Greek) goes live

As of yesterday, 14 November 2019, EURid has added a third extension to its portfolio. Alongside.eu (Latin script) and .ею (Cyrillic script), it is now possible to register domain names under .ευ (Greek script). Read more

(.eu) EURid giving a course on EU and Global Internet Governance Law

As the Internet has become integrated into our societies and economies, it is no surprise to see a proliferation of case law, and regulation to address perceived problems as they arise. At the same time, revelations of mass surveillance, big data analysis, and the dawn of the Internet of Things have created international discussions and pose potential risks to our security. Read more

(.fr) .museum, an indication of reliability and the domain of choice to boost your international reach

First introduced in 2001, .museum is an unrivalled Top Level Domain for museums and related institutions, making it easier to highlight the skills and expertise of the professionals and individuals concerned and providing a prime opportunity both to share their work, their passion and their sponsorship activities and to set themselves apart visually. Read more

(.ie) SME Digital Health Index 2019

Irish consumers have grown accustomed to the accessibility and convenience of e-commerce services like Amazon and expect the same shopping experience from their local businesses, according to our SME Digital Health Index 2019 which was published yesterday. Read more

(.it) The 15th R&D Workshop of CENTR in Pisa

Registro .it will host the 15th R&D Workshop of CENTR (Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries) in Pisa. Read more

(.it) The Ludoteca of Registro .It will be in Torre Del Lago with a seminar on the internet and minors

14 November will see the experts of the Ludoteca of Registro .it, Giorgia Bassi and Manuela Moretti, hold a seminar addressed to parents and entitled "The Internet and minors: opportunities and potential risks" at the Istituto Comprensivo Torre del Lago, in the town of the same name in the province of Viareggio (LU, Italy). Read more

(.nl) "Being Dutch, multistakeholderism is in my blood."

ICANN is one of the internet's key organisations: a non-profit entity that administers the root and decides on things such as the delegation of top-level domains. Maarten Botterman's involvement with ICANN goes back to 2010, and he's been on the board since 2016. Now he's heading up the organisation after being elected Chair at ICANN's Montreal meeting on 7 November. Read more

(.nl) You can't compare apples with pears

To measure is to know, the saying goes. But what should a registry be measuring? And how can a registry make sure its measured data lends itself to comparison with other TLDs? To answer those questions, CENTR has teamed up with SIDN and several other operators of country-code domains (ccTLDs) to establish the Registry Registrar Data Group (RRDG). Read more

(.nl) Registry locks: great potential but little current demand

Last month, European registrars and registries met in Brussels at the annual CENTR Registrar Day to discuss a number of topical issues. One was development of the domain name 'registry lock', which we offer under the product name .nl Control. Within the world of domain names, opinion on registry locks differs sharply. Read more

(.ru) Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ invites you to a discussion on intellectual property protection

On November 22, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ will hold an open expanded meeting of its committees: the Registry Committee, the Committee for the Development of Domain Space, the Internet Governance Committee and the Committee on Legal Issues. Read more

(.ru) Celebration of .RU’s 25th anniversary to culminate at RIW 2019

On November 12, the TASS press center hosted a news conference on the Russian Internet Week (RIW 2019), which will take place on December 12–13 at the World Trade Center. Read more

(.ru) Russian Internet Governance Forum discussed at ICANN 66

On November 6, the final day of the ICANN 66 meeting in Montreal, experts from the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ took part in the ccNSO (country-code Names Supporting Organization) session devoted to internet governance. Representatives of national top-level domains from various countries spoke about their participation in local and international forums and internet governance schools, and how these initiatives help them reach their own goals. Read more

(.uk) Nominet launches online mental health funding programme: #RESET

Nominet, the profit with a purpose company operating at the heart of the internet infrastructure, launched the Nominet #RESET Mental Health Programme yesterday. #RESET aims to increase the reach and impact of mental health services for young people. Read more

(.uk) Nominet’s spectrum management expertise to advance TIP’s OpenCellular

Nominet has announced it is working with the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to help develop OpenCellular, the open source wireless access platform. Read more

(.uk) What does a CISO actually do?

While it’s generally understood that the Chief information Security Officer (CISO) of an organisation is responsible for the information security of the business, one of the questions I’m often asked is what being a CISO involves on a daily and weekly basis. Read more

(.au) auDA Confirms Board Appointees

.au Domain Administration can confirm its new board appointees following the completion of a selection and ballot process in accordance with the organisation’s charter. Read more

(.org) First Annual .ORG Community Forum Delivers a Compelling Educational Experience

On 10 October 2019, Public Interest Registry hosted its inaugural .ORG Community Forum. Held at the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC, this full-day event brought together subject matter experts and members of the .ORG community–both onsite and online–to collaboratively explore common areas of interest. Read more

(.us) Neustar Partners with Tatango

Neustar is partnering with Tatango, the market leader in mass text message marketing software, to improve the deliverability of their client’s text messages. Read more

Afilias endorses Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) Final Report at Paris Peace Forum

The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) has presented its “Advancing Cyberstability” report at the Paris Peace Forum. The report is the culmination of the Commission’s multi-stakeholder efforts over the past three years to offer—at a critical juncture in the future of cyberspace-- a framework for cyber stability, norms of cyber-behavior for state and non-state actors, and recommendations for enhancing stability. Read more

(Internet Society) Ethos Capital to Acquire Public Interest Registry from the Internet Society

(ICANN) 2022 ICANN Public Meeting – Community Forum Location Announced

(RIPE NCC) 3000 New RIPE Atlas Probes Sent Across the World.

(Domain incite) Selling off PIR, did ISOC just throw .org registrants under a bus?

(Circle ID) Cybersecurity Workforce Needs to Grow 145% to Close Skills Gap Worldwide, Says New Study

(Goldstein Report) U.S. Supreme Court To Decide If Adding .COM Makes A Protected Trademark

(Domain Name Wire) The economics of .org domain names

(Domain Pulse) Short-Lived Domains Play Major Part In Phishing Campaigns: Akamai

(IETF) 2020 Draft Budget Narrative

CENTR publishes its Report on RIPE79

20 November 2019

		CENTR has just published its Report on RIPE79, which took place in Rotterdam from 14-18 October 2019.

CENTR publishes its Report on ICANN66

13 November 2019

		CENTR has published its Report on ICANN66! As well as covering issues discussed at the ccNSO and GAC meetings, this report also provides updates on DNS Abuse discussions, IoT, ccTLD news sessions, WHOIS and Data Protection, the DotAmazon case and much more.

15th CENTR R&D workshop

27 November - 28 November 2019, Pisa, Italy

(.am) Belarus Internet Governance Forum

Internet Society NGO Board Members Arman Nesisyan, Anna Karakhanyan & Armen Muradyan participated in IGF.BY - Belarus Internet Governance Forum on November 13 in Minsk, Belarus. Read more

(.be) Why it’s best not to let your domain name expire

It is actually a very smart move to extend your domain name even if you really do not need it any longer. In this way, you prevent hackers and vandals from picking up your domain name and causing all sorts of havoc. A world of explanation. … Read more

(.ca) DNS Encryption - Evolution or revolution

“Centralized DoH is currently a privacy net negative since anyone that could see your metadata can still see your metadata when DNS is moved to a third party.” - Bert Hubert, APNIC. Read more

(.dk) Did you delete your .dk domain name?

If you have deleted your domain name, we would like to know why. We will therefore be conducting a short survey to find out what is causing the deletion of .dk domain names. Read more

(.eu) The 2019 .eu Web Awards Gala will be live!

