Category: Domain names

Launch of the new gTLD .CONTACT

Domain name - new gTLD - .CONTACT
Image source: Tumisu via Pixabay

Launched by the Donuts registry, this .CONTACT extension is interesting, particularly for the contact pages of your websites.

This extension is also part of the TrueName program created by the Donuts registry: when registering a domain name in .CONTACT, Donuts will also protect the typographical alternatives of your brand by blocking them, thus preventing some phishing attempts through the registration by a third party of a typographically similar name (ex.: loulou.contact vs l0ulou.contact).

Reminder of the launch schedule

  • Sunrise [period reserved for trademark holders]: September 29, 2020 – November 28, 2020
  • Early Access Phase [open to all, prices are decreasing day by day]:

– Early Access Phase (EAP) Day 1: December 2/3

– Early Access Phase (EAP) Day 2: December 3/4

– Early Access Phase (EAP) Day 3: December 4/5

– Early Access Phase (EAP) Day 4: December 5/6

– Early Access Phase (EAP) Day 5-7: December 6/9

  • General Availability: from December 9, 2020

For any questions, your Nameshield consultant is at your disposal.

New document available on the Nameshield’s website: “5 minutes to understand – The lifespan of a domain name”

5 minutes to understand - Domain names - Nameshield

You are not, strictly speaking, the owner of a domain name, you simply have a right to use it, which translates into an annual fee that can be renewed indefinitely or terminated in case of infringement. As soon as you no longer pay the annual fee required to maintain it, and therefore its renewal, the domain name will expire and fall back into the public domain.

However, this deletion is not automatic, because the day after its expiry period, the domain name will go through 3 successive phases before falling back into the public domain.

Find in this “5 minutes to understand” document, available for download on the Nameshield’s website, the different phases in the life of a domain name.

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.EU: Brexit and UK citizens, what will happen at the end of the transition period ending on 31/12/2020

Image source: MIH83 via Pixabay

Last January, we indicated that we would keep you informed of the expected updates from Eurid regarding the conditions of registration of the .EU for UK citizens following the Brexit.

Eurid has indeed announced that from January 1st, 2021, it will NO LONGER allow the registration of any new domain name by UK holders.

The registry will also refuse the update of a domain name to a UK registrant.

Registrants who do not comply with these rules will be notified as of 21/12/2020.

The new eligibility conditions for a .EU domain name will be as follows:

TO BE:

  • a citizen of the European Union, independently of their place of residence; or
  • a physical person who is not a citizen of the European Union and who is a resident of a Member State; or
  • a company established in the European Union; or
  • an organization established in the European Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.

So be vigilant with your currently registered .EU in order to comply with these new rules that will come into force, as a reminder, in January 2021.

PLEASE NOTE:

  • Union citizens who are residing in the United Kingdom will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name after the end of the transition period. They will have to update their registration data and prove their Union citizenship.
  • UK citizens residing in a Union Member State will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name after the end of the transition period. UK citizens residing outside of the Union Member States, on the other hand, will no longer be eligible to hold a .EU domain name after the end of the transition period.

New document available on the Nameshield’s website: “5 minutes to understand – The protection of your domain names”

5 minutes to understand - Domain names - Nameshield

Domain name is the first link between the web user and your website. It is thanks to the domain name that you are found on the Internet, that you are visible, that your identity is displayed and that you develop your business on the net. It is a digital asset of your business.

The management and configuration of these domain names usually requires access to a management interface. The absence of a security policy can be dramatic.

Find in this “5 minutes to understand” document, available for download on the Nameshield’s website, practical solutions to secure your access.

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New launching dates for the .GAY

The launch of .GAY - New gTLDs - Nameshield Blog
Image source : Top Level Design website

In our article of January 24, 2020, we announced the launch of the .GAY by the TOP LEVEL DESIGN registry. This extension is intended for individuals, organizations, businesses supporting the LGBTQ community. It will increase their visibility and create a safe online space.

Originally scheduled for May 20, the date of general availability has been postponed to September 16, 2020.

Currently in Sunrise II Phase, here are the new launching dates:

  • Second Sunrise phase (period opened to any trademark holder, Sunrise I was restricted to holders of trademarks registered with the TMCH): until 04/09/2020
  • EAP (Early Access Period): from 08/09/2020 to 15/09/2020
  • General availability: from 16/09/2020

Find more information about this new extension .GAY in our previous article of January 24.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact a Nameshield consultant.

New document available on the Nameshield’s website: “5 minutes to understand – SEO of domain names”

5 minutes to understand -SEO of Domain names - Nameshield

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques aimed at optimizing the visibility of a web page in the search results.

