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  <channel>
    <title>BrandShelter - A service of Key-Systems GmbH</title>
    <link>/var/www/bsredaxo//en/news/newsfeed.xml</link>
    <description>BrandShelter Newsfeed</description>
    <language>en-en</language>
    <copyright>Key-Systems GmbH</copyright>
    <pubDate>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:24:17 +0000</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:24:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
    <item>
      <title>.GA Sunrise started</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Dot GA Registry, an initiative of the Agence Nationale des Infrastructures Numériques et des Fréquences (ANINF), announced the start of the Sunrise period for the ccTLD of Gabon .GA.  The Sunrise period for trademark owners will take place until July 15, 2013, followed by a Landrush period from July 15 to August 31, 2013. During this phase, everyone can register .GA domains on a first come, first served basis. The General Availability will start on September 1, 2013.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=266</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:23:20 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=266</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Free webinars about Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH)</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        BrandShelter's free webinar about the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) prepares you best for the challenges of the new top level domains (nTLDs) and gives you an overview of ICANN's nTLD program and the strategies for protecting your trademarks with the TMCH. Webinar in German: June 19, 2013 at 10:00 CEST.
Webinar in English: June 20, 2013 at 11:30 CEST.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=265</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:07:19 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=265</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Redemption Grace Period for .DE Domains </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        DENIC e.G., the registry for .DE domains, plans to introduce a Redemption Grace Period (RGP).  The RGP should protect against domain loss by accidental deletion. The launch is scheduled for the second half of 2013. Instead of an immediate deletion of a .DE domain after expiration of a contract, there will initially  be a cool down phase for 7 days in future. If no reactivation takes place, the domain will be deleted after the cool down phase.

DENIC asks for feedback on the suggested RGP process. Statements can be submitted via e-mail to info@denic.de (subject matter: RGP) until 21 June 2013. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=264</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=264</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.LU: Domains can be locked in disputes </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        
DNS-LU, registry of the Luxembourg ccTLD .LU, changes its rules for .LU domain disputes. From June 11, 2013 anyone who believes he has a right to a domain or is cut by it in his own rights, may apply for a dispute entry. The lock is valid for one year.  The locked domain can still be used but not transferred to a third party. After a year, the dispute  will be deleted without further notice and possibility of an extension.


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=263</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=263</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New gTLD process: First delegation in August at the earliest</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN announced in yesterday's New gTLD Update Webinar a tentative schedule for the delegation of the first new gTLD.  According to this time line, the first new gTLD could be delegated on August 28, 2013 at the earliest. Considering the Sunrise Notice, that takes 30 days, the first Sunrise period could start on September 28, 2013 and the first Landrush could be held as of October 28, 2013.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=262</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 06 Jun 2013 10:53:29 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=262</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Guardian News Rebrands Online and Withdraws gTLD Applications</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        It has been known that applicants for generic Top Level Domains that have applied for the same, or even similar, strings, would negotiate with one buying out the other or working together. Or even smaller players dropping out because they can’t compete with the bigger applicants with more money.
But Guardian News & Media and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America seem to have done a deal that involves the transfer of a valuable .com domain name and withdrawing from gTLD applications to allow one company no competition in its application. It appears Guardian News & Media, the owner of one of the world’s most popular online news websites, and the only non-.com domain suffix in the top ten Google News list of digital news outlets, has taken ownership of the domain name theguardian.com and will soon move its global branding online from a .co.uk domain to .com. The move also reinforces the importance, or at least perceived importance by global brands, of a .com domain.

The news company has also withdrawn its applications for .guardian, .gdn and.guardianmedia leaving Guardian Life Insurance Company of America free to pursue its application for .guardian without any competition from the media group, the only other applicant for .guardian.

The benefit for the Guardian News & Media is they have a memorable .com domain name as they expand their global online readership. The website guardian.co.uk has been growing rapidly and has just seen three consecutive months of record traffic with 81 million unique browsers accessing their site a month, and growing four-fold over five years to over 470 million page views, and, says The Guardian, “testament to our digital-first strategy, which we announced nearly two years ago.”

However while The Guardian is a British newspaper, their online audience is accessed from almost every country in the world, with UK users now only accounting for a third of their total audience.