The 2019 .eu Web Awards will be held on Wednesday 20 November. This year we invite everyone to join in via our Facebook page and follow a night full of surprises and meet the new .eu Web Awards winners via live stream. Read more

(.it) The Registro and “Il Post” in the “Conversazioni Sul Futuro” festival

“Punto .it – Stories from the Internet, Italy”, organised by Registro .it in collaboration with the online newspaper “Il Post”, and already successfully presented during the last edition of IF2019, has landed on “Conversazioni sul futuro” festival, in Lecce. Read more

(.nl) GeoTLD application criteria unchanged

ICANN's 66th conference was held last week in Montreal, Canada. One item on the agenda was the criteria that cities and regions wanting their own geographical top-level domains (geoTLDs) will have to meet in the planned application window. Read more

(.nl) SIDN continues as registry service provider for .amsterdam

Amsterdam's municipal authority recently extended its contract for the .amsterdam top-level domain (TLD). Under the contract, SIDN will continue to act as .amsterdam's 'registry service provider'. Read more

(.nl) Government and suppliers make joint push for further IPv6 adoption

All government bodies in the Netherlands must be reachable using IPv6 by the end of 2021. In other words, all their public mail and web servers will have to support IPv6 connections within the next two years. Read more

.PT partner of the Portuguese Initiative of the Internet Governance Forum

On November 13 the Portuguese Initiative of the Internet Governance Forum 2019 was held at the University of Beira Interior. .PT was supported this initiative and organized a session on "Illegal Content on the Internet". Read more

(.uk) ICANN 66: Focus on domain abuse

Many different topics are covered at each ICANN meeting, but the noticeably prominent issue from Montreal was DNS abuse. Discussions on this had been requested by the Public-Safety Working Group at the previous meeting in Marrakech, while the time between the two ICANN meetings saw the Registries Stakeholder Group sending out an open letter (to which Nominet was a signatory). Read more

(.uk) #RESET mental health support for young people

In the last 20 years the number of 4-24 year-olds reporting a mental health problem has increased six fold and understandably, as digital natives, these young people are looking to the internet and technology when they need help. Read more

(.jp) Satsuki Hori of JPRS selected as the Backup TCR

Satsuki Hori of JPRS, was selected as the Backup TCR. As part of the joint effort to secure the domain name system (DNS) and the Root DNSSEC key management process, a number of persons acting as trusted representatives of the Internet community participate in the root key generation and signing ceremonies. These persons are called Trusted Community Representatives (TCRs). Read more

(.us) DDoS attacks up 241% in Q3 2019 compared to same period last year

The growth in both large- and small-scale distributed denial-of-service attacks continues its upward trajectory, according to a new report released today by Neustar’s Security Operations Center (SOC). Read more

(ICANN) Country Code Top-Level Domains Can Now Participate in ICANN’s Domain Abuse Activity Reporting (DAAR) System

(NLnet Labs) Best Paper Award for DNSSEC Root Key Rollover Paper

(RIPE NCC) Germany Country Report Published

(eco) Report on 66th ICANN Meeting

(Internet Governance Project) Confronting Tech Nationalism & Cyber-sovereignty at the Berlin IGF

(CircleID) Microsoft Announces Plans to Adopt DoH in Windows

(CircleID) Internet Commerce Association Calls for ICANN to Withhold Approval of .Org Sale

(Goldstein Report) The Richard Dimbleby Lecture: Sir Tim Berners-Lee: The World Wide Web - A Mid-Course Correction

(Goldstein Report) .CO Celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week

(Domain Pulse) Arcep Warns French Internet Players To Urgently Step Up IPv6 Adoption

New country profile dashboard

28 November 2019

		The CENTRstats platform has added a new dashboard which combines and replaces several older pages on market share. This new page provides a comprehensive report of most CENTR member countries based on several indicators, most of which include comparisons to the CENTR member average as well as trend charts.

61st CENTR Legal & Regulatory workshop

21 January - 22 January 2020, Brussels, Belgium

31st CENTR Marketing workshop

6 February - 7 February 2020, Stockholm, Sweden

63rd CENTR General Assembly/2020 Annual General Meeting

12 February - 13 February 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia

49th CENTR Administrative workshop

27 February - 28 February 2020, Warsaw, Poland

(.at) nic//report 2019: Market Analysis

Last May, we conducted a comprehensive survey with the respected online market research institute marketagent, and are pleased to share the results of this customer survey with you. Read more

(.ch) Comprehensive data quality for Open Science

In the age of Big Data, everyone generates hundreds of megabytes of data per day, and the trend is rising. The standards for these are generally relatively low and the majority of this data is hardly reused. Read more

(.ch) How secure is digital Switzerland?

This year's global DNS hijacking campaigns made it clear how sensitive the Internet infrastructure is. In Switzerland, too, cyber attacks on companies, critical infrastructures and individuals are constantly on the increase. And yet Switzerland is one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to adapting Internet security standards. Read more

(.ch) eduroam goes edu-ID

On 1st December 2019, the eduroam.ch service enters its pilot phase. Within the four months to come, SWITCH will find out whether this enduser-friendly service actually responds to a need of the Universities or not. Read more

(.de) DENIC Makes Use of Newly Registered .de Domains Possible within Five Minutes

To enable .de domains in the Internet to be used even faster, DENIC, the managing organisation and central registry of all domains under the country code .de, has introduced an optimised technical procedure. Read more

(.de) IG Radar: DENIC Information Platform Explains Internet Governance Processes

DENIC’s IG Radar is a one-stop reference source providing basic knowledge and in-depth information for a wide audience on the occasion of the United Nations‘ Internet Governance Forum in Berlin, Germany, from 25 to 29 Nov. 2019 and beyond. Read more

(.dk) One.com signs .dk domain names with DNSSEC

A larger proportion of the Danish domain names with the extension .dk have now become more secure, as the hosting company and name server provider One.com has signed all .dk domain names on their servers with DNSSEC. Read more

(.dk) User IDs removed from WHOIS search results

Last week DK Hostmaster updates the WHOIS database of all .dk domain names, so that in the future the user ID will not be displayed in connection with a search in the database. Read more

(.dk) Written hearing regarding the role of DIFO in the fight against online crime

On November 13, 2019, Danish Internet Forum (DIFO) and DK Hostmaster hosted an oral hearing regarding our continued role in the fight against online crime. Many stakeholders participated and we had a good debate on what DIFO should focus on. Read more

(.eu) The 2019 IDN World Report shows 20% IDN GrowthThe 2019 IDN World Report shows 20% IDN Growth

The 2019 IDN World Report findings have been published to idnworldreport.eu and will be presented at the IGF Annual meeting in Berlin. Read more

(.eu) EURid wins at 2019 Eco Awards

We are delighted to announce that last night our APEWS (Abuse Prediction and Early Warning System) feature won the 2019 Eco Award in the “Domains” category. Read more

(.eu) Meet the 2019 .eu Web Awards winners

We are pleased to announce the 7 winners for this year’s highly anticipated .eu Web Awards competition! Read more

(.fi) Traficom participates in creating Spoofy, a children’s cyber skills game

The game is a fun way for children to learn the basics in digital security. Read more (in Finnish) 

(.fr) Decoding brand-specific domain names: Why brand TLDs are so highly coveted

.mma, .leclerc and .sncf are just a few of the iconic and pioneering so-called "brand" Internet Top Level Domains that have already been purchased by major groups or services. With a new round of new Internet TLDs allocations on the horizon, AFNIC, the leading French Internet registry, is preparing to support brands that are establishing themselves within their respective markets in obtaining the keys to a successful digital identity. Read more

