Hi all from a cool and wet Domain Pulse in Baden, Switzerland! Cheers David +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Check out http://auda.org.au/domain-news/ for the most recent edition of the domain news, including an RSS feed - already online! The domain name news is supported by auDA. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ .com and .net domain name prices to go up this year http://cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=FD0253D5-536B-4268-95A5-359B4EC8E9B2 Survey: Are domain registrars free-speech friendly? http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6155614.html UK domainers start up industry association http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/31/domain_name_associates/ ***************** GOVERNANCE ***************** WSIS Action Line C5 Facilitation Meeting: 15-16 May 2007 The ITU has a new Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun Toure, who has indicated in his first public statements and to senior ITU staff that he considers cybersecurity and particularly follow-up to WSIS Action Line C5 to be a key strategic area of focus for future ITU activities. The next annual facilitation/consultation meeting for WSIS Action Line C5 will be held 15-16 May 2007 at ITU in Geneva in conjunction with a cluster of events to be organized around 17 May (World Telecommunication and Information Society Day). http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/newslog/WSIS+Action+Line+C5+Facilitation+Meeting+1516+May+2007.aspx ********************** DOMAIN NAMES ********************** .com and .net domain name prices to go up this year VeriSign has confirmed the annual price of.com and .net domain names will almost certainly rise this year, most likely in the first half, according to Stratton Sclavos, VeriSign?s chief executive. The latest agreement between ICANN and VeriSign allows VeriSign to increase prices in .com and .net by up to 7% and 10% respectively per year. http://cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=FD0253D5-536B-4268-95A5-359B4EC8E9B2 Survey: Are domain registrars free-speech friendly? Go Daddy's controversial decision last week to suspend the domain name of a popular computer security Web site did more than merely raise questions about the extent of free speech on today's Internet. http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-6155614.html http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6155614.html UK domainers start up industry association A new association representing UK domain name resellers is due to be launched. Domain Name Associates Ltd was incorporated on Monday at the same time as the address domainnameassociation.co.uk. Both are registered to the home address of Michael Toth, a well-known "domainer". http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/31/domain_name_associates/ Pecker pipped in porno pickle Only famous people who trade on their name have any chance of winning control of internet addresses containing their name, according to a decision by WIPO. http://out-law.com/page-7725 http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/04/pecker_domain_dispute/ Google loses European GMail trademark battle Google has failed to win the right to register the term "Gmail" as a wide-ranging European trademark. The Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), the body which is responsible for European community trademarks, rejected Google's appeal after a stiff battle with German-born venture capitalist Daniel Giersch. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/31/google_looses_trademark_battle/ bm/ky: Domain names have always been a source of contention Looking at .bm, this article notes there are 2,655 .bm domains, but that only 28% of those were in operation, but the definition of being in operation appears to be having a website with the domain. It also notes the low level of hosting of .bm domains in Bermuda. Then the article looks at .ky and says domain names have always been a contentious issue. After an 8 year battle, .ky was handed back to the Cayman Islands government by IANA. The problems that led to this were when .ky was originally delegated to a government employee (Clint Mole), and another person was the technical contact. Eventually Mole and Rubin sold the rights to .ky. and so began a long battle to regain control of .ky by the Cayman government. At the end, the article also refers to the ongoing saga of .sex. A court decision in the USA's 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that property laws and liability applies to the internet and hence, the real owner of the domain, Gary Kremen, was entitled to sue Network Solutions for the mistake. http://theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030730/BUSINESS/107300068 Confirmation: It is lawful to register a generic domain name even if it is identical to a trademark The owner of several ?PIG? trademarks launched a UDRP procedure against the owner of pig.com. The plaintiff previously tried to purchase this name, but its $ 21,000 offer was not accepted. It then sued, arguing that using the name for a pay per click site is not a legitimate use. http://domaine.blogspot.com/2007/02/confirmation-it-is-lawful-to-register.html .Eu a hit with users, but a mystery to others A large majority of British businesses with a .eu domain name believe it to be an effective business tool in a recent survey, while a separate survey found that half of UK businesses do not even know what the .eu domain stands for. http://out-law.com/page-7724 2007 ICANN Nominating Committee Issues Formal Call for Statements of Interest ICANN's Nominating Committee invites Statements of Interest from the Internet community as it seeks qualified candidates to assist in ICANN's technical and policy coordination role. http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-01feb07.htm VeriSign falls on restated results, 4Q VeriSign said fourth quarter sales rose 6 percent. However, the company did not