The transfer of the domain name theguardian.com took place on 16 April according to Whois records, around three weeks after the media company withdrew applications for .guardian, .gdn and. guardianmedia, although it still has applications for .observer and .theguardian in progress.

It is also interesting to note that Guardian Life Insurance Company of America has withdrawn its application for .guardianlife and is still progressing with its application for .guardian.

The newspaper believes their “move to theguardian.com will only strengthen [their] global presence and is a loud signal of [their] status as a leading digital news provider and of the breadth and depth of our content.”

Under the new domain name, the media group will amalgamate its existing online properties “Guardian.co.uk, mobile site m.guardian.co.uk, US homepage guardiannews.com and the soon-to-launch Australian digital edition – into one core web destination.”
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=261</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:24:27 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=261</guid>
      <author>David Goldstein</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.ML and .CF: Landrush for both ccTLDs begins on June 1</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Sunrise for .ML (Mali) and .CF (Central African Republic) ends on May 31. Directly after Sunrise, the Landrush phase follows from June 1 to July 14. During Landrush everyone can register domain names within the .ML and .CF zone on a first-come, first-served basis. General Availability starts on July 15. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=260</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 31 May 2013 14:39:30 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=260</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Attempt By Sweden To Seize Pirate Bay Domains Raises “Fundamentally Important Issue Of Law”</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The request by Swedish prosecutors to get the courts to seize .se domain names used by The Pirate Bay has been described as a “fundamentally important issue of law.” In a new attempt to close down The Pirate Bay, Swedish prosecutors want the domain names piratebay.se and thepiratebay.se deregistered. However having pre-empted some problems in Sweden, the file sharing website recently changed its domains to .sx, the ccTLD for Sint Maarten, a Dutch territory in the Caribbean.

The domains “have been used as a means to commit crime,” prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad said, reported Reuters. “There is a significant criminal copyright infringement which causes a great deal of damage to many.” As a result of the actions of the prosecutor, .SE finds it “particularly interesting to find out what role the domain name administrator should have in this respect.”

The registry also recognises that the attempt by the prosecutor to seize the domains is a clear sign of new strategies by the global entertainment industry to shut down illegal file sharing after difficulties in prosecuting breaches and infringements.

In a posting on the .SE website by Elisabeth Ekstrand, head of legal and policy, she writes “the prosecutor argues that a domain name is equivalent to ‘property’ and an ‘object,’ implying that a domain name can be forfeited.” But, she asks, “is it so simple that a domain name can be considered the same as an object/property?” The answer is not known yet and Ekstrand writes the registry believes “that it is fundamentally important that the legal situation will be clarified.”

In the case, the prosecutor has argued “that forfeiture can be performed from us, since we constitute ‘a party to the crime.’ The prosecutor contends that .SE, through its domain name operations, is promoting copyright infringement and this is sufficient so that forfeiture can be conducted from .SE.”

But Ekstrand asks “is it really the case that .SE’s status [as a registry] means that the prosecutor can file such an action against us? After all, .SE is only one of several intermediaries that facilitate communication on the Internet.”

“To bring clarity to the legal situation, we will naturally respond to the actions and argue our point, as the prosecutor has done in its lawsuit.

“The only thing that is apparent at this point is that it is unclear what responsibility .SE has and, furthermore, what the legal standing is for a domain name. Through these judicial proceedings, we will hopefully receive an answer to these very important fundamental legal questions and hopefully the legal situation will be clarified and case law in the area will be created.”

The request to have the .se domains deregistered came around May Day, with the Swedish Prosecution Authority filing a petition with the Stockholm District Court requesting the seizure of two domain names.

“In the eyes of the prosecutor, .SE’s catalogue function has become some form of accomplice to criminal activity, a perspective that is unique in Europe as far as I know,” wrote Danny Aerts, CEO of .SE in an earlier blog posting. “There are no previous cases of states suing a registry for abetting criminal activity or breaching copyright law. Anyhow, Sweden strives to be the best and first in terms of the Internet, even if the country’s track record for this is highly questionable.

“And they want to do it quickly as well. Right before the Ascension holiday, we received the petition with two weeks to respond. The time to respond has now been prolonged until the beginning of June. The prosecutor believes that this is so pressing that the district court would be able to make a decision on the matters without deliberations.”