(.fr) Looking back on the success of the first meeting of the Cercle des .marque

AFNIC, the French domain name registry, has launched the Cercle des .marque (The BrandTLD Club), a forum dedicated to custom Internet Top Level Domains and open to brands and their representatives. Read more

(.ie) Almost 7 in 10 Irish SMEs do not provide an online shopping service and risk losing out on Black Friday trade

As one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year approaches, Irish consumers expect that 62% of their Black Friday weekend spend will be transacted online. Read more

(.it) The Registro and “Il Post” in the “Conversazioni Sul Futuro” festival

“Punto .it – Stories from the Internet, Italy”, organised by Registro .it in collaboration with the online newspaper “Il Post”, and already successfully presented during the last edition of IF2019, has landed on “Conversazioni sul futuro” festival, in Lecce. Read more

(.lt) To Reduce the Problem of Lisping – IDN Campaign

Aiming to reduce the problem of lisping online, the Internet Service Centre DOMREG at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) announces the campaign encouraging to register IDN (Internationalized Domain Names). Read more

(.nl) Satisfaction with SIDN remains high

Our core services are sound and we provide good support. That's the key finding of the fifteenth Registrar Satisfaction Survey, carried out for us by market research agency MediaTest in September and October. Read more

(.nl) Statistic of the month: fake webshop detections

Fake webshops tempt online consumers with designer shoes, bags and other luxury goods at knock-down prices. What buyers actually get, however, is shoddy fake products. If they get anything at all. We've been proactively searching for fake webshops for a couple of years, because we don't want internet scams undermining consumer confidence in .nl. Read more

(.nl) SIDN launches user-friendly security solution for SMEs

Last week, SIDN debuts on the security solution market by launching CyberSterk. The new all-in-one solution addresses the market demand for a user-friendly tool capable of flagging up weaknesses in business networks and websites, and explaining what to do about them. Read more

(.nl) Does the arrival of DoH mean browsers should be regulated?

Within the internet industry, implementation of the new DNS over HTTPS (DoH) protocol is a hot topic. In principle, DoH should give a further small security boost and help to protect user privacy. However, it may also have significant implications for the way the DNS works. [...] Can browser developers be relied upon to use their new powers responsibly, or is some form of regulation required? Read more

(.pl) Report on the .pl domain name market for Q3 2019

At the end of September 2 553 759 active domain names were being maintained in the .pl domain Registry. During the third quarter of 2019 there followed a decrease by 1.90% in the number of domain names active in DNS. 170 754 new .pl domain names were registered, which means that average of 1 856 domain names were being registered daily. Read more

(.ru) The film Internet for All presented at UIC 2019

On November 27, Izhevsk was the venue of the Digital Transformation of Business: Tools and Technologies seminar involving 300 experts in marketing, management and entrepreneurship. The seminar opened with the screening of the documentary Internet for All, filmed by the Social Cinema Foundation at the request of the Coordination Center specifically for Runet’s anniversary. Read more

(.ru) Coordination Center advisory committees gather for expanded meeting

On November 22, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry held an expanded public meeting involving the committees run by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. The meeting included representatives of the legal committee, committees on domain space development and Internet governance, and a registrars’ committee. Read more

(.sk) The number of .sk domains with a higher security standard has increased significantly

The October campaign focused on raising the standard of domain security with DNSSEC exceeded expectations. The number of domains with this higher security standard has increased significantly. After the campaign’s deadline on 16/11/2019 almost 35,500 domains were secured, which represented 8,82% of all registered .sk domains. Read more

(.ua) Domain dispute resolution in the com.ua domain

On December 19, domain dispute resolution based on UDRP (Unified Domain Dispute Resolution Policy), will begin to operate in the largest Ukrainian public domain com.ua. Read more

.UA domain names become more secure

Hostmaster Ltd has enhanced name protection in the .UA top-level domain by updating the DNSSEC key. To generate a new key, the company used the elliptic curve algorithm (ECDSA-P256-SHA256), which is more cryptographically robust. In addition, the use of the new algorithm allows to reduce the load on the domain system servers. Read more

(.uk) Nominet supports Samaritans with .UK domain registration donations

Nominet, the profit with a purpose company best-known for managing the .UK domain namespace, will donate £1 to the Samaritans for every new, paid for .UK domain registered from 9 December 2019 until 17 January 2020. Read more

(.uk) Over 28,000 domains suspended as law enforcement and industry keep .UK safe

Responsible for running and keeping the .UK internet infrastructure secure, Nominet has published its update on .UK domains suspended for criminal activity over the 12 months to October 2019. Nominet suspends domains following notification from the police or other law enforcement agencies that the domain is being used for criminal activity. Read more

(.uk) Ensuring a healthy digital society by 2050

It feels like the internet is entering its autumn. The summer brightness of novelty and new – perhaps a little naivety – is giving way to a new era, and one that demands we move from passive to active in the shaping of our digital societies. Read more

(.com) Recognizing lessons learned from the first DNSSEC key rollover, a year later

A year ago, under the leadership of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the internet naming community completed the first-ever rollover of the cryptographic key that plays a critical role in securing internet traffic worldwide. Read more

(.nz) Shop safe New Zealand

Today we are launching our #ShopSafeNZ campaign hoping to raise awareness about safer online shopping experiences for Kiwis. We’ll be campaigning in the lead up to the holiday season and retail sales from 25 November - 1 January 2020. Read more

(.nz) DNC newsletter - November 2019

This month and next we are all about awareness raising related to our #ShopSafeNZ campaign in the lead up to Christmas and the Boxing Day sales. Read more

(.us) Neustar and TRUSTID Introduce Inbound Authentication Solution for Call Centers

Neustar®, Inc. has introduced a new product offering, Inbound Authentication Pro, the industry’s first inbound authentication solution to verify the call and the caller through a single solution. Read more

(ICANN) Post-ICANN66 Policy Report out now

(ICANN) Chair's Blog: ICANN66 Meeting & Board Workshop

(RIPE NCC) The RIPE NCC has run out of IPv4 Addresses

(ISC) Encrypted DNS: DoH vs. DoT Webinar - December 11, 2019

eco on the Inauguration of the New EU Commission: “As a Digital Location, Europe Needs a Visionary Agenda”

(eco) IGF 2019 Opening Ceremony: “One world, one net, one vision”

(ISOC) The sale of PIR: The Internet Society Board Perspective

(Internet Governance Project) Town Hall Meeting on .ORG at IGF 2019

(CircleID) Fadi's .ORG Fracasso

(CircleID) EFF and 26 Other Organizations Send Letter to Internet Society Urging It to Stop Sale of .ORG

(Goldstein Report) Tenth Iteration Of Operation In Our Sites Sees Over 30,000 Domains Seized

(The Guardian) Tim Berners-Lee unveils global plan to save the web

(Internet & Jurisdiction) Release of World's First Internet & Jurisdiction Global Status Report

CENTR publishes its Report on IETF106

12 December 2019

		CENTR has just published its Report on IETF106, which took place in Singapore from 16-22 November 2019.

Reinvigorated IGF discusses the existential threats to the internet

5 December 2019

Blog post by Polina Malaja and Peter Van Roste, CENTR - At the end of November, thousands of participants gathered in Berlin for the annual global Internet Governance Forum.

