Since last Thursday, the South African government has imposed to all websites using domain names in .ZA to propose a link that redirects towards the official Covid-19 information website implemented by the government: www.sacoronavirus.co.za
This new rule applies to all .ZA websites, regardless of their content.
The two other extensions managed by ZADNA registry, JOBURG and .CAPETOWN are also affected by this rule.
In the same logic, the registry also invites Internet services providers to block any websites which spread fake news.
Lastly, it is interesting to note that the government’s COVID information website is not www.coronavirus.co.za but www.sacoronavirus.co.za. This is because the domain name www.coronavirus.co.za has been registered by a domainer who proposes on his website to resell the name in question.
Like all crisis or news, COVID-19 led to a massive registration of domain names containing the associated terms, some unscrupulous players seeking to take advantage of the situation.
Unsurprisingly, during this unprecedented and complicated period, there has been a high increase in the number of cybercriminal attacks of all kinds.
At the end of 2019, the announcement of the .org registry’s sale, Public Interest Registry (PIR) by Internet Society to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm, created a debate, which was also the subject of a previous article on this blog.
For reminder, this announcement caused several concerns from NGOs, such as the increase of .ORG prices and the implementation of rights protection policies that could lead to a form of censorship, as is already the practice in some countries. These fears led Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to launch the SaveDotOrg campaign to raise awareness about the potential impact of this sale. To date, 846 organizations and 25 119 people have signed this petition demanding Internet Society to stop the sale.
In front of these many complaints, ICANN postponed
the approval of the .ORG registry’s sale to Ethos Capital and requested additional
information from Internet Society.
« Public Interest Commitments »: The measures proposed to address the .ORG community’s concerns
In response to these criticisms, Ethos Capital
and Public Interest Registry try to reassure by proposing the implementation of
“Public
Interest Commitments” (PIC), binding commitments which would ensure
that the .org prices’ increase would be limited.
Among these commitments, they also propose the
creation of a “Stewardship Council” (a council for the .org management) which
could influence decisions taken by PIR and thus ensure the preservation of freedom
of expression.
These PIC would be added to the Registry
Agreement, the contract between the registry and ICANN regarding the
functioning of the registry.
A for-profit registry to defend non-profit organizations?
During the last ICANN summit, organized
remotely from 7 to 12 March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, several NGOs,
including EFF, mentioned this .ORG registry’s acquisition by Ethos Capital and
asked ICANN about how it plans to review the change of control of the .ORG
registry.
According to EFF, forming a “Stewardship Council” will not resolve the NGOs’ concerns. Indeed, the initial members of this council will directly or indirectly be selected by PIR and PIR will have the ability to veto new council members, which would thus ensure that the council will stay in lockstep with PIR.
Regarding the .ORG prices, according to NGOs,
the implementation of the PIC doesn’t ensure a limitation of the prices
increase. An amending of the Registry agreement can be negotiated at any time by
the registry’s owner and ICANN, despite a public opposition. That’s what
happened in June 2019, when the .ORG Registry Agreement was revised to diminish
registrants’ rights and remove price caps. Furthermore, ICANN indicated in
2019, its interest in exiting the role of price regulation, but the PIC implementation
would place ICANN back into that role.
Therefore, according to NGOs, these “Public
Interest Commitments” would not protect adequately the .org community.
The NGOs’ questions remained without answer
during the last ICANN summit, and this acquisition is still under review by
ICANN.
“We acknowledge the questions and concerns that are being raised” says ICANN. “To ease those concerns and maintain trust in the .ORG community, we urge PIR, ISOC, and Ethos Capital to act in an open and transparent manner throughout this process. […] We will thoughtfully and thoroughly evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the .ORG registry remains secure, reliable, and stable.”
Following the announcement on Sunday February
16, of Agnès Buzyn’s candidacy to Paris municipal elections, several political journalists
discovered on Monday that the domain name buzyn2020.fr was registered but
redirected towards “Paris en commun”,
the campaign website of another candidate, Anne Hidalgo.