The aim of the prosecutor, writes Aerts, is to seize the two names from .SE and for the state to have ownership of these, or alternatively, that they deregister and subsequently block these domain names forever.

It is unclear whether all domain names under .se are the property of the Foundation. If that is the case, Aerts writes it means it is property that can subsequently be seized and fall under the guardianship of the state.

And if the domain names are blocked forever, Aerts says “it sounds as though it contravenes the National Top-Level Domains for Sweden on the Internet Act. Previous discussions with the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority regarding the blocking of domain names resulted in an understanding that this approach is not necessary.”

And “what would Stockholm’s address registry look like if you had removed all of the addresses where a crime had been committed? Probably like Swiss cheese,” Aerts continues.

Concluding Aerts writes .SE is not “part of a problem that exists between two parties. We are a quick fix but the wrong solution!

“.SE will naturally respond to the prosecutor’s perspective. We have an educational task ahead of us in explaining to the District Court what a domain name is, what .SE does and the fundamentally incorrect nature behind seizing a domain name forever.

“This will be an expensive process and, although our lawyers will find it an interesting case, these are funds that we would rather spend on our investments in schools or digital inclusion.”
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=259</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 15:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=259</guid>
      <author>David Goldstein</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.AL: domain registrations are now also possible for foreign companies </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Albanian Electronic and Postal Communication Authority (AKEP), operator of the country-code top level domain .AL, has changed the rules for domain allocation from May 1. .AL domains can now be registered by foreign companies.  Despite the liberalization of the procurement rules, the foreign company must prove business activities in its country to be able to register .AL domains. Until now, only Albania's citizens and enterprises and foreign companies based in Albania were able to register .AL domains.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=258</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 23 May 2013 12:13:10 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=258</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Moves Ahead With New gTLD Initial Evaluations</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN is moving ahead with its plans to enable new generic Top Level Domains operational by the end of 2013, or early 2014 at the latest. To date 244 applications have passed the Initial Evaluation process, which is expected to be completed within 12 months of its commencement on 3 May and is to determine the suitability of the applicant and whether the string they have applied for is contentious.

The Initial Evaluation process currently underway consists of two parts. One part will review the string applied for to see if it is confusingly similar to an existing TLD, or even another applicants, whether the TLD violates a reserved string, whether it contributes to DNS instability and whether it is a geographic name which is not allowed. The other part is a review of the applicant and will focus on the applying organisation to determine if they have demonstrated the appropriate technical, operational and financial capabilities to run a registry. The applicant's proposed registry services will also be reviewed to determine whether they might cause DNS instability.

And as the Initial Evaluation process moves ahead, over 50 applications for gTLDs have been withdrawn. When ICANN had their Big Reveal on 13 June 2012, there were 1930 applications for 1409 gTLD strings. To date there have been 57 applications withdrawn.

Of the withdrawals, six were withdrawn in the past week or so. Some of the highlights of strings applied for that have been withdrawn include:
- Top Level Domain Holdings withdrawing four applications for .free, .sale , .spa and .zulu
- .hilton on behalf of the global hotel corporation
- .olympus on behalf of the technology company
- four applications from MiTek USA including .mitek
- .heart and .stroke, applied for by the American Heart Association
- .est, .and and .are applied for by Charleston Road Registry
- .cadillac, .chevrolet and .gmc applied for by General Motors
- .case and .home applied for by Go Daddy
- .guardian, .guardianmedia and .gdn applied for by the British media company Guardian News and Media
- .heinz and .ketchup applied for by H.J. Heinz Company.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=257</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 15 May 2013 08:09:12 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=257</guid>
      <author>David Goldstein</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.ML and .CF: Sunrise in May</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Dot ML Registry, an initiative of the Agence des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (AGETIC), and the Dot CF Registry, an initiative of the Societe Centrafricaine de Telecommunications (SOCATEL), have published the launch schedule of the Malian ccTLD .ML and the ccTLD of the Central African Republic, .CF. Both registries are using the infrastructure of Freedom Registry to operate their domains. The Sunrise period for international trademark owners will take place from May 1 to May 31, 2013, followed by a Landrush period from July 1-14, 2013. Domain registrations will be accumulated during the entire Sunrise period; they are not possible on a 'first come, first served' basis. During the Landrush, anyone can register .ML and .CF domains on a 'first come, first served' basis. As of July 15, 2013, the General Availability will begin.