61st CENTR Legal & Regulatory workshop

21 January - 22 January 2020, Brussels, Belgium

31st CENTR Marketing workshop

6 February - 7 February 2020, Stockholm, Sweden

63rd CENTR General Assembly/2020 Annual General Meeting

12 February - 13 February 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia

49th CENTR Administrative workshop

27 February - 28 February 2020, Warsaw, Poland

(.be) DNS Belgium has the best website of 2019

At the FeWeb Excellence Awards the most high-performance digital projects of Belgian origin are singled out for recognition of excellence. DNS Belgium has the most high-performance and accessible website and can consequently call itself “Website of the Year” for a year – and rightly so, according to panel member Roel Van Gils. Read more

(.cz) Epic DNS Benchmarking

DNS is one of the critical services necessary for proper operation of the Internet. [...] That is the reason why we focus, besides other aspects, on the performance during development of our authoritative DNS server Knot DNS. Benchmarking is an inseparable part of the project and we have been exploring various ways of further performance growth. Read more

(.eu) APEWS paper wins ACSAC 2019 award

Our paper on Abuse Prevention and Early Warning System (written in collaboration with the researchers from the University of Leuven) won one of the two “Distinguished Paper Awards” at the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference (ACSAC). Read more

(.eu) EURid launches Abuse Prevention and Early Warning System

We are proud to announce the launch of our award winning abuse prevention mechanism to detect possible malicious registrations, “Abuse Prediction and Early Warning System - APEWS”. The system was developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Leuven. Read more

(.fr) The Afnic Foundation for Digital Solidarity will support 59 projects to improve digital inclusion

The Afnic Foundation has announced, at its annual Rencontres des Solidarités Numériques (‘Digital Solidarity Meetings’) event, that it has selected 59 winners who will receive a total of €1.1 million in funding for their respective projects designed to make digital technology accessible to all. Read more

(.fr) .org - an alternative perspective

If we look at the .org stock, i.e. the number of names at the end of the year, we can see that after having grown continuously between 2009 (and even earlier) and 2016, this major TLD has been experiencing a net loss since 2017. If the current trend continues, we should even see it drop below 10 million names in 2020. Read more

(.ie) Retailers have to be online to be relevant

Retailers just have to be online to be relevant, writes Alan O’Neill in the Sunday Independent. They must stop saying they can’t afford to – they simply cannot afford not to. He writes that he is amazed and disappointed to still see such a low number of SMEs with an online presence from our SME Digital Health Index 2019 findings. Read more

(.it) The 15th edition of the CENTR R&D workshop was held in Italy

The 15th Centr R&D Workshop was held in Pisa on 27 and 28 November. It was a two-day event full of presentations and discussions on technologies and innovations in the domain sector. Read more

(.nl) NTS server for the TimeNL NTP service

SIDN Labs' public NTP service has been upgraded: TimeNL now has an NTS server. NTS stands for Network Time Security, a new standard that's being developed. Only a few NTS systems are currently operating around the world. Read more

.PT conducts satisfaction study

.PT will hold, from December 9, a study to evaluate the satisfaction of its customers and partners. Read more

(.ru) Journey around Runet: A creative contest for children

The Coordination Center for TLDs .RU/.РФ and the Karusel TV channel invite children aged 6-12 to take part in the Journey around Runet creative contest to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Russian national domain. Read more

(.ru) Explore the Internet and Govern It! online championship results

The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ and Rostelecom have announced the results of the 8th Explore the Internet and Govern It! national online championship. As many as 17,500 children participated in the championship this year, including 12,500 individual participants and 5,000 competing in teams (946 teams). Read more

(.sk) Very soon – automated DNSSEC activation

Even if the deployment of DNSSEC in the .sk domain is already now excellent, in order to secure a higher standard of the services for domain holders and a comfort of services for the registrars, we are planning to introduce automated DNSSEC activation on the basis of the data on the DNS servers (so called CDS scanning). Read more

(.uk) Nominet establishes Countering Online Harm Fund to help tackle child exploitation

Nominet announces its Countering Online Harm Fund for tech-innovation. The fund will offer child protection networks additional resources to respond to the ever-changing threats that can devastate children’s lives. Read more

(.au) Update From the auDA Chair

It’s been a busy month since your new Board took office at auDA’s annual general meeting, and it seems hard to believe that we’re already heading rapidly into the holiday break. Despite the change at the Board level, the important work of auDA is continuing, and I wanted to give you a quick update on some of the work under way, and our focus into the new year. Read more

(.cat) The .cat Foundation adheres to the 5G Barcelona initiative

The president of Fundació .cat, Carles Salvadó, and the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Carlos Grau, have signed the adhesion of .cat to 5G Barcelona, an initiative promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the City Council of Barcelona, Mobile World Capital Barcelona, i2CAT, CTTC, Atos and the UPC. Read more

(.cat) We have been waiting for it and the moment has now come!

We have opened the registration period for some very special domains: 1 or 2 characters. They are special because they are limited and also follow a different registration process to other domains. Read more

(.cat) CPNL and puntCAT encourage measures designed to extend the use of Catalan in local businesses and enterprises

The president of the Consortium for Linguistic Normalisation (CPNL), Ester Franquesa, and the president of Fundació puntCAT, Carles Salvadó, have signed a collaboration agreement designed to encourage the use of Catalan in digital environments in local businesses and enterprises. Read more

(.com) NameStudio® API enhancement enables registrars and resellers to drive domain name registrations

We have made some exciting enhancements to the NameStudio API, including the launch of the Online Presence Endpoint (OPE) feature. The OPE feature allows for even more personalized domain name suggestions based on information users choose to share with registrars and resellers about their online presence. Read more

(.org) The Future of .ORG

"When I first learned that the Internet Society might sell Public Interest Registry (PIR), I had mixed emotions. I was surprised, a bit confused, and concerned". A blog post by Jon Nevett. Read more

ICANN Publishes Updated Domain Name Marketplace Indicators

(ICANN) Additional New gTLD Data Escrow Provider Announced

(ICANN) .ORG Update

APTLD Helps Create a New Alliance to Assist .TL (Timor-Leste)

RIPE NCC Community Projects Fund: 2019 Recipients

(ISC) Encrypted DNS: Why all the drama about DOH?

(Internet Governance Project) ICANN Told to Make Ethos Capital Conform to Original ORG RFP Criteria

(CircleID) Unpacking the Framework to Address DNS Abuse

(CircleID) Encryption, Our Last Line of Defense

(Goldstein Report) Bizarre Plot Sees Man Jailed For Plotting Domain Name Theft At Gunpoint

(Goldstein Report) World's Largest New gTLD Backend Registry CentralNic Makes DNS Service Available To All TLD Registries

(Domain Name Wire) Should GoDaddy acquire .Org?

(Domain Name Wire) Video: watch the Q&A with Ethos, Internet Society and PIR

IETF 106 Highlights

EU Policy Update - Wrapping up 2019

19 December 2019

In a nutshell: At the end of 2019, the EU has a new European Commission, including a Commissioner for the Internal Market with an ambitious portfolio overseeing digital files, defence and space. One of the hot topics under discussion for the current legislative term, with intensified debates expected in 2020, is the Digital Services Act. 

New integrated TLD dashboard on CENTRstats

18 December 2019

The TLD dashboard has been upgraded! The TLD dashboard is where you’ll find a rich analysis of dozens of CENTR member ccTLDs including their domain counts, growth, renewal rates, creates/deletes, pricing (including registrar averages). The dashboard also includes a variety of charting tools to allow you to visualise trends and compare TLDs.

CENTR publishes its Report on IETF106

		CENTR has published its Report on IETF106, which took place in Singapore from 16-22 November 2019.