Several other names were registered on Sunday
night, also redirecting towards Paris en
commun’s homepage like buzyn2020.paris, agnesbuzyn2020.fr and
agnesbuzyn2020.com.
If several of these names were anonymously registered, two of them were registered by the association “Montreuil en Commun”, a group of “four municipal councilors” who claims to be “without any political label” and explains to Numerama the fact that these names were available “indicates the improvisation of her candidacy and LREM’s lightness regarding a serious matter such as a candidacy to run for Paris’ mayor”.
Raising awareness to cybersquatting risks
The LREM candidate will not be able to use the
domain name buzyn2020.com either, which was registered on Monday by Crisalyde, a
risk and crisis management consulting company.
“I took the opportunity to raise awareness. It’s my job, I saw a risk and I took advantage of it”, explains Selim Miled, Crisalyde’s CEO, to the Parisien.
Cybersquatting is a practice that consists in
taking a domain name by registering it, using or mentioning a trademark, a
business name, a patronym or any name on which the applicant has any right, in
order to make material or moral profit from its current or future notoriety.
Thus, Crisalyde registered 6 domain names: buzyn.paris,
agnesbuzyn2020.paris, buzynpourparis.com, buzynpourparis.fr, buzyn2020.info and
buzyn2020.com. “As soon as Agnès Buzyn’s
team contacts me, I will give them the domain name at the purchased price, with
a friendly advice” adds Selim Miled.
What strategy to adopt against cybersquatting?
Agnès Buzyn’s team will have to contact the
persons who registered these names, who may decide to graciously give them back
or resell them at prices they will have set.
However, legal actions exist aiming to retrieve a cybersquatted domain name, like the UDRP procedure (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy). This procedure will allow to suppress or transfer the domain name.
And lastly, in order to prevent any cybersquatting risk, it is recommended to implement a domain names registration monitoring to be immediately alerted of any new domain names registration that can potentially infringe your notoriety or your business.
For more information on our online brand protection expertise and domain names recovery procedures, don’t hesitate to contact a Nameshield consultant.
The 67th annual ICANN Summit, a summit dedicated to Internet naming regulations, was to be held in Cancún, Mexico, from 7th to 12th March. Often referred to by the acronym ICANN67, it is finally another acronym COVID19 that designates the now famous coronavirus that forced ICANN to reconsider all the logistics of this major event.
Since 1999,
ICANN has organised three annual meetings devoted to the regulations applicable
to Internet naming and a fourth devoted to more operational aspects, often
referred to as the GDD Summit (Global Domain Division Summit). These meetings
are an opportunity for participants from some 150 countries to discuss live the
hot topics related to the Domain Name System (DNS).
For the
past few weeks, however, world attention has focused on a completely different
subject: the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, which according to the latest
figures available has contaminated some 75,465 people in mainland China and
caused the death of 2,236 people since its emergence in December in Wuhan,
capital of Hubei province. While South Korea also now has more than 150
confirmed cases, the list of countries with confirmed cases keeps growing. More
than 30 countries are now in this situation.
Quite
logically, in recent weeks, behind the scenes of the ICANN organization,
coronavirus has been rising as a major concern for the players in the domain
name industry. More and more potential participants were talking about the fact
that they would prefer not to travel for this event, which is important to
them, while others were asking whether it was appropriate to hold this event in
such a context. Recent cancellations of similar events have indeed echoed their
concerns. Earlier this month, the GSMA, the organizers of the world’s largest
mobile industry exhibition, Mobile World Congress 2020, effectively cancelled
the event after more than 30 exhibitors and sponsors withdrew due to the
outbreak. The Fintech Festival of India (IFF 2020) organised by the government
of Maharashtra, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY),
the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Fintech Convergence
Council also similarly announced this week that it would postpone the event to
a “more appropriate time” due to coronavirus-related issues. The
event was scheduled to take place on 4-5 March 2020.