.ML and .CF domains may be registered by all internet users in Mali and the Central African Republic and in other countries without any restrictions in terms of quantity or use. 
 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=256</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:53:53 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=256</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Removal of the .AN ccTLD starts this year</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The University of the Netherlands Antilles (UNA), the administrator of .AN domains, will commence the removal of .AN domain names from their databases and systems on October 31, 2013. One year later, on October 31, 2014, .AN will be excluded from the DNS root server. .AN is the ccTLD of the former Netherlands Antilles which was dissolved in 2010 into two new autonomous countries, Curaçao and St. Maarten. The operation of the .AN TLD, which has been in use since 1993, is being phased out. The UNA advises any .AN domain names to be moved to the .CW Zone, which is the ccTLD of Curaçao.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=255</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:58:09 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=255</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>More than 252 million registered domains in 2012</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        According to "Domain Name Industry Brief", published by VeriSign, Inc., the registry of the top level domains .COM and .NET, the number of registered domains worldwide rose to more than 252 million in the 4th Quarter of 2012. 
 In comparison to the end of 2011, the number of registered domains increased by 26.6 percent or 11.8 million domains. Among the ccTLDs, those of China, Tokelau, India and the Russian Federation grew the most, each about four percent. The majority of registered domains under a country-specific TLD are registered under .DE, followed by .TK (Tokelau). United Kingdom (UK), .CN (China) and .NL (Netherlands). 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=254</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:37:58 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=254</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.JOBS registry plans open domain registrations</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry provider of the top level domain .JOBS intends to allow open registration on a first come, first served basis later this year. This means that registrants can freely choose the name they register under .JOBS. Domain registrations under .JOBS, introduced in 2006, are currently restricted to employment-related sites. Only companies and organizations may register a .JOB domain. The domain name  must correspond to the legal name of the company or organization, which is the registrant. Before the start of the open registration, the .JOBS registry will conduct a Sunrise in cooperation with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH).
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=253</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:42:17 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=253</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.भारत (India): Sunrise postponed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry operator of .IN (India) has postponed the launch of Internationalized Domain Names under .भारत (India). Originally, the Sunrise start was scheduled for April 15, 2013. A new launch date is not yet known. .भारत IDNs for the Devanagari Script will be supported in the following 8 languages: Bodo(Boro), Dogri, Hindi, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali, and Sindhi-Devanagari.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=252</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:41:59 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=252</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Trademark validation with the Trademark Clearinghouse starts today</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        In time with the planned delegation of the first new gTLDs in April, companies and individuals may protect their trademarks with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) as of today.  Through the verification of their trademark information by the TMCH, right holders may profit from a lot of services supporting the protection of their rights.

BrandShelter customers can transmit their trademark data through our customer portal (https://secure.brandshelter.com). You can comfortably enter your data via an input mask and upload the required documents. For further information please send an e-mail to info@brandshelter.com. 


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=249</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:01:40 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=249</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.CO: Launch of Asian IDNs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .CO registry will launch Asian Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in the .CO name space. As of April 15, domains in Chinese, Korean and Japanese language will be available for registration.  Asian IDNs may be registered under .co, .com.co, .net.co, .nom.co and the restricted third level domains (.org.co, .mil.co, .gov.co, .edu.co). There will be no formal Sunrise, Landrush or Grandfathering period.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=248</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:48:01 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=248</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.PW: Landrush extended until March 22</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .PW Landrush Period will end on March 22, 2013, four days later than originally scheduled. The General Availability will start on March 25, 2013. The .PW country-code top level domain (ccTLD) is marketed as an abbreviation for 'Professional Web'. There is no special registration requirements for the registration of .PW domains.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=245</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:09:32 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=245</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>KSregistry starts with a comprehensive website in time for the introduction of new TLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        With the website launch, the KSregistry GmbH is preparing for the first delegations of new generic TLDs by ICANN that are planned for April 2013. 30 candidates for new regional, generic or brand TLDs decided on KSregistry as technical backend provider. The KSregistry GmbH presents its new website with clear design, user-friendly structure and comprehensive content such as news about the new gTLD program. It also informs internet users about the technical structure of the registry system and its functions, as well as the currently supported country code top level domains (ccTLDs) .TC, .VG, .GD and .DM. 