For your positioning in search engines and for your communication, the domain name is of significant importance.

Find in this “5 minutes to understand” document, available for download on the Nameshield’s website, the good practices to optimize your referencing on search engines.

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New document available on the Nameshield’s website: “5 minutes to understand – Operations on domain names”

5 minutes to understand - Domain names - Nameshield

Domain names are subject to various operations. The modalities for these operations may vary according to the extensions and the rules set up by the registries.

Find in this “5 minutes to understand” document, available for download on the Nameshield’s website, the different operations on domain names.

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Booking.com, a generic term turning into a brand?

Booking.com - domain name
Image source: Julius_Silver via Pixabay

A trademark must be “distinctive”, which is why no one can register a generic term as a trademark.

However, a decision of the US Supreme Court on June 30, 2020 allows Booking.com to register its domain name as a trademark.

If for USPTO (U.S Patent and Trademark Office), “booking” is a generic term, and adding the .COM would amount to adding “Company” to a name, thus arguing that booking.com cannot be registered as a trademark, the Court decided otherwise.

Indeed, it considered that “.COM” could not be compared to “company” since the essential criterion would be the identification of consumers.

In particular, the online travel company presented consumers surveys indicating that 75% of consumers thought Booking.com was a brand.

Of course, this first argument, easily challenged by Judge Breyer, was not the one that hit the nail on the head in the final decision. Since a domain name can only belong to one holder, the risks of confusion that must be avoided by trademarks could not arise here, since no one else can use the name Booking.com.

Despite the registration of the booking.com trademark, the company will not be able to use it as a trademark right in disputes that could oppose it to other companies using the generic term “booking” in their trademark.

To read the full decision, click here.

The importance of reverse DNS

Reverse DNS - Nameshield
Image source : Jonbonsilver via Pixabay

Reverse DNS is often unknown to domain name managers, especially when the names are hosted by major hosting companies. Reverse DNS allows you to resolve from an IP address to an FQDN. This is the exact opposite of the classic use of DNS, which associates domain names to IP addresses. The reverse DNS allows to answer the question: I have an IP address, what is the FQDN related to it?

Reverse DNS operates by creating a reverse DNS zone in which DNS PTR records (for Pointer Record) will be configured.

  • Classic DNS: Record A: we know the name of a site and we want to obtain its IP address…
  • Reverse DNS PTR: we know an IP address and we want to retrieve the name of the site.

The resolution system is constructed in a similar way to the classic resolution. To perform DNS resolution, the IP address to be queried is configured in the reverse zone with the suffix .arpa and points to the required destination. The principle is the same for IP v4 and v6 addresses according to the following construction:

Ex: IPv4: 11.80.92.81.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR capp.perf1.com.

Ex: IPv6: 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.1.0.1.0.0.0.0.0.8.c.0.0.1.0.a.2.ip6.arpa. 4080 IN PTR capp.perf1.com.

This construction enables to operate a classic DNS resolution on a domain name with a “.arpa” extension.

Why is this so important?

Reverse DNS is mainly used to track the origin of a website visitor, the origin of an e-mail message, etc. It is usually not as critical as the classic DNS, visitors will reach the website even without the presence of reverse DNS for the IP of the web server or the IP of the visitor.

However, Reverse DNS is important for one particular application: the e-mail system.

Many mail servers on the Internet are configured to reject incoming mail from any IP address that does not have reverse DNS. For those who manage their own mail server, reverse DNS must exist for the IP address from which the outgoing e-mail is sent.

Regardless of the address to which the reverse DNS record of the IP address points, a reverse DNS record is expected. In case of hosting several domains on a single mail server, it is enough to configure the reverse DNS to point to the domain name considered as the main one (mail servers checking the reverse DNS recognize that it is normal to host many domains on a single IP address and that it would be impossible to list all these domains in the reverse DNS for IP). We recommend that you check the possibility of setting up reverse DNS with your DNS hosting solution.

New document available on Nameshield’s website: ” 5 minutes to understand – Register a domain name “

5 minutes to understand - Domain names - Nameshield

The domain name is the first link between the web user and your website. It is thanks to the domain name that you are found on the Internet, that you are visible, that your identity is displayed and that you develop your business on the net. It is a digital asset of your business.

The more meaningful this name is, the more likely it is to position you effectively on the web, and to best represent your identity.

Discover the right questions to ask yourself before registering a domain name and the registration rules in this new “5 minutes to understand” document to download on the Nameshield’s website.

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