61st CENTR Legal & Regulatory workshop

21 January - 22 January 2020, Brussels, Belgium

31st CENTR Marketing workshop

6 February - 7 February 2020, Stockholm, Sweden

63rd CENTR General Assembly/2020 Annual General Meeting

12 February - 13 February 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia

49th CENTR Administrative workshop

27 February - 28 February 2020, Warsaw, Poland

(.fi) 70 top hackers from around the world gathered to Finland – The world’s first open 5G Cyber Security Hackathon was a success

On Friday the 29th of November top hackers from all over the world gathered to Oulu, Finland to test their skills against 5G and cybersecurity during the weekend. Oulu, located near the Arctic Circle, is known as a global 5G and 6G hotspot and is the home to research and development of top-tier cybersecurity. Read more

(.it) The 15th CENTR R&D workshop was held in Pisa (video)

Registro .it has produced a video on the R&D workshop that took place in Pisa last month. The video can be found here.

(.lt) Domreg seminar for registrars in 2019

The seminar for the registrars organised by the Internet Service Centre DOMREG at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) took place on 5th December 2019. Read more

(.lu) A ten-fold increase in the connectivity for research and education

Thanks to the Luxembourg national research and education network’s connectivity expansion from 10 to 100 Gigabits per second, new perspectives now open up for research and development projects. Read more

(.nl) Warning: fake invoices from DNS Registraties NL

We are currently getting reports about people receiving fake invoices from an organisation calling itself "DNS registrations NL". Costs are charged on the invoice for domain registrations. Do not pay these invoices! Read more

.PT integrates .tl development support working group

On the sidelines of ICANN66 in Montreal, .PT, auDA, and PANDI have teamed up for a capacity building project for .tl. Facilitated by APTLD, the ccTLD managers of Portugal, Australia and Indonesia held a meeting to discuss the future project and agree on operational principles, while APTLD was in communication with the .tl team. Read more

(.ru) .РФ finds its balance point on the eve of 10th anniversary

On December 16, Moscow hosted the Runet 2019: Results of the Year conference. This annual December conference was held for thirteenth time, organized by RAEC and industrial partners. The experts reviewed this year and laid out Runet’s development plans for the next year. Read more

(.ru) Three registrars win 2019 Runet Prize

On December 12, the Pashkov House in Moscow hosted the 16th award ceremony for the 2019 Runet Prize, a national award for contributions to the development of the Russian segment of the net. The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ was both the organizer of the prize and a partner of one of the categories. Read more

(.ru) Over 50,000 attend celebrations of .RU’s 25th anniversary

On December 12, the Russian Internet Week, RIW 2019, kicked off at the World Trade Center in Moscow. For the 12th time, RIW will be attended by over 6,000 major industry players, investors, and officials. During the Runet’s anniversary year, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ has become the special partner of the main internet industry event. Read more

(.si) Who will win Netko 2020?

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and Registry.si will award with Netko the best web projects that live on the .si domain. Read more

(.sk) New domain registration campaigns continue in 2020

2019 is significant for us – we have much to celebrate! We achieved the milestone of 400,000 domains ending with .sk! The number of those who decided to enter virtual Slovakia is growing. Communication is developing, we have many education offers, there are many different shops and also entertainment options. However, various dangers are growing too! Read more

(.uk) The shifting world of country codes

Time speeds by in a fast-moving industry like technology and it is once again time to crunch the numbers on the country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) around the world to see which have been the winners and losers (in terms of domain under management) over the last year. Read more

(.uk) Domain election warfare

The quest for power demands that no stone is left unturned – as the past weeks of manifesto pledges and party political broadcasts have shown us. One of the most innovative battlegrounds on which election wars are waged is digital, and recent weeks saw the .UK domain being used as a space in which to grasp every last avenue of political influence in the race for Number 10. Read more

(.nz) ISOC’s sale of .org

Since the news broke about the Internet Society’s decision to sell Public Interest Registry (PIR), the operator of the .org top level domain, I’ve been asked about InternetNZ’s take on the issue a number of times. Read more

(.nz) The Panel dives deeper on .nz policy issues

At our November .nz Panel meeting, we explored feedback from a wide range of New Zealanders as part of our policy review for the .nz domain name space and the issues identified. Read more

(.nz) 2019 in Internet policy: Facing extremism, Internet filtering, and platform responsibility in a very tough year for New Zealanders online

2019 has been a challenging year for the Internet on many fronts. InternetNZ has been reflecting on what it means to help New Zealanders harness the power of the Internet to work, play, connect, and learn. Our policy team works to understand and lead conversations on the big policy problems affecting the Internet in New Zealand. Read more

(.nz) DNC newsletter - December 2019

It’s our last newsletter of the year. Before we head into a new decade, let’s reminisce over the highlights in 2019. Read more

(.org) PIR and ETHOS Convene Community Webinar on 12/19

In partnership with Ethos, Public Interest Registry (PIR) will continue to operate in accordance with best practices and the highest standards of ethics and social responsibility for registry operations, addressing the interests of all stakeholders served by PIR. Read more

(.us) Neustar approved as initial Secure Telephone Identity Certification Authority

Neustar®, Inc. has been approved as an initial Secure Telephone Identity Certification Authority (STI-CA). As an STI-CA, Neustar is authorized to issue the digital certificates used by communication service providers to authenticate and verify telephone calls — a key element in the fight against illegal caller ID spoofing. Read more

(ICANN) Apply Now for ICANN and PTI Leadership Positions

(ICANN) Business continuity implementation guidance to small ccTLD operators: playbook now available

(ICANN) Belgian Data Protection Authority Response to Proposed Unified Access Model

(APTLD) Call for Fellowship to 2020 Subregional Advanced DNSSEC Training

RIPE NCC and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in United Arab Emirates Organise Roundtable Discussion on the Role of Arab Governments in Internet Development

(ISC) Encrypted DNS: DoH vs. DoT Webinar - January 15, 2020

(CircleID) What's Behind the Secure DNS Controversy and What Should You Do About It?

(CircleID) Revisiting Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

(Goldstein Report) Domain Pulse 2020 Conference Going to Innsbruck To Gaze Into A Crystal Ball

(Domain Name Wire) The world according to country code domains

(IETF) TLS 1.3: One Year Later

EU Policy Update - Wrapping up 2019

In a nutshell: At the end of 2019, the EU has a new European Commission, including a Commissioner for the Internal Market with an ambitious portfolio overseeing digital files, defence and space. One of the hot topics under discussion for the current legislative term, with intensified debates expected in 2020, is the Digital Services Act. The European Commission is looking into whether the new legislation that will revise the online intermediary landscape should encompass the DNS level. The e-Evidence package is advancing through the European Parliament, with the rapporteur issuing a long-awaited Draft Report on the file. More than 800 amendments were issued by the responsible Parliamentary committee on the legislative proposal, indicating that discussions on the role and responsibilities of service providers when issuing and preserving electronic evidence to foreign law enforcement authorities are far from over. On the seemingly less controversial topic of cybersecurity, the Commission is looking for ideas of potential cybersecurity certification areas under the EU Cybersecurity Act and the envisaged schemes within. One potential contender for future coordinated EU standardisation work in the area of security is 5G, as assessed by the EU cybersecurity agency, ENISA. Meanwhile, Member States are no less occupied with the topic of security, especially in the context of so-called hybrid threats when it comes to the critical infrastructure. The Council of the EU asks the Commission to evaluate the need for a possible legislative revision of the existing legal framework on critical infrastructures (but not NIS).

EU Policy Update - January 2020

In a nutshell: Croatia took over the presidency in the Council of the EU from 1 January 2020. The European Commission's 2020 Work Programme identifies which legislative and policy initiatives the Commission plans to put forward in the course of 2020, including the new consumer agenda and the review of the NIS Directive. Commissioner Reynders urges the European Parliament to advance on e-Evidence. Three European Parliament committees received competence for own-initiative reports on the Digital Services Act. Europol released the EU Digital Evidence Situation Report. The European Court of Justice ruled on Airbnb being an "information society service". The ECJ Advocate-General stated that the ePrivacy Directive excludes the general and indiscriminate retention of personal data obligation.