KSregistry, a hundred percent subsidiary of the international Key-Systems GmbH, offers customers the customized, technical operation of their registry. Due to the modular character of KSregistry's services, the registry solution can be expanded and modified according to changing needs at all times.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=244</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:14:16 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=244</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.भारत (India): Sunrise in April</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry operator of .IN (India) launches  Internationalized Domain Names under .भारत (India). The Sunrise will start on April 15, 2013. .भारत IDNs for the Devanagari Script will be supported in the following 8 languages: Bodo(Boro), Dogri, Hindi, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali, and Sindhi-Devanagari. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=243</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:07:42 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=243</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Nominet: No shorter .UK domain names</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .UK registry Nominet announced that it abstains from the introduction of domain names for companies registered at the second level until further notice. As we announced in November 2012, Nominet planed to offer companies  domain names registered at the second level, like www.example.uk, instead of www.example.co.uk. The new .UK domain name service should be called direct.uk. Stakeholders and participants were invited to comment on the proposed new service up to January 7, 2013.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=242</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:38:56 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=242</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New gTLD process: 19 applications withdrawn</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The number of 1,930 initial applications for a new gTLD meanwhile decreased to 1,911. Thus far 19 applications have been withdrawn. These are the following applications and applicants:
 .and              	(Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
.ansons        	        (CBM Creative Brands Marken GmbH)
.are              	(Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
.cadillac        	(General Motors LLC)
.caremore               (WellPoint, Inc.)
.chartis          	(American International Group, Inc.)
.chatr            	(Rogers Communications Partnership)
.chevrolet              (General Motors LLC)
.cialis           	(Eli Lilly and Company)
.est              	(Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
.glean            	(Lifestyle Domain Holdings, Inc.)
.gmbh             	(GMBH Registry, LLC)
.gmc             	(General Motors LLC)
.hilton           	(HLT Stakis IP Limited)
.ksb              	(KSB Aktiengesellschaft)
.skolkovo               (Fund for Development)
.swiss            	(Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.)
.thehartford            (Hartford Fire Insurance Company)
.transformers           (Hasbro International, Inc.)

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=241</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:36:47 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=241</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: String Similarity Contention Sets released</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN publicized the results of the string similarity review, a part of the initial evaluation of applications in the gTLD process. Identical or similar applications for new gTLDs are put in contention sets. There are two contention sets, including four non-matching applications: .HOTEIS and .HOTELS as well as .UNICOM and .UNICORN, and 230 exact matching sets. A total of 754  applications are affected by contention. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=240</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:41:35 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=240</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN starts Trademark Clearinghouse on March 26</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Today, ICANN announced the implementation of Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), a worldwide storage for trademark data, on March 26, 2013. In good time before the planned delegation of the first new gTLDs in April, companies and individuals will be able to protect their trademarks with the Trademark Clearinghouse. Through the verification of their trademark information by the TMCH, right holders may profit from a lot of services supporting the protection of their rights.  The TMCH contains two functions: trademark validation and database administration. The trademark validation will start with the submission of trademark data by right holders on March 26. Responsible for the verification of these submissions will be the Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services. For the database administration, ICANN will cooperate with IBM. This cooperation will include the dissemination of relevant data for Sunrise and Trademark Claims services. The advantage for right holders that register their marks with the TMCH will be the authorization to Sunrise registrations.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=239</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:56:03 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=239</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN could redelegate .ML this week </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The country code top level domain of Mali, .ML, could be delegated to a new registry operator. ICANN’s board of directors will decide on this question this week. At the moment the current operator of .ML, the Société des Télécommunications du Mali (Sotelma), does not offer .ML registrations. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=238</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:52:28 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=238</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DNS.be plans to introduce IDNs in June 2013</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        DNS.be, the registry operator of the Belgian ccTLD, announced the launch of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for .BE. Registrations may be possible as of June 11, 2013. DNS.be will implement characters of the official Belgian languages,  Dutch, French and German, and other European languages, such as Swedish, Danish and Finnish. DNS.be plans to allow registrations of the following characters: ß, à, á, â, ã, ó, ô, þ, ü, ú, ð, ä, å, ï, ç, è, õ, ö, ÿ, ý, ò, æ, é, ê, ë, ì, í, ø, ù, î, û, ñ, œ. 