At the 19
February session of the ICANN Board, which was extended by one hour, ICANN
finally decided :
« Resolved
(2020.02.19.01), by virtue of the public health emergency of international
concern posed by COVID-19, the daily evolving developments, and the high global
risk still identified, the Board directs the ICANN President and CEO, or his
designees, to take all necessary actions to not hold ICANN67 as an in-person
meeting in Cancún, Mexico.
Resolved
(2020.02.19.02), as the Board has determined to not proceed to Cancun, Mexico
for ICANN67, the Board directs the ICANN President and CEO to move ICANN67 to
ICANN’s first fully remote public meeting. »
The ICANN Board
communiqué confirms that the summit, which is usually held in person, will for
the first time be entirely managed remotely with means still to be clarified.
If the
holding of such event in a remote mode is unprecedented, it should be noted
that in the past ICANN has already changed the organization of its meetings for
similar reasons. Indeed in June 2016, for example, ICANN decided to move
ICANN56 from Panama City to Helsinki in Finland because of the Zika virus. The
only difference is that their decision could have been anticipated earlier.
This is why
ICANN has already taken up the subject for the holding of the following events :
the GDD Summit planned in Paris in May and then the ICANN68 planned in Kuala
Lumpur in Malaysia in June.
The.TWregistry (TWNIC) offers grandfathering registrations for holders of existing ASCII.TW domains that wish to register the same ASCII domain under .台灣 (.xn--kpry57d).
Before the official opening, TWNIC provides
priority registration for registrants who meet the eligibility requirements.
For example, twnic.tw can be registered for
twnic.台灣 in the
grandfathering period.
The following eligibility criteria apply and
are checked by the registry:
The creation date for ACSII.tw should be earlier than the same ASCII name under .台灣 (.xn--kpry57d)
The registrant of ASCII.台灣 (.xn--kpry57d) should be the same as ASCII.tw
ASCII.tw and ASCII.台灣 (.xn--kpry57d) should be managed under the same registrar when creating ASCII.台灣.
Grandfathering Period : from January 7th, 2020 to February 10th, 2020.
The ASCII.tw Domain Name “.台灣(.xn--kpry57d)” will be starting on February 18, 2020.
For more information on the conditions for registration of your .台灣, don’t hesitate to contact us.
*An
internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at
least one language-specific script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese,
Cyrillic, Devanagari, Hebrew. It allows
the use of domain names in the native language of Internet users using special
characters such as Asian, Arab or African users.
Following BREXIT, Eurid (.EU registry) had
recently updated its Domain names Registration Policy, by modifying the
conditions of attribution of a .EU domain name for the British and Gibraltarians,
according to the plan below:
* From 1st November 2019, EURid will NOT allow
the registration of any new domain name where the registrant’s residence or
establishment country code is either GB or GI, unless the citizenship country
code of the registrant corresponds to an EU27 Member State.
* On 24 October 2019, and following explicit
confirmation by the Commission, EURid will notify by email both GB and GI
registrants and their providers about their forthcoming non-compliance with the
.eu regulatory framework.
During this two-month
period, the domain names concerned remained active and could continue to be
used by their holders.
* As of 1 January 2020, all registrants who did
not demonstrate their eligibility will be deemed ineligible and their domain
names will be WITHDRAWN. A WITHDRAWN domain name no longer functions, as the
domain name is removed from the zone file and can no longer support any active
services (such as websites or email).
Twelve months after
the UK withdrawal, i.e. on 1 November 2020,
all the affected domain names will be REVOKED, and will become AVAILABLE for
general registration. Their release will occur in batches from the time they
become available.
* No transfer to GB /
GI registrants will be possible during the two-month period between 1 November and 1 January,
unless they have a citizen country code from an EU27 member state. The transfer
to a non GB / GI registered will remain possible.
Following the UK’s official leave
from the European Union on January 31, the United Kingdom and the EU will enter
into the so-called “transition period” until December 31, 2020.
During this “transition
period”, residents and citizens of the United Kingdom will continue to be
able to own and register .eu domain names. The plan described above will apply
from the end of the transition period and will soon be updated accordingly.
Nameshield will keep
you informed as soon as Eurid will update the rules.