CENTR publishes its CENTRstats Global TLD Report Q3/2019

		The CENTRstats Global TLD Report Q3/2019 has been published. The report covers the global status and registration trends in all top-level domains (legacy gTLDs, new gTLDs and ccTLDs), with additional focus on the European ccTLD market. The pdf version of the report can be found here.

31st CENTR Marketing workshop

6 February - 7 February 2020, Stockholm, Sweden

63rd CENTR General Assembly/2020 Annual General Meeting

12 February - 13 February 2020, Ljubljana, Slovenia

49th CENTR Administrative workshop

27 February - 28 February 2020, Warsaw, Poland

CENTR Jamboree 2020

25 May - 27 May 2020, Prague, Czech Republic

(.dk) New administrative order on .dk

From July 1, 2020, a new administrative order on the .dk Internet domain will come into force. The administrative order is issued by the Danish Business Authority and is a prerequisite for DK Hostmaster's administration of .dk. Read more

(.ee) You can now register your .ee domain using Marcaria.com

Marcaria.com is a leading international brand protection company that specializes in global trademark and domain name registration. With over 14 years of experience, Marcaria has provided services to over 90,000 clients in more than 220 countries and territories. Read more

(.eu) Brexit update 30.01.2020

The United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on 31 January 2020 at midnight (CET). When the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, after full ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK and the EU will enter into the so-called “transition period”. Read more

(.fr) Results of Afnic's ‘Succeed with the Web’ study on the online presence of VSE/SME

Afnic has unveiled the results of its Réussir avec le Web (‘Succeed with the Web’) study analysing the online presence of over 3,000 VSEs and SMEs throughout the country. Read more

(.nl) Our new online learning platform, the SIDN Academy

The SIDN Academy is on line. We've created a learning platform where online and offline methods are integrated to give stakeholders the chance to independently boost their expertise on a range of technical subjects. Read more

(.nl) SIDN Labs to participate in two NWO-co-funded cybersecurity projects

At the end of last year, at the dcypher symposium in Utrecht, NWO announced which projects they will be funding as part of the Dutch National Cyber Security Research Agenda (NCSRA) III. SIDN Labs is involved in two of the ten accepted projects: RAPID and UPIN. Read more

(.nl) The domain name market in 2020 and beyond

The domain name market has grown and matured in recent years. Globally, there were roughly 360 million registered domain names at the end of last year. The number of websites linked to those domain names is even greater, running into billions. While it's impossible to be sure quite where the market is heading, I expect four key developments to be influential. Read more

(.nl) AmberScript: live transcription for people with hearing problems

he Netherlands is home to more than 1.5 million people who are deaf or hard of hearing. It can be difficult for such people to negotiate the digital landscape. But assistance is now at hand from a start-up called AmberScript. Read more

(.no) Get the domain name before going public with the company name

When founding or renaming a company, it is important not to stumble in the step-by-step order of registration. A good domain name for the company is often the bottleneck. Everyone must have a domain name, but domain names are unique, and if it’s taken, then it’s taken. Read more

(.ru) Cooperation agreements signed with DTA and MSLU

The Coordination Center for TLDs .RU/.РФ, the Documental Telecommunications Association (DTA) and the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU) have signed an agreement on long-term cooperation on increasing digital user skills, organizing educational events and cooperating on digitalizing education as well as information security. Read more

(.uk) Scouts and Nominet launch dedicated badge for Safer Internet Day to help 400,000 young people in the UK be safer online

Nominet and the Scouts are helping to mark Safer Internet Day (11 February 2020) with the launch of a dedicated badge focused on improving online safety. Designed to help drive healthy and positive relationships with technology, it will be available to over 400,000 Scouts in the UK throughout February. Read more

(.jp) Hirofumi Hotta of JPRS Appointed as a Member of the ICANN Root Server System Governance Working Group (GWG)

The DNS Root Server System (RSS) has 13 identities from A to M and consists of more than 1000 instances. Those instances are operated stably on a voluntary basis in collaboration among 12 root server operators (RSOs). Read more

(.nz) Our very own ICANN Trusted Community Representative at InternetNZ!

Over the years, you may have heard about people with “keys to the Internet,” and while this sounds secretive and exciting, like something from a spy or thriller movie, the truth has been twisted and changed so many times that it’s time to set the record straight. Read more

(.org) 2019 .ORG Memories

2019 was our year – .ORG’s year – filled with so much progress and change! Let’s take a quick moment to recap some of the great moments that we were a part of – as individuals behind .ORG, together as employees of PIR, and as an exemplary registry. Read more

(.us) Neustar Launches THREEE Marketing Council for Efficient, Effective, and Ethical Marketing

Neustar, Inc. launched the THREEE (Efficient, Effective, and Ethical) Marketing Council in conjunction with eMarketer, Flashtalking, Forrester, IAB Tech Lab, White Ops, MediaMath and TRUSTX. Read more

(ICANN) Public Interest Registry, ICANN Extend Deadline

(ICANN) Launch of Dr. Tarek Kamel Award and Nomination for ICANN Community Excellence Award

(ICANN) It’s Time to Move Away From Using SHA-1 in the DNS

(ICANN) Second Security, Stability, and Resiliency (SSR2) Review Team Draft Report

(RIPE NCC) Roundtable Meeting for Governments and Regulators in Brussels

(dot mag) Cleaning up the neighborhood

(dot mag) Take down illegal content: build up trust

(ISC) SELinux Struggles with BIND Startup

(CircleID) Doing More to Address Child Sexual Abuse Materials Online

(CircleID) Thoughts on Our NPR Interview About Ethos Capital's Acquisition of .ORG

(Domain Name Wire) What you really need to know about the sale of .Org to private equity

(The Register) One company on the planet, US-based Afilias, meets the criteria to run Colombia's trendy .co registry – and the DNS world fears a stitch-up

EU Policy Update - January 2020

7 February 2020

In a nutshell: Croatia took over the presidency in the Council of the EU from 1 January 2020. The European Commission's 2020 Work Programme identifies which legislative and policy initiatives the Commission plans to put forward in the course of 2020, including the new consumer agenda and the review of the NIS Directive. Commissioner Reynders urges the European Parliament to advance on e-Evidence. Three European Parliament committees received competence for own-initiative reports on the Digital Services Act. Europol released the EU Digital Evidence Situation Report. The European Court of Justice ruled on Airbnb being an "information society service". The ECJ Advocate-General stated that the ePrivacy Directive excludes the general and indiscriminate retention of personal data obligation.

