ICANN hands out keys to global cyber guardians

As a part of a security measure to save the Internet from complete and utter destruction in the event of a Dooms Day scenario, ICANN has handed out seven “guardian keys” to secret individuals from the following countries: Britain, the U.S., Burkina Faso, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, China and the Czech Republic.

In the event of an Internet failure, five of the seven individuals would have to bring their key to a U.S. military base. Each key contains a portion of the DNSSEC root key.

Although I doubt the new cyber guardians would ever need to use the keys, the idea of this is just really cool. Props to ICANN for being a little less boring for once.

Source | Popular Science

dotBerlin seeks special gTLD status

DotBerlin GmbH & Co, the brains behind the proposed .berlin gTLD and early embracer of the new gTLD system, is asking ICANN for special preference in the gTLD application process.

Basically, it believes that companies who had their applications ready before ICANN went public with the new gTLD system should be reviewed first. While this request obviously benefits DotBerlin, the company has a point.

When ICANN begins accepting proposals, there will be a mad flurry of applicants. Why not let those who have spent years planning and marketing their proposals go first? ICANN must ensure that gTLD operators have their cards together before making approvals. Someone who rushes off half-cocked to obtain .gibberish may not be ready to operate a domain extension.

Photo | Flickr

Employ Media seeks to open up .jobs domain

Few people outside the domain world have ever heard of .jobs, but if TLD operator Employ Media gets its way with ICANN, things could soon change. Against much opposition from some in the webmaster community, the company is seeking approval to allow the general public to register generic names on the TLD.

If given the green light, the company also plans to register domains for itself. Right now only companies can register their names on the .jobs TLD (nike.jobs, google.jobs, etc.). But with the changes, Employ Media hopes to register thousands of geographic and career-specific names and use them to create job forums.

Owners of career-related websites are unsurprisingly very upset about this. Allowing Employ Media to follow through with its plans would create a serious conflict of interest for the company. A domain registry should not be in the business of taking over its target market. The official comment period regarding the proposal ends tomorrow, so speak up and tell ICANN to squash this idea.

Does the U.S. government want to seize The Pirate Bay's domain?

For years Hollywood has put pressure on the American and Swedish governments to put a stop to that pesky little Pirate Bay bittorrent site. Despite a government raid, large fines and jail time, the site is more popular than ever. But according to TorrentFreak, the United States government planned an operation in coordination with ICANN to seize thepiratebay.org.

As part of a campaign called ‘Operation In Our Sites,’ the government has already illegally seized the domains of nine movie streaming sites. According to an insider source at TorrentFreak, ICANN took control of the domains and then handed them to the government– in clear violation of domain owner rights.

The government was poised to seize The Pirate Bay’s domain as well as MegaUpload.com, but changed its mind at the last minute for some unknown reason. This does not mean these sites are safe, however. As Professor Pouwelse of the Delft University of Technology put it, “Hollywood lawyers have discovered the soft underbelly of piracy.”

ICANN has declined to comment on the matter.

ICANN votes to accept .xxx gTLD application

Yesterday we reported that ICANN is on the verge of accepting the .xxx gTLD. The California organization voted today to approve .xxx, an application for its approval, that is.

The .xxx gTLD ICM Registry is fighting so hard for still has some hoops to jump through before it can go live. ICANN will now enter expedited negotiations with ICM.

According to ICM Registry, some 110,000 .xxx domains have been pre-reserved and the extension could go live as soon as the beginning of 2011.

Meanwhile, Pat Trueman, former Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, has voiced criticism over ICANN’s decision. He called the organization’s decision “foolish and unnecessary.” He said .com porn owners would not switch to the name, and emphasized that .xxx would make adult content easier for children to find. All they would have to do is type anything followed by “.xxx” to find a porn site. I think he hit the nail on the head:

So what is the point?. The pornographers didn’t want it. The people who want to protected children and others from internet porn didn’t want it. The only people who want it is ICM Registry, who will make money.

Photo | Flickr

ICANN to approve .XXX tomorrow

According to domain blogger Kieren McCarthy, ICANN announced today that it will officially approve the .xxx domain tomorrow. This is light of recommendations by an independent panel that the organization approve the name, which it had rejected three times previously.

This decision will no doubt make ICM Registry very happy, but cause quite a stir everywhere else. Expect concerned religious and family groups to start protesting the decision immediately. The adult industry isn’t too fond of a .xxx domain, either.

I guess we will find out if Kieren McCarthy is right tomorrow. Be sure to check back later for updates regarding this breaking news. Perhaps the .xxx saga is near its end?

ICANN publishes report on seedy registrars

ICANN, which seems to be cracking down on rule-breaking registrars lately, has published a new report criticizing a number of well-known registrars for unwholesome practices.

Some of the firms mentioned in the document include UK2, Tucows, France Telecom, Enom and AOL. Among other things, ICANN lashed out against several of the registrars for misconfigured WHOIS servers that leave data open to hackers.

Enom caught fire for the services it allegedly provides to illegal online pharmacies. The report states that it, “has transitioned from being a passive service provider to become an active facilitator of illicit criminal traffic, and possibly a knowing accessory.”

Read the full 96-page report here. Now that ICANN has called out these misguided registrars, let’s see the organization take some action.

Source | The Inquirer

ICANN puts a bullet in three defunct domain registrars

ICANN has terminated three registrars for failure to pay accreditation fees. The registrars– Abansys & Hostytec, S.L, NameHouse, Inc., and Gee Whiz Domains, Inc. — have been in arrears with ICANN for some time. Each owes between $7,000 to $13,500 to the organization.

According to ICANN records, none of the registrars had any domain registrations at the time of termination. So this isn’t much of a loss to anyone. The registrars have obviously been defunct for quite some time. Maybe ICANN should keep better track of its accredited registrars?

Tunisia gets arabic IDN

The Tunisia Internet Agency has approved the move to introduce its own IDN in arabic script. The تونس TLD has been given the green light by ICANN and will join other non-Latin scipt TLDs from another 13 countries who already offer domain names in their native languages. Recently we’ve seen other Arabic IDNs join the list, including that of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Tunisia will have to work hard to now put in place the technical infrastructure required, and its Internet Agency has chosen the AFNIC registry to manage the new TLD and ensure that Tunisia can start to enjoy the benefits of the internet more fully.

Photo | Flickr

No nation names in TLDs: further amendments to gTLD application guidebook

The actual names of countries will not be permitted as TLDs in more admendments to ICANN’s gTLD application guidebook. Names such as .mexico or .germany will not be allowed, especially given the interest registered in these kinds of domains by some countries.

The move prevents countries investing directly in domain names and comes after many African nations in particular, seemed interested in registering these kinds of TLDs. Background checks on nations wanting to invest in domains will be conducted, and the checks will aim to prevent any registration of domains by parties involved in the following:
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