Category: News

[New gTLD] Launch of .NEW by Google

[New gTLD] Launch of .NEW by Google
Image source: 377053 via Pixabay

Following the launch of .APP, .PAGE, and .DEV among others, Google (Charleston Road Registry), launches the new extension .NEW in Sunrise period as of October 15, 2019.

Conditions for registration of a .NEW

  • All domains on .NEW must resolve to action generation or online creation flows. Once resolved, the web user should be able to ‘create’ something without any further navigation. For example, docs.new proposes a dedicated page proposing the direct use of Google online word-processing software allowing a new document creation page.
  • Any .NEW domain will need to be live within 100 days of registration.

If these conditions are not respected, the registry will consider the registration as non-compliant with the registration policy. In this case, the name will be placed on hold. The registrant will then be notified to correct and apply these conditions, if no action is taken, the domain will be blocked then deleted.

Launch calendar

  • Sunrise period: from October 15, 2019 to January 14,2020
  • LRP (Limited Registration Period): from January 14 to July 14, 2020
  • General availability: from July 21, 2020

For more information on the conditions for registration of your .NEW, don’t hesitate to contact us.

The alarming Kaspersky report: nine times more attacks aiming connected objects than in 2018

The alarming Kaspersky report: nine times more attacks aiming connected objects than in 2018
Image source: TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay

Last October 15, Kaspersky, the antivirus software company, published an edifying report about the volume of cyberattacks directly aiming connected objects.

Although the industry expected that this new generation of objects would be directly targeted by cyberattacks, the increase in the cyberattacks number is alarming and lets easily imagine the security flaws that the connected objects present.

According to the estimation presented by Kaspersky, between the beginning of 2018 until mid-2019, the attacks would have reached the record of 105 million, i.e. nine times more than the previous year as a whole.

In order to conduct this research, Kaspersky used the trap technique by deploying more than 50 honeypots across the world. A Honeypot is a program that imitates the connected objects’ signature specifically created to attract cybercriminals. It was then possible to detect attacks from pirates that fell into the trap set for them. According to Kaspersky, during this experience, more than 20 000 sessions would have been infected every 15 minutes. 105 million attacks from 276 000 unique IP addresses have then been detected (compared to 12 million in 2018).

Furthermore, the report indicates that both in 2018 and 2019, China and Brazil are vying for the top position of the countries that served as the origin of the attacks launched.

The main malwares that use the security flaws of connected objects are well known (Mirai for example) and identified.

While we are aware that IoT is a privileged playground for pirates, the first security measures are far from being systematically applied. It’s essential for example to change the password installed by default for each connected devices’ purchase. For reminder, although technologies of cyber malice are indeed more and more sophisticated, the first gateway for pirates remains the users’ lack of vigilance.

New eligibility criteria for .EU

New eligibility criteria for .EU
Image source: OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay

As of October 19, 2019, internationally-based EU citizens can now register .EU or .ею domain names.

The .EU is the country code top level domain for the European Union. More than 3.6 million registrations spread out across Europe make this TLD a popular extension. Initially, this extension is only reserved to companies and individuals residing within EU and EEA member states. However in order to meet the needs of an ever-changing digital environment, EURid, the .EU registry, changes this eligibility criteria to extend it to all EU citizens living around the world.

“We are excited to be able to extend the registration criteria to EU citizens around the world. The .eu domain is now closer to your ambitions, achievements and dreams. It is the bridge connecting you to your friends and family – even if you live outside the EU. It will always show your roots, your outlook, and your cultural values.” – Marc van Wesemael, EURid`s CEO.

For more information on the conditions for registration of your .EU, don’t hesitate to contact us.

ccTLDs news : .AR domain name registrations for Argentina are opened

ccTLDs news : .AR domain name registrations for Argentina are opened
Image source: Mampu via Pixabay

Argentina now offers the possibility to register .AR domain names. Until now, it was only possible to register third level domain names particularly in .COM.AR.

Here are the launching periods planned:

Sunrise period – From 11/09/2019 to 09/11/2019

  • Priority to holders of domain names registered in the zones .com.ar, .net.ar, .org.ar, .int.ar, .tur.ar, before December 1st, 2015 and in effect at August 27, 2019.
  • At the end of this period, if only one request is received, the user who did the request can register the domain name by paying the corresponding tax. If many requests are received by the registry for the same name, the holder of the name will be decided by drawing lots.

Intermediary period – From 27/11/2019 to 27/01/2020

During this period, all the community can request the registration of domain names available in .AR.

The reserved and restricted domain names are excluded and some domain names will likely be subjects to approval.