49th CENTR Administrative workshop

27 February - 28 February 2020, Warsaw, Poland

CENTR Jamboree 2020

25 May - 27 May 2020, Prague, Czech Republic

(.be) 5733 domain names taken offline in 2019

The growing number of domain names we take offline every year is a good indication of our stepped up efforts to keep the internet safe. We took 5733 domain names offline in 2019. That is nearly double the number we took offline in 2018 (2913). Read more

(.ch) Legal radar 2020

Telecommunications have developed at a rapid rate since the Telecommunications Act (TCA) entered into force in 1997. The current partial revision takes the changed technological environment into account, enhances consumer protection, enshrines net neutrality and regulates access to the last mile of fibre-optic connections. Read more

(.eu) EURid introduces two new Strategic Committee representatives

Marlene ten Ham is the new representative of Ecommerce Europe, replacing Mr Bruggink. Marco Conti is the new representative of Institute of Informatics and Telematics (IIT) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), home of the .it registry, replacing Mr Laforenza. Read more

(.eu) 1st AI-driven proactive suspension system for domain names

Over 3.6 million .eu domain names are registered by businesses and private individuals. EURid, the organization that manages the .eu internet space, has launched an award winning AI-driven system that can detect which .eu domain names will be used for malicious purposes, and automatically suspends those before they can do any harm. Read more

(.fr) inspires trust among 89% of young people

According to a survey commissioned by Afnic, the association responsible for .fr domain names, the .fr TLD inspires trust among 89% of under 25s. Read more

(.fr) Resolutions for 2020: Afnic goes elliptic

10 years... 10 years that Afnic has been using DNSSEC technology for all the TLDs it operates. It must be admitted, although some adjustments have been made to the size of the keys, their role and the generation of salts throughout this period, no visible radical change for the user had been undertaken until now. Read more

(.ie) 10 percentage point swing from .com to .ie is revealed

Over the last ten years, .ie enjoyed a 10 percentage point swing in market share of Ireland’s hosted domains from .com. In 2010, .com comprised 43% of all Irish hosted domains, versus 40% for .ie. In 2019, .ie comprised 50% of hosted domains, whereas .com’s share shrank to 33%. Read more

(.it) The Ludoteca at the Safer Internet Day Consultation

On 11 February, the Registro .it's Ludoteca will participate for the first time at the Safer Internet Day (SID) as a member of the Generazioni Connesse's Italian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) Advisory Board, a partnership obtained at the end of 2019 and signed with the SIC, a project coordinated by the Ministry of Education and a national contact point for Internet security initiatives. Read more

(.it) Figures, events and photos from the last four months of 2019

The last issue of Quarter .it focuses on the last four months of the past year. Read more

(.it) The new domotic and eco-sustainable home of Registro .it

The new headquarters of Registro .it were inaugurated in the CNR Pisa Research Area, which, for the first time, has its own "home" in the place where it was born about 33 years ago. Read more

(.lu) New identity and new logo for the Restena Foundation

(.lu) Data protection, a highly topical subject

On the European Data Protection Day, the Restena Foundation and the University of Luxembourg have raised awareness of confidentiality and data protection issues among interested Luxembourg professionals. Read more

(.me) Premium Domains Available for Registration from March 4th

All .ME domains are cool, but some .ME domains are cooler than others. And our coolest domains – .ME premium names – will become available on March 4th at 16.00 UTC. Read more

(.nl) Recursive resolver classification

Recursive resolvers act as middlemen between clients and DNS name servers. Operators of authoritative name servers are interested in getting a better understanding of the recursive resolvers that query them, to optimize their own services, for example. Building a classifier for recursive resolvers was therefore the goal of the research I did for my master's thesis at SIDN Labs. Read more

(.nl) When is a domain name registerable as a trademark?

Dutch company Booking.com is at the centre of one of the world's most important domain name-related legal cases. The US Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) has taken its long-running dispute with Booking.com to the US Supreme Court, claiming that the word 'booking' is too generic to be registered as a trademark. Read more

(.pl) Distinction for NASK for DNSSEC

NASK has been distinguished in the "Security" category, due to its input in the development and promotion of the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) protocol, increasing the security of using DNS. Read more

(.ru) Coordination Center presents its research and projects in 72 Russian regions

On February 12, a national videoconference, Together for the Family Internet: The Role and Capabilities of Libraries, was held at the Russian State Children’s Library. First Deputy Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Vladimir Gorzhaltsan spoke at the plenary session and presented the results of the international study Internet Development Trends in Russia and Abroad. Read more

(.ru) New versions of Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ documents come into force

As of February 11, new versions of Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ documents came into force. This includes Terms and Conditions of Domain Name Registration in .RU and .РФ and the Policy “On the procedures applicable to domain name disputes.” Read more

(.ru) States play leading role in providing for cyber hygiene

Cyber Security Day 2020, an international cybersecurity forum and central event of the Safe Internet Week, took place in Moscow on February 11. It was organized by RAEC and ROCIT. The Coordination Center for TLDs .RU/.РФ was the forum’s official partner. Read more

(.ru) European registries’ experts test their online literacy

Stockholm, Sweden, is the venue of the 31st Marketing Workshop of the Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries (CENTR). During the first day of the workshop, Head of External Communications at Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, Mikhail Anisimov, together with Head of the Coordination Center’s social projects, Viktoria Bunchuk, presented Learn the Internet, Manage It! game. Read more

(.ru) Domain name cost valuation methodology released

The Methodology for Market Valuation of Second-Level Domain Names in the .RU and .РФ Top-Level Domains for Secondary Markets has been published on the website of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. Read more

(.uk) Nominet CISO Stress Report: businesses get £23k ($30k) ‘free’ CISO time while impact of stress on mental health doubles in 2020

Nominet has published The CISO Stress Report – Life Inside the Perimeter: One Year On, on the working life of the CISO. This year’s report looks deeper at the impact of continued stress on the mental health and personal lives of CISOs. Read more

(.uk) Spotlight on a Samaritans volunteer as Nominet donates £150,000 to the charity

It’s great to be able to kick start 2020 with an additional donation to Samaritans. While we have an ongoing partnership with this fantastic and important charity, we have just reached the end of a .UK Domain campaign to raise some additional funds, with the support of our registrars. Read more

(.uk) Scouts for internet safety

Today, internet safety is a priority on the list of life lessons for young people, but it can be one of the hardest for parents and teachers to instruct. The generation that grew up in an analogue world often struggles to influence those who are growing up digitally. Read more

(.jp) JPRS Obtains WebTrust Accreditation for Certification Authorities

Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd. has announced that it obtained WebTrust accreditation for Certification Authorities on 21 January 2020. The WebTrust program for Certification Authorities was developed to increase consumer confidence in the Internet. Read more

(.nz) New Zealanders not doing enough to protect themselves online

New research released today by InternetNZ shows that 93% of New Zealanders are concerned about the security of their personal data. But, despite the concern, we aren’t seeing enough action being taken by New Zealanders to improve their online security. Read more

(.nz) Addressing digital identity: What it means for our personal data, breaches and digital divides

In a world of ever increasing data breaches and abuse of personal data, I believe we will see a growing public awareness of the importance of our personal data. With this awareness will develop a demand for a new way to engage with online services where trust is at the core. Read more

(.nz) DNC newsletter - January 2020

Trust, credibility, and safety in the .nz domain name space will continue to be a community issue this year. There will be threats and risks to the security and stability of the .nz domain namespace. We need to prevent that through ongoing coordination and collaboration with other trusted agencies. Read more

(.cat) Call open to organisations from the third sector requiring a website

The .cat Foundation is once again working with the esTICenllaçat project to improve access and training in ITCs for non-profit organisations. Third-sector organisations requiring internet presence learn how to create their own website alongside the team of the .cat Foundation, who will offer training to develop the website in WordPress. Read more

(.com) Verisign Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results

VeriSign, Inc. and subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $311 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, up 1.0 percent from the same quarter in 2018. Verisign reported net income of $148 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.26 for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $182 million and diluted EPS of $1.50 for the same quarter in 2018. Read more

(ICANN) .COM Public Comments and Facts

(ICANN) Root Key Signing Key Ceremony Postponed

(ICANN) Chair’s Blog: Los Angeles Board Workshop

(ICANN) DNS Symposium | May 2020

(APTLD) An Update on the 2020 APTLD Board Election

(RIPE NCC) Joining the Council of Europe Partnership

(ISOC) Internet Society Encourages “Swift and Thorough” ICANN Response to Pending Inquiry Regarding PIR

(Internet Governance Project) Can we Automate GDPR compliance? Time for public comment on Whois reform

(CircleID) Deep Sea Diving: The State of Submarine Cable Technology

(CircleID) Truth in Web Digital Identity?