report full quarterly or annual results due to a review of its historical stock option grants. VeriSign said the review, which is completed, did not find any intentional wrongdoing by managers. http://businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8N0H9G01.htm Master of the domains: The revival of Network Solutions Corporate turnaround wizard Champ Mitchell knows a dog of a company when he sees it, and back in 2003, Network Solutions Inc., was troubled. Initially a technology consulting firm, Network Solutions had landed a once-in-a-lifetime break after the fledgling Internet migrated from the Department of Defense to the National Science Foundation. It was 1994, and the NSF tapped the Herndon, Virginia, company to create a registry for Internet domain names. As cyberspace grew, if you wanted an Internet address, Network Solutions was the only place to get it. http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=1363 Kick those 'squatters' off your domain Q: I just received a trademark in two classes. My domain name is the same as the brand name for my business. Now that I have my trademark in hand, can I go after the domain name imitators who are poaching my Web site traffic? One of them is operating an index site that is just one letter different from my own domain name. What are my legal rights? http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/302139_schreter02.html Nominet Governance consultation (news release) Nominet is updating its Articles of Association, the document that describes how the company interacts with its members, and the way in which it is governed. http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=3582 Release 0.9: Net Neutrality (Yet Another Take) by Esther Dyson I've been thinking a lot about net neutrality, including Dave Farber's wise comments in the other Post. But I'm finding it difficult to follow the conversation, which is boring, confusing and filled with mis-targeted invective. It's complicated: There's no easy fix, legislative or otherwise. Any legislation may solve one problem - stopping a particular bad practice, for example - but it could also stop other good practices or stall competition in the development of new services. ... On the other hand, there are a lot of things only the carriers can do effectively... or at least, they are well-positioned to do them effectively, and it would be painful having them limited to offering vanilla bandwidth at prescribed prices. That's pretty much what we did in another market when we set up ICANN... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-dyson/release-09-net-neutrali_b_40384.html Netcraft February 2007 Web Server Survey In the February 2007 survey we received responses from 108,810,358 sites, an increase of 1.93 million from last month. Apache has a decline of 442K sites this month, and sees its share of the web server market slip by 1.47 percent to 58.7 percent. This is the first time Apache's market share has been below 60 percent since September 2002. http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/02/02/february_2007_web_server_survey.html Domain Name Tops and Flops of 2006 Sedo's Chief Operating Officer, Matt Bentley, reviews some of the domain industry's tops and flops over the past year: As we begin 2007, we look out upon a domain market landscape that has changed dramatically from only a year ago. Every year has its ups and downs, and 2006 was certainly no exception. Even as the indefatigable strength of pay-per-click advertising pulled domain values to ever loftier heights, mistakes were made, and opportunities for fortune were missed. It doesn?t require the gift of Nostradamus to predict that 2007 will also bring its share of surprises, both positive and negative. To help ensure your 2007 turns out as well as the last year has for many domain investors, Sedo presents a look back at the Tops and Flops of 2006: http://sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1373 The Internet and the Spanish Revolution: An Update on the Spanish Domain Market (Nov 2006) This past year, Sedo has seen the importance of the Spanish language in the domain world simply skyrocket. With 420 million Spanish-speakers worldwide, only a measly 80 million of these are online, making just 18% of Spanish-speakers on the web. In comparison to other language groups, Spanish is in third place following English and Chinese. http://sedo.com/links/showhtml.php3?Id=1341 Direct Search White Paper Reports Traffic Growth & Sustainability (news release) The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) completed an industry research study on the impacts of the Direct Search business and the consistency and sustainability of the traffic. Study included an analysis on multiple domain portfolios that represent over 30 million unique visitors per month. http://internetcommerceassociation.com/?q=reports/direct_search_white_paper_reports_traffic_growth_sustainability Internet Commerce Association launched The ICA is is a business organization made up of individuals and companies that own, buy, sell, resell, host and manage Internet traffic which comes from search engines, domain names and Internet links. Their mission is to promote the value and benefits of Internet traffic, including the value of buying direct navigation traffic, on behalf of our membership -- to the media, the advertising market, government and regulatory authorities around the world. http://internetcommerceassociation.com/ Newsletter Service Launches for Websites and Domain Names for Sale Website Auction Hub has recently announced the launch of their Newsletter service. This makes the website that features the largest collection of established websites, turnkey websites and domain names for sale even better. Now subscribers will never miss an investment opportunity again. http://domaininformer.com/news/news/070201WebsiteAuctionHub.html in: Best investments for the next ten years ? Domain Names, Farm Land and Cash in the Bank The biggest