For its part, the British register (NOMINET)
has no plans currently to restrict .uk domain names – they can be registered
irrespective of nationality or place of residence. All are eligible.
On June 1970, one year after the Stonewall
Riots, which marked the birth of the LGBTQ rights movements, the first Gay
Pride parades took place in many US cities to claim liberty, equality and
denounce prejudice, persecution, bigotry and hate.
Fifty years later, with the launch of the new extension .GAY by the registry TOP LEVEL DESIGN, a new digital space is created for the LGBTQ community. This extension is thus intended for individuals, organizations, businesses supporting the LGBTQ community. It will increase their visibility and create a safe online space.
The launch of .GAY will follow the calendar below.
.GAY Launching Calendar
Sunrise
period: from 10/02/2020 to 06/05/2020
EAP
(Early Access Period): from 11/05/2020 to 18/05/2020
General
availability: from 20/05/2020
.GAY donations to LGBTQ nonprofit organizations
Note that for each new domain name registered, the .GAY donates 20% of registration revenue to LGBTQ nonprofit organizations like GLAAD and CenterLink which are currently the inaugural beneficiaries.
A .GAY domain name registration will become a way to express support to the LGBTQ community.
.GAY rights protections policy
The .GAY will give the possibility to create a safer space online for LGBTQ community. Indeed, the extension will be subject to a .GAY rights protections policy, which will allow to report any content that is harmful or harassing LGBTQ people, and to act against them by removing the content or suspending the site itself.
“The use
of .gay for anti-LGBTQ content or to malign or harm LGBTQ individuals or groups
is strictly prohibited and can result in immediate server-hold. Prohibited
behavior includes harassment, threats, and hate speech” highlights the
registry.
.GAY domain name registrations will be prohibited to parties that are, or are associated with, recognized hate groups inciting violence against the LGBTQ community.
For more information on the conditions for registration of your .GAY, don’t hesitate to contact a Nameshield’s consultant.
In November 2019, a press release announced that .ORG registry, Public Interest Registry (PIR), a non-profit organization managed by Internet Society, is going to be sold off to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm.
.ORG is the extension for non-profit organizations. The acquisition of PIR by Ethos has quickly concerned the organizations using .ORG, on the basis of the potential misuse of the extension by its new owner, which has, by its very nature, profit motives.
The concern? That the registrations and
renewals fees for .ORG domain names increase.
Yet, key figures of the Internet’s world, like
Andrew Sullivan (Internet Society CEO) are exited, seeing in this a strong
strategic partnership and a significant financial contribution allowing
Internet Society to advance its mission of a “more open, accessible and secure Internet for everyone”, as he
wrote in the press release about the acquisition of November 13, 2019.
It would seem that the fears created find their
origin in the “surprise” and lack of transparency around the deal, since the
transaction amount has not been disclosed.
These fears are, of course, the corollary of the removal on June 30, 2019, of the price caps imposed until now to .ORG fees (historically low) by ICANN, despite many reservations expressed by the community. Finally, the fact that Ethos has directly or indirectly a number of close connections to former ICANN members raises concerns to several voices of the industry.
The fear to see the increase of .ORG prices led Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to launch the SaveDotOrg campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the potential impact of a .ORG price increase on the NGO’s budget constraints.
Also the possibility that Ethos Capital later
implements a principle of rights protections that could lead to a form of censorship,
as currently practiced in some countries wishing to silence NGOs.
In front of these protests, ICANN suspended the
acquisition operation last December and requests clarification from the
Internet Society.
More recently, in January 2020, a new candidate of the .ORG extension acquisition has appeared. It is a cooperative corporation (Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants), gathering some web pioneer and former members of ICANN.
The .CY registry announces the
registration of first level .cy domain names, i.e.domainname.cy
The owners of second level registered domain
names, can also apply for the same domain names with a first level extension .CY.
Please note that the 2019 Decree does not provide for commitment on any domain names and thus, all requests will be examined on First Come First Served basis.
To submit a request, don’t hesitate to contact our customer support.
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