Many of the voices we have heard speaking out about the proposed .XXX top-level domains (TLD) are mostly from the tech community, the adult industry, and politicians with various agendas. Although I rarely use this blog for editorial purposes, I thought it might be helpful for people to consider the perspective of an educator who has worked in all primary and secondary school levels and will soon start working in higher education.

The benefits of having an entire TLD for adult sites is clear if you are in the adult industry, but what some may not have considered is that it can also have advantages for those trying to prevent children from accessing them. It also provides a definite advantage for tech security professionals who are often given the impossible task of trying to limit access.

Make no mistake, it will not solve all problems, and it is doubtful adult and pornographic sites will limit themselves exclusively to .XXX domains, but part of promoting themselves as legitimate businesses involves making a conscious effort to keep children away from their sites. This could work in favor of both sides of the argument if it is used to its full potential. ICANN is again considering it, and time will tell. But it is certainly worth a second thought.

Photo Source: Flickr

Continue reading: An educator's perspective on .XXX domains

Part of managing a server or even a single website is making sure the DNS is sound and in compliance with established networking and Internet standards. While you can evaluate each of your DNS entries manually, there are many services out there that make evaluation very easy.

One such service is called intoDNS, which is currently still listed as beta, but it functions very well. To use it, simply visit intodns.com and type your full domain name (excluding the “www”). Then, click “Report”. It will then scan your domain and report on a number of important issues: Domain Nameserver records, TLD parent check, CNAMEs, etc.

When your domain passes one of the tests, the service will give you a green circle with a check next to it. When there is an area of concern, you will receive a blue circle with an “i” in it. When you have an error, it will give you a red circle with an exclamation mark. All of the information is displayed in basic HTML so that you can easily print or save it.

Continue reading: DNS Evaluation with intoDNS

Yesterday evening, Chinese web portal IT168.com and a similar social networking site, 51.com, both went offline. This is not normal downtime, however. Rather, the registrar of the two .coms is claiming the names were “rendered unable to resolve” at the request of the Chinese government.

China has a long history of Internet censorship and has just recently started going after domains. Last month, it deleted some 775 adult domains.

The country’s government is able to take domains offline only when the registrar is located in China. The .com TLD itself is operated by an American company. I find it odd that even though a person from China can obtain the go-ahead from the American registry to register an available .com (an automatic process), the Chinese government can remove a registration, even though it has no right to interfere with the transaction whatsoever.

Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Chinese government takes two popular domains offline

Usually if a domain you planned to register is taken, the .com version is the first to become unavailable. You have your heart set on that phrase, but don’t know what alternative extension to use out of the dozens of choices. Which should you pick?

I ran into this problem a few weeks ago when I wanted to register danielfoster.com, but found it was taken. The first alternate extensions that came to my mind were .net, .org, .info, .biz, and .us, and .name. In any circumstance, I would pick .net over all the others. I ended up doing this, but if my site could possible fall under the “goodwill” category, I would have opted for .org. If I had an American company, I may have settled for the .us ccTLD. In the UK, the .co.uk ccTLD would have been a no-brainer or in Germany, .de. Under no circumstances would I have registered a .biz or a .info.

The domain extension you register says a lot about your site. It appears in search engines, directories, and advertising– and is often the only part of your website people ever see. So make it good, really good.

Continue reading: If my .com is taken, what is the next-best extension?

DotAsia has announced that it will be ready to accept IDN registrations on the .asia TLD in the second half of 2010. Because of the diverse nature of Asia’s languages and the wide variety of characters each uses, .asia will benefit immensely from IDN technology.

Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia, stated:

Asia is one of the most important regions for IDN. Asia is already the largest Internet marketplace with over 700 million users online. However, that represents only 18.5% penetration. IDN will bring the Internet to the rest of the people in Asia who do not speak English.

The IDN launch will include a sunrise period to ensure trademark holders can get register their domains before cybersquatters. DotAsia says it will be the first TLD registry to apply with ICANN for the use of IDNs.

Photo | clix

Continue reading: .Asia to be IDN-ready by 2010

While economic activity in most industries is stagnant, the domain market continues to show growth. A report recently released by a large domain auction house shows a 15% increase in its sales.