question for the smart investors is what will be the best investment in the next ten years? In last ten years it was oil, metals, S&P 500 and residential real estate. There is no reason to believe that the history will repeat for these four again. As a matter of fact, these four can slump like never before. http://indiadaily.com/editorial/15423.asp A new investment that is making new billionaires ? the domain name trading It is a new investment game. As real estate goes down a new type of real estate market is providing fantastic opportunities for smart investors. It is called cyber realty ? the domain name trade. Buying domain names and filliping the same for a large profit can make you rich. http://indiadaily.com/editorial/15416.asp Registering domain names with the right company is crucial Choosing the right company to entrust your domain name registrations is vital. There are literally hundreds of companies offering domain name registration services, but how do you know how reliable they are? How long have they been in business? Do they offer all the extra services? Will they hold your domain to ransom when you come to transfer away? Can you be in full control of your domain at all times? Is the company just another reseller of a reseller of a reseller?! http://domaininformer.com/guides/Choose_Domain/articles/070131registeringdomainnames.html Serbian domain name system reborn (sub req'd) One of the consequences of the separation of Serbia and Montenegro is the overhaul of the domain name system in the two countries. Vesna Gakovic and Kathryn Szymczyk explain why the new rules are more welcoming for international applicants. Available from http://www.managingip.com/default.asp ********************** OTHER INTERNET NEWS ********************** au: Loss for Holocaust hoax site A FAR-RIGHT Christian group has been ordered to remove from its website a hate-filled newsletter that refers to the "Holocaust hoax" and claims Jews have "monopolistic control" over the world's media and film. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/02/1169919538081.html Internet censorship increases The open nature of the Internet enables freedom of speech at a global level previously unknown in human history. The fact that the Internet is not controlled by any single government body means that individual countries are censoring the Internet at whatever level deemed tolerable by their citizens. While many folks are all giddy about ?the spread of democracy,? the fact remains that censorship of the Internet is on the rise. http://www.normantranscript.com/commerce/local_story_034010053 Press freedom improving in Asia, says report Reporters Without Borders annual report says Asian journalists are gaining more freedom, despite high casualities http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=62855 cn: Beijing Strangles the Internet The internet has become an important part of Chinese culture, with the country?s increasingly diverse population embracing the technology?s many powerful features. According to the state-controlled think tank China Internet Network Information Centre (CINIC), the country had 137 million internet users as of December 2006, up 26 million users, or 23.4 percent, from 2005. http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=26723 au: Kids bombarded by online porn as filter delayed Up to 2.5 million Australian families are still waiting for the Federal Government to deliver on a promise to protect children from online pornography by offering every household in Australia free internet filtering software was expected to be running by the end of last year. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21152197-421,00.html nz: Banning children from internet ineffective, safety group says An internet safety group says banning children from the internet to protect them from sexual predators doesn't work. Instead NetSafe executive director Martin Cocker said parents needed to educate their children about the dangers they could face online. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10421952 us: Exposure to online porn common About four in every 10 US youngsters age 10 to 17 report they've seen pornography while on the Internet, two-thirds of them saying it was uninvited, according to a study published on Monday. Many of the encounters with online pornography, both sought-out and accidental, were related to use of file-sharing programs to download images, the report from the University of New Hampshire in Durham said. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411419/978818 http://www.kbcitv.com/news/tech/5549796.html au: Courts get tough on hyperlinking Recently, the Full Federal Court prononunced on the operation of the Australian copyright provisions for websites that contain hyperlinks. In Universal Music v Cooper [2005] FCA 972, the court considered whether hyperlinks to unauthorized infringing music downloads contained on a website amounted to copyright infringement. http://www.managingip.com/default.asp?page=10&pubID=34&SID=673610 Tagging 'takes off for web users' (could this be a new area of brand infringement) Tagging or labelling online content is becoming the new search tool of choice among web users, shows research. As more and more people put their own content online, they are also being invited to tag it with descriptive keywords to help organise their data. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6318531.stm us: Consumers Have Allies on the Web Consumer advocacy takes on renewed power as it moves into a new form, the blog. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/business/03money.html eu: Internet video rules 'misguided' An EU bid to make internet broadcasters subject to the same laws as traditional television is "seriously misguided", a House of Lords committee has said. Proposals risk damaging the new media industry, pushing broadcasters to set up outside Europe, the committee said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6329851.stm European Parliament stands firm on cross-border defamation law The European Parliament has voted to make every EU member state take a common approach to cross-border privacy and defamation cases. The move follows a campaign by UK Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis. http://out-law.com/page-7726 nl: Dutch spammer fined $97,000 for sending 9 billion unwanted e-mails A spammer whom authorities say e-mailed more than 9 billion unwanted advertisements for products like erection pills faces a hefty fine: If he needs headache medication or debt relief there's probably an unsolicited ad in his own inbox. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/16608875.htm http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/03/1169919576491.html au: Elves, trolls and deadly danger Mental health experts now agree that online gaming addictions exist: Doctors didn't believe Liz Woolley when she said her son was addicted to an internet game in which players take on the roles of elves, ogres and trolls. Sure, her son, Shawn, 21, was depressed, they said, telling Woolley the 12-hour days of game-playing, the social isolation and the personality changes were a side effect rather than a cause of the American man's mental deterioration. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/02/04/1170523951389.html Internet users play tag with online content: study Web 2.0 pioneers are taking personal control of how online content is organised, according to new research. The study, conducted by the Pew Internet & America Life Project in December 2006, reports 28 per cent of US internet users have categorised, or "tagged", user generated content online. Tagging is effectively a new form of searching for content which allows users to mark, store, and then retrieve the web content they or other users found valuable. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/02/tags_folksonomy/ uk: Radio enters a new golden age as digital use takes off The digital revolution and the expansion of new ways of accessing information through the internet has given a huge boost to one of the older and more traditional forms of electronic media - the radio. http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article2208272.ece uk: Surfing net is top pastime for elderly Browsing the internet has overtaken DIY and gardening to become the favourite pastime of older people, according to a survey by the insurance company AXA. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/02/net02.xml au: Phone addiction ruinous AUSTRALIANS are ruining relationships, running up huge debts, even putting themselves in danger because of their addiction to their mobile phones. http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21161651-2702,00.html Euro broadband growth slows THE uptake of broadband internet services in Europe has slowed, with growth dropping to 7 per cent in the six months to September, a new report from a carrier group has found. http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21158442%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html Viacom to YouTube: Dump Infringing Content Media conglomerate Viacom demanded on Friday that Google's video service YouTube remove from its Web pages as many as 100,000 video clips containing copyrighted material. The two sides had been negotiating a licensing agreement that would allow Viacom-owned content on the YouTube site when talks broke down. Viacom's demand came next. Viacom had asked YouTube to remove its content last fall, as well. http://ecommercetimes.com/story/55548.html http://news.com.com/2100-1026_3-6155771.html http://iht.com/articles/2007/02/02/business/youtube.php Mobile giants plot secret rival to Google Europe's biggest telecoms groups are aiming to create a mobile phone search engine that could challenge Yahoo! and Google, the US giants. Vodafone, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and one American network, Cingular, are among the companies that will come together for secret, high-level talks at the mobile industry's biggest annual trade show in Barcelona next week. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/02/04/cnsearch04.xml Google profits double to $3bn Google saw its profits rocket by 110% to $3.07bn (?1.57bn) last year as the company extended its dominance in guiding people around cyberspace. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2003373,00.html http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2578425,00.html Return to founder: Michael Dell returns to the helm of the company he founded The computing world has traditions, if not clich?s. It is, for example, customary for the founders of big technology firms to have dropped out of college, or at least graduate school, before getting started. Everyone from Steve Jobs (Apple), Bill Gates (Microsoft) and Michael Dell (Dell) in the industry's first generation to Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google) in the current one has so far complied. http://economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8633423 http://businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2007/tc20070202_879041.htm http://businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2007/db20070131_503358.htm Residential VoIP users to hit 267m by 2012 Global residential VoIP services will attract 267 million subscribers in 2012, a huge jump from the 38 million users registered last year, new research from ABI Research has predicted. http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/vnunet/news/2173954/267-residential-voip-users +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (c) David Goldstein 2007 --------- David Goldstein address: 4/3 Abbott Street COOGEE NSW 2034 AUSTRALIA email: Goldstein_David §yahoo.com.au phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile); +61 2 9665 5773 (home) "Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.comReceived on Fri Feb 09 2007 - 01:07:11 UTC
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