Tag: ccTLD

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.

DNS Belgium will now take offline fraudulent websites within 24 hours

DNS Belgium will now take offline fraudulent websites within 24 hours
Source of the picture: Kreutzfelder via Pixabay

In the context of the fight against insecurity on the web, DNS Belgium, the .BE registry, decided to intensify its action by cooperating with the FPS Economy [The FPS Economy, SMEs, Middle Classes and Energy is a Federal Public Service of Belgium which is responsible for contributing to the development, competitiveness and sustainability of the goods and services market in Belgium] in order to shut down fraudulent websites within 24 hours.

Philip Du Bois, general manager of DNS Belgium indicates: “This protocol will enable us to take even more targeted action, together with the FPS Economy, against possible abuses where .be domain names are involved. It underscores our ambition for a high quality and safe .be zone which serves as suitable environment for the further development of the Internet.”

The aim: to ensure consumers a completely safe Internet browsing on .BE websites.

This procedure will ensure a much higher reactivity. Indeed, until now, FPS Economy couldn’t request a blocking from the registry regarding the content, moreover fraudulent websites with correct identification data (at least of which the forgery couldn’t be proven), were untouchable. The blocking required a request from the Prosecution, i.e. a two weeks long procedure, which left plenty of time for the fraudulent website to create important damages to the consumers. Several hundreds of such websites per year were concerned!

From December, the 1st 2018, the protocol will then allow at the request of FPS Economy, the DNS Belgium registry to block .BE domain names which:

  • Are used for fraudulent websites
  • Host phishing websites

Of course, this procedure will be applied in the case of serious crimes.

The blocked domain name’s owner will have two weeks to react against the blocking. Without action of their part within 6 months, the blocked name will expire.

This still too rare initiative is to be welcomed in a context of the fierce fight against cybercriminality!

Swaziland, the country that changes its name and its extension

Source : OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay

We have learned from the press that Swaziland will change its name at the will of its Monarch.

Indeed, this little South African territory has not changed its name after the decolonization, fifty years ago. It will soon be the case, with the term eSwatini, the country of Swazi. If this information is more of a geopolitical notion, it will have an impact on the country’s abbreviation within the ISO standard 3166-1 alpha 2, and its extension will then change; a similar situation to the one of Kazakhstan, already discussed on this blog.

A new example which highlights the importance of the country’s stability in the choice of an extension used for an active communication.