Other auction sites don’t always report their growth, so it’s hard to tell if this increase has occurred across the board. Given that the registration base of most TLDs and ccTLDs is increasing, I think its fair to say that there has been universal growth in sales.

The average name sale price has jumped 37%, too– from £1,031.17 to £1,412. This heavy market growth is the result of increased speculation among investors.

Photo | svilen001

Continue reading: Domain sales up by 15%

This week, a group of African communication ministers met in Johannesburg, South Africa to discuss the creation of a .africa TLD. The thing is, does the continent really need its own extension?

Maybe further down the road there will be a use for it, but considering Africa is the most unwired continent in the world, what’s the point? Instead of worrying about a regional TLD, countries in the area should be concerned with improving their own extensions and infrastructure.

Finally, “.africa” is too long for an extension. Why not .afr or .afca?

Continue reading: What's the point of .africa?

With so many people choosing email over traditional snail mail these days, it seems as though post offices are feeling a bit left out in the Internet age. The U.N.’s Universal Postal Union hopes to change that with the creation of a .post domain.

The gTLD would be available to any postal service provider around the globe. The UPU submitted an application for .post in 2004. This week, ICANN gave the UPU approval to sponsor the extension.

Before the name can go live, however, approval is also necessary from the Board of Directors. After ICANN’s meeting in Seoul on October 30, a pubic comments process will begin. If no major obstacles are encountered in these two phases, we could see a .post domain soon.

Continue reading: ICANN considering .post domain

The .biz registry, in conjunction with a prominent domain auction website, auctioned off all single-letter .biz domains this week. The highest sale price of the lot belongs to e.Biz, which yielded a stunning £41,240 ($66,001 USD) after ending with 20 bids.

Here are some other big sales:

1.biz- $32,003
a.biz- $10,099
b.biz- $10,005
d.biz- $26,110
e.biz- $63,001
m.biz- $15,611
w.biz- $13,500

As far as TLDs go, .biz has never really received much attention. While relatively high compared to average domain sale prices, the .biz auction results are low compared to what one would expect to see if single-letter domains of a more popular TLD were auctioned off.

Source | Domain Name Wire

Continue reading: e.biz rakes in $66,001 at auction

Despite the recession, domain names continue to grow. Though the number of TLD registrations last quarter was only 1% more than the quarter before, compared to last year, new registrations have gone up by 9%. This growth easily outpaces most industries.

ccTLDs also saw similar growth, increasing by 1% this quarter and 14% since this time year year. The most popular domain by far is still .com, however. Next in line is China’s .cn extension followed by Germany’s .de.

It will be interesting to see how the new gTLDs affect the growth of current TLDs and ccTLDs. It could lead to a decrease if the system catches on, but my guess is this won’t happen. It will probably have little if any impact on current extensions, for now, at least.

Photo | vilen001

Continue reading: Domain registrations grow amid recession

Internet giant Yahoo recently filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum, arguing that it has rights to Yahoo.tel. The domain was registered on March 23, 2009 by David Blanco of Oviedo, Spain.

Yahoo will likely win the dispute. Given the company’s vast web presence and many trademarks, how can the current owner justify his use of the name?

What Yahoo should be concerned with is why it didn’t register the name in the first place. The .tel TLD, like all other new extensions, mandated a sunrise period where trademark holders could register their names before the mainstream public. Obtaining the domain then rather than paying the National Arbitration Forum fees to get the name now would have saved the company quite a bit of money.

Source | Domain News
Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Yahoo seeks to get hands on Yahoo.tel

One perk offered with web hosting packages these days is a free domain. If you sign up for several months, many providers are willing to register any major TLD for you.

This may look like a good way to save money at first glance, but read the fine print. Most web hosts who offer this sort of deal have a clause in their terms stating that if you cancel the hosting account, you must pay them the yearly registration fee. This seems reasonable enough until you discover providers will often charge as much as £15 for a domain.

Your best bet is to register your domain with a registrar unaffiliated with your web host. While the alternative would most likely be perfectly safe, why needlessly put all your eggs in one basket? If there is ever a major technical or billing issue, having your domain elsewhere not only makes switching easier, but also gives you more bargaining power with the host.

Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Free domain offers aren't all they're cracked up to be