DNS.be will waive a Sunrise period for .BE IDNs. Therefore trademark owners won't be able to register their trademarks first. The launch process will start with the Landrush. During this period, any interested party will have the opportunity to apply for domain names on a first-come, first-served basis. 

For further information, please contact your personal account manager.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=237</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 07:38:02 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=237</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Approvals of the first new TLDs as of April 23 expected</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Fadi Chehadé, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICANN, announced in an interview that recommendations for the delegation the first new gTLDs could be given as of April 23, 2013. At this time giving recommendations could be possible, since in the last few weeks major progress in the alignment of process definition have been achieved. Due to unforeseen reasons the date could move for days or weeks, but not for months. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=236</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:44:49 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=236</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Registration and payment of. AZ domains soon possible online</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        According to information provided by the Azerbaijan Business Center, the registration of domains under. AZ, country code top level domain (ccTLD) of Azerbaijan, should be simplified with the installation of a system to register and pay .AZ domains online. . AZ is an open, unrestricted ccTLD and currently offers many attractive free addresses. Brand owners are recommended preventive domain registrations. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=235</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:30:31 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=235</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch: BIZ.ID and MY.ID</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Indonesia has launched the second level domains .BIZ.ID and .MY.ID. As of now, registrations under these domain extension are possible on a first-come, first-served basis. However, a local presence is required. Although .BIZ.ID originally should be reserved for medium-sized and small businesses and .MY.ID for private usage, there are currently no restrictions related to the use of these domain extensions.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=234</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:06:49 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=234</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.CA: French characters available </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        As we announced in June 2012, CIRA, the operator of the Canadian .CA TLD, launched the French Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for .CA in January. As of now, domains in French language are available for registration. Thus it is now possible to register .CA domain names in both official Canadian languages English and French with the full range of French characters and ligatures such as é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, ÿ. According to a special bundling policy it is not necessary to register every special-character variant of an existing .CA domain. A registrant has an automatically granted exclusive right to register all variants of his domains, but he is under no obligation to do that. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=233</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:15:29 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=233</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Preliminary Results of ICANN's New gTLD Priorization Draw Published</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN today published the results of the priorization draw held in Los Angeles yesterday. Among the first 150 gTLD applications to be evaluated and delegated are all IDN strings; these were prioritized in the draw. Furthermore, strings such as .energy (116), .food (rank 117), .camera (123), .koeln (126), .city (133), .lifestyle (144) or .tech (142) ranked under the first 150 TLDs to be realized. ICANN intends to announce the evaluation results at a rate of about 100 applications per week, according to the priorization draw results from late March to late June. 20 contract signatures and pre-delegation tests per week are planned. However, no contracts will be signed before the ICANN meeting in Beijing next April. 

The published results about the draw are preliminary and do not represent a validated or finalized result of the new gTLD prioritization draw. Final results will be posted on ICANN's website at http://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus soon.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=232</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Jan 2013 10:57:56 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=232</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.TC: Reactivation of registrations on December 4</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registration gateway for .TC domain names will be reactivated on December 4, 2012, 12:00 UTC. As of this date you can register .TC domain names again. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=231</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 04 Dec 2012 11:52:55 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=231</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.CO: Launch of Scandinavian IDN characters on January 15, 2013 </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .CO registry announced the launch of Scandinavian internationalized domain names (IDNs) in the .CO namespace (.CO, .COM.CO, .NET.CO and .NOM.CO). So far, only Spanish special characters are supported. As of January 15, Icelandic, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, and Norwegian will also be offered. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=230</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=230</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New gTLD process: GAC published Early Warnings</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        After informing the affected applicantsdirectly, GAC released a list of Early Warnings, which concerns 242 of about 1,924 individual applications.   The GAC Early Warnings are notifications which are composed of requests for information or clarification on certain aspects of an application. These should not be confused with a formal objection and can not lead to the rejection of the application. But receiving a GAC Early Warning increases the likelihood that this application will also be subject of GAC Advice or of a formal objection in the course of the further application process. 
 
