Author Archive
Posted November 16th, 2009
The Russian domain registry .RU is accepting sunrise applications for Cyrillic character trademarks under .рф, the Cyrillic translation of .RU. This extension has not yet been granted by ICANN as the ccTLD fast-track application process only opened today, but the registry is so confident that it will be approved that they are accepting applications in a tandem process. They expect to approve sunrise applications from 25 November 2009, although the sunrise will continue until 25 March 2010.
If you have a Russian trademark that you would like to protect under this new IDN, please note the following:
- Applications must be based on a Cyrillic trademark registered in Russia
- Only Cyrillic characters are acceptable (ie not in combination with ASCII)
- Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis
- Applicants must provide a stamped copy of the trademark certificate and a copy of the trademark owner’s certificate of incorporation
- The official sunrise application fee is 1200 Roubles
- The registry has not indicated whether there will be a landrush period following the sunrise
Tags: .RU, Cyrillic characters
Posted in CCTLD's, ICANN, IDNs by Nick Wood
Posted October 20th, 2009
From Com Laude
On Friday 23 October at 9am (CEST) DENIC, the German domain registry, is permitting the registration of 1- and 2-character domain names under .de. As there is a maximum of only 1332 names available, and 300 registrars will be competing for them we expect all the names to be registered very quickly. Some registrars have banded together to secure what they regard as the most valuable terms which can be resold at high prices.
Sedo, the domain name auction company, is running a pre-auction whereby interested parties can place bids which will then be forwarded to a group of registrars – the registrars are incentivised to placed the highest bids at the front of their queues. Currently tv.de and pc.de have both attracted maximum bids of EUR 36,000.
With each registrar only being allowed to submit four registration requests a minute for these domains, competition is going to be high. It is not certain that the long term value of a 1 or 2 character domain under .de will match the sale price. After all with new gTLDs on the horizon, it is likely that ccTLD registrations will diminish in importance.
Nick Wood is Managing Director of Com Laude
Tags: .de, 1 and 2 character domain names, SEDO
Posted in Auctions, CCTLD's by Nick Wood
Posted March 31st, 2009
This view of ICANN’s latest move is brought to us by Nick Wood, Managing Director of Com Laude and a member of the ICANN board appointed Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT).
ICANN, as many of you know from past NameSmash posts has embarked on a program of expansion that will see the domain name system grow dramatically with the introduction of hundreds of new gTLDs.
If ICANN succeeds then in five years time, the 250 country code (ccTLDs) registries of today could be overshadowed by a thousand or more gTLD registries run by entrepreneurs and affinity groups, cities and even brands. The business of protecting trade marks in the domain name system will change forever as the number of registered domains expands from 170 million to 250 million, maybe many more.
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Tags: CCTLD's, DAG, DNSSEC, Draft Application Guidebook, gTLDS, ICANN, IDNs, IP Rights, IPC, IPv6, IRT, Twomey, WIPO
Posted in CCTLD's, Enforcement, gTLDS, ICANN, Internet Security, IPC, WIPO by Nick Wood
Posted June 13th, 2008
As some of you may know, Domain Tasting is the practice of Domainers who register a gTLD and then “taste” it during a five day “Add Grace Period” by assessing the volume of traffic the domain attracts. (The Add Grace Period was originally introduced by ICANN to allow registrars who make a
mistake while registering a domain name to cancel it without penalty). If traffic to the domain is high, the Domainers who practice Domain Tasting will register the domain, pay a fee to the registry and then “monetize” it, usually by putting up a website with Pay-Per-Click advertising links (offered by companies like Google, Oversee.net, etc.) If traffic is low during the five days, the Domainer will drop the name (where it will probably be seized by a so-called Drop Catcher who will either taste
the name himself or pass the name onto another Domainer to taste.) Go it?
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Tags: Domain Tasting
Posted in Domain Tasting by Nick Wood