(CircleID) Answering Additional Questions about Ethos' Acquisition of Public Interest Registry (PIR)

(Domain Name Wire) PIR pushes back on ICANN after California AG gets involved

(Domain Pulse) Get Ready. Next Week Is Domain Pulse, The Biggest German-Language Domain Name Conference

(Domain Pulse) Branding And Accessibility Are Areas For CIRA And Industry To Address, While Slowing Market Is A Concern: CIRA

(I&J) Executive Director Presents the Appropriate Parameters of Action on Content Abuse at the DNS Level

EU Policy Update - April 2020

14 May 2020

In a nutshell: Europol issued its report on cybercrime and the COVID-19 pandemic. The European Parliament has been busy with numerous committees advancing on their draft reports and opinions for the Digital Services Act. The European Court of Justice ruled that Amazon is not infringing trademark rights by storing infringing goods on behalf of a third-party seller. The Advocate-General of the European Court of Justice issued an opinion in the case of the enforcement of intellectual property rights against YouTube.

Fit for purpose? Task Force presents first draft of future RIPE Database

14 May 2020

By Monika Ermert, eLance journalist - The first RIPE database came into being in 1992. It started as a contact database for the then limited number of Local Internet Registries, but has gradually changed over time. With new EU data protection rules entering into effect in 2018, it is time for yet another iteration. Bijal Sanghani, EuroIX, presented the background and a proposal to move forward at the RIPE Virtual Database Task Force BoF on 6 May.

CENTR Jamboree 2020

25 May - 27 May 2020

(.be) Follow-up domain names after contract termination modified

When the contract with a registrar ends, for whatever reason, we always try to find a gaining registrar for the domain names in the portfolio. If this is not possible we temporarily move these domain names to the DNS Belgium account. Read more

(.ca) New internet performance data shows the staggering scale of Canada’s urban-rural digital divide

New data released by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) shows significant differences in the internet speeds experienced by rural and urban Canadians. Read more

(.ch) And suddenly we all went virtual

With Swiss universities discontinuing face-to-face lessons for this semester and teaching switching to the virtual realm, there has been a radical shift for all concerned, including SWITCH. Read more

(.ch) Pooling innovation to fight cybercrime

For a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), the pace of innovation is determined in principle by the attackers, who work with almost ideal framework conditions: almost no restrictive rules, flexible networking based on the division of labour, and the elimination of national borders and restrictions. Read more

(.cz) Call for Abstracts for CSNOG 2020 are open till mid June

The organizers of the third community meeting of Czech and Slovakian network specialists CSNOG 2020 have announced a Call for Abstracts. The programme board of the community meeting of (not only) Czech and Slovakian network specialists will welcome contributions aimed at network maintenance, infrastructure or security. Read more

(.cz) WireGuard on Turris

Now more then ever, people connect and work remotely. Everybody uses some kind of VPN, at least in the tech world. The new, trendy and cool way of doing VPNs is Wireguard. Read more

(.eu) Celebrating 10 years of EURid YouTube channel

The EURid YouTube Channel, EURegistry has been running for 10 years. Since its opening on 11th of March 2010, the channel has garnered 2.12K subscribers, 2,620,820 views, and uploaded more than 270 videos. Read more

(.fr) Eligibility of a holder located in the United Kingdom post Brexit

Since the United Kingdom announced that it wished to leave the European Union, many people have asked us about Afnic’s position on the eligibility of registering a .fr domain name for persons located in the United Kingdom. Read more

(.it) A pandemic under the .it extension: almost four thousand domain names on coronavirus-related issues have been registered

Since the beginning of February, the names of sites with the .it extension have changed in the wake of the pandemic, and terms such as coronavirus, covid19, covid, masks, mask, virus, Italy, free and antivirus have been registered. Read more

(.lu) COVID-19, the impact of 8 weeks of coronavirus lockdown

As students and teachers of secondary education, vocational training, as well as the Advanced Technician''s Certificate (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur – BTS) return to school, and as coronavirus lockdown is gradually lifting, the Restena Foundation looks back on 8 highlights of the last 8 weeks marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more

(.nl) Cybersecurity implications of IPv6 implementation

In enterprise environments, the transition to IPv6 has specific security implications, some involving (automated) tools and systems used to keep networks secure. Enno Rey, a pioneering IPv6 specialist who now works for Apple, recently published a blog that provides a useful general summary. Read more

(.ru) First Cyrillic domain .РФ marks 10th anniversary

On May 12, 2020 the Russian internet segment marks an important date: exactly 10 years ago the first Cyrillic TLD, .РФ, was delegated to Russia, which practically signified the beginning of a new era for the Runet and for the entire global internet. Read more

(.ru) Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ becomes a partner of the annual EURid UNESCO World Report on Internationalised Domain Names.

The Russian domain registry, Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, has become a partner to the annual EURid UNESCO World Report on Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs). The study brings together IDN data from multiple sources, including an annual survey of country code Top Level Domain registries from all over the world. Read more

(.se) Danny Aerts resigns as CEO of The Swedish Internet Foundation next year

Danny Aerts, CEO of The Swedish Internet Foundation, has informed the foundation''s board that he will resign as CEO in August 2021. The work of recruiting a new CEO begins immediately. Read more

(.nz) COVID-19, WHOIS and combatting .nz domain name system abuse.

More than 400 COVID-19 related .nz domain names were registered in March-May 2020 and available to look up through a WHOIS search. The Domain Name Commission has monitored these registrations closely to make sure no pandemic-related online harm or scam happens in the .nz namespace. Read more

(.nz) What have Kiwis been doing with the Internet during lockdown?

During lockdown, we wanted to look at what’s been happening with the Internet; how it has been used, where users have been going for information, and more. Our team put together some very useful graphs and we’ve got a sample here. Read more

(.nz) New Zealand''s CoVid-19 lockdown: a view from the DNS

As New Zealand and the world goes through the CoVid-19 pandemic, lockdown periods and changes to human behaviour, we wanted to take a look, from the DNS perspective, what changes we can observe. Read more

(.org) Continued Stability for .ORG

Public Interest Registry informed ICANN today that the agreement between the Internet Society and Ethos Capital to sell PIR has been terminated by the parties. That means that there no longer will be a change of control under our .ORG registry agreement. Read more

(.us) Neustar Authentication Technology Named Finalist for ACT-IAC 2020 Igniting Innovation Awards

Duda, the leading web design platform for all companies that offer web design services to small businesses, and Neustar Inc. are offering Neustar Localeze business listing management complimentary for three months in the Duda App Store to help small businesses mitigate the damage from COVID-19. Read more

(ICANN) Introducing the DNS Security Facilitation Initiative Technical Study Group

(ICANN) Brief Overview of the Root Server System

(IETF) Annual Report 2019

(ISC) ECS Webinar - May 20, 2020

(CircleID) Call for Participation – ICANN DNSSEC and Security Workshop at ICANN68 Virtual Policy Forum

(CircleID) What''s Next for Ethos

(BBC) France gives online firms one hour to pull ''terrorist'' content

(Goldstein Report) Smart technologies lead to evolution to IPV6+

(Domain Name Wire) Domains at the Supreme Court – DNW Podcast #285

(The Register) Come to GoDaddy: 12 million domains – from .biz to .nyc – acquired from Neustar amid promises of lower prices