  • Reserved domains: domain names identical to names registered in ‘.gob.ar’ and ‘.mil.ar’ are exclusively reserved to these names’ holders. To note: Even a domain name reserved in one of the .AR zones can be classified as reserved by the Argentinian registry.
  • Restricted domains: Even a domain name reserved in one of the .AR zones can be classified as reserved by the Argentinian registry, making these names unavailable for registration.
  • Terms which are subjects to approval: normal words or expressions which, if they are part of a domain name, must be approved by the Argentinian registry. They include names that are aggravating, discriminatory or contrary to the law, to morality or to good customs, or that could cause confusion, deception or identity theft.

For any information, don’t hesitate to contact your Nameshield’s expert.

General availability: 15/09/2020 (Update)

Starting 15/09/2020, domain names available can be registered in .AR by any user, depending on the conditions set by the rules of the Argentinian registry.

For reminder, the registration conditions of the .AR include the providing of supporting documents.

If your current domain names portfolio doesn’t have COM.AR, NET.AR, etc. and you wish to register a .AR at the time of the general availability, we advise you to anticipate and to contact your consultant to know the detail of the documents to provide.

The domain name is an integral intangible asset

Essential key element to any dematerialized data flow exchange, the domain name became a strategic intangible asset of great value. Depending on the academic works, there is a real correlation between the intangible assets’ quality and the companies’ economic performance. Identifying and valuating domain names becomes necessary for the financial director. Explanations in La revue de la Société Française des Analystes Financiers – SFAF (the journal of the French Society of Financial Analysts) of Jean-Manuel Gaget, Strategy and Consulting director of Nameshield and administrator of the Institut de Comptabilité de l’Immatériel (Intangible Accounting Institute).

In the 90’s, the domain name was an accessory element of the brand. During its world expansion, it became the principal element of the brand, in particular in the e-commerce’s world. You only need to look at how Amazon or Easyjet have developed their logo to consider it as a unique communication medium.

The domain name has this unique particularity to be an intangible asset with four dimensions. It is simultaneously:

  1. An IT object allowing to access services on the Internet by being the link between the IP address (a suite of numbers) of a physical object [computer, server, smartphone…] and a literal name (role of the Domain Name Server or DNS);
  2. A communication tool allowing to establish its identity on the Internet and gain a digital territory;
  3. A legal element through a temporary contract with an Internet Registry;
  4. A financial asset, accountable as an intangible asset under certain conditions.

Now an essential key element to any dematerialized data flow exchange, be it for email sending, the access to websites, social networks and connected objects, any data exchange on the Internet passes by the use of a domain name and any service disruption has important consequences on the organizations’ activity.

Why and how to rate your domain name capital?

Today, the academic works, in particular carried by the French referential of the intangible capital’s measure “Thesaurus Capital Immatériel” (Thesaurus Intangible Capital) show a real correlation between the intangible assets’ quality and the companies’ economic performance. The higher the quality of the intangible assets is (human capital, information system capital, customer capital…), the stronger, more sustainable and economically efficient in the medium and long term the company’s fundamentals are. Hence the importance to measure the intangible capital and its evolution over time. 

However, as much as literature is rich regarding methods of brands valuation, it is near non-existent regarding domain names. That is why in 2019, the Intangible Accounting Institute wished to enrich the Thesaurus Intangible Capital with a specific section on the rating of the domain name capital. In the same way that clients, Human, IT, knowledge… assets are evaluated, we searched to evaluate the domain name capital in association with the brand capital. Because brands and domain names are now inseparable!

Accounting principles applicable to domain names

In a decision of the French Council of State of December 7th, 2016 (ebay.fr case), it is reminded that if the use of a domain name:

  • Represents a constant source of profits;
  • Has a sufficient sustainability (particularly if it can be regularly renewed);
  • Is likely to be transferred;

Then it is an intangible asset of the company and must follow the associated accounting and tax rules. As such, the domain names have to be accounted either at their creation cost, at their acquisition value, or at their current value (market value) for the ones acquired free of charge. The domain names are then not to be considered as a simple IT workload, but as real assets that should be managed at fair value. As such, further attention on tax issues related to domain names’ value must be given within the context of the transfer prices.

Which financial valuation methods to use?

Inspired by the ISO 10668 standard regarding the monetary valuation of the brands, we have developed a reliable scientific corpus by financing the CIFRE thesis of Mr. Clement GENTY (2016-2019), covering the subject: “Internet governance and global economy: proposal of a valuation model of a domain name’s value as intangible asset“. It is in this context that three approaches regarding the monetary valuation of domain names have been studied:

  • A historical costs approach;
  • A market approach (on semantics);
  • A loss approach (replacement cost).

The market approach aims to measure the semantic value of a domain name by reference to the monetary transactions passed. To that end, we have developed a database of more than 1.4 million transactions passed. This approach allows to give a price value by comparable.

Aim: to measure the digital performance of the organizations

These three approaches of domain names valuation by historical costs, the market and the loss, combined to the domain name capital rating are tools that should be at the disposal of the financial directions so they can better measure the digital performance of their organizations.