The GAC is a committee which advises ICANN and consists of representatives of national governments from all over the world. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=229</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:53:33 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=229</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request From Sudan Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Sudan. The .sudan domain extension will be represented in the Arabic language and script. At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process proceeds in three stages:

Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

31 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 23 countries/territories (represented by 33 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=228</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:22:18 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=228</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN settles date for prioritization draw</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN announced the date for the prioritization draw that will take place at the LAX Hilton in Los Angeles on December 17, 2012. ICANN's prioritization draw is a method to clarify the order in which the applications for new TLDs will be evaluated..  The Prioritization Draw method provides that ICANN sell numbered $100 paper tickets for each application. Participants will have to buy them in person or through an authorized in-person representative. Travel costs to Los Angeles can be avoided with the appointment of representatives. It is not possible to purchase tickets online. IDN applications will be given priority.

ICANN expects that the initial evaluation of the applications for the new TLDs will be finished by August 2013.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=227</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 16 Nov 2012 07:29:06 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=227</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SX Update: General Availability starts today</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .SX Registry announced that the ccTLD .SX is in the General Availability Period as of today. Anyone can register a .SX domain name on a first-come, first-served basis as of 15:00 UTC (11:00 local Sint Maarten time). .SX is the ccTLD for the autonomous country of Sint Maarten that belongs to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Sint Maarten is the southern 'Dutch Part' of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. A local presence on the island is not required for the registration of .SX domains.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=226</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=226</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.HU.NET introducted as sublevel domain extension</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        CentralNic has launched the new domain extension .HU.NET on November 1. The sublevel domain extension is intended to be a new name space for Hungary specific domain names. The registry did not reserve any names under .HU.NET in advance – the full inventory of keywords, premiums, place names and short domains (three-character minimum) has been made available. 

The .HU.NET extension offers a secure and reliable digital name space for Hungarian websites, as well as international companies wishing to protect and expand their presence in Hungary.

Please get in touch with your BrandShelter Account Manager to inform yourself about .HU.NET registrations. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=225</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 14:48:06 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=225</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Relaunch of .PW as generic TLD</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .PW registry published the schedule for the .PW relaunch that includes three phases. The Sunrise will start on December 3, 2012 and end on February 8, 2013. During this phase trademark holders that registered their trademark before December 1, 2012 will be able to protect their rights in the .PW name space and register domains matching their trademark names exactly or closely. The Landrush will take place from February 18, 2013 to March 18, 2013. The General Availability will start on March 25, 2013.

.PW is intended to be understood as an abbreviation of the term 'professional web' and is targeted for use by professionals and businesses for their online presence. .PW is the ccTLD of Palau, an island country located in the western Pacific Ocean. The .PW ccTLD was delegated to Palau in 1997. Directi obtained exclusive rights over the TLD in 2004. The company now relaunches .PW as an open ccTLD, that is available for registration outside of the nation that it designates.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=224</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:06:32 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=224</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Pre-order domain names under new extensions now</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        As of now you can submit expressions of interest for domain names in new generic top level domains (gTLDs). With the upcoming introduction of new gTLDs like .APP, .WEB or .SHOP, a new Internet landscape will be created. From now on, you can be a part of this development. Via BrandShelter's customer portal, you are able to submit pre-applications for domain names in more than 700 new gTLDs. The submission of a pre-application for a domain name under a new gTLD to BrandShelter is an expression of interest without any commitment. You will be informed as soon as more details about policies, pricing and launch periods become available for the new gTLDs. Then you can decide if you want to convert an expression of interest for domain names in new top level domains into a binding domain name application or cancel the pre-order.

At the moment, the evaluation of the new TLD applications by ICANN is in process. The Initial Evaluation results will presumably be released in summer 2013 and the first new gTLDs could go live in autumn 2013.

Please contact your personal account manager to get more information about non-binding and free pre-orders. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=223</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2012 09:23:34 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=223</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SX Landrush Period starts on October 22</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        After the end of the Sunrise period on September 21, 2012, the ccTLD of Sint Maarten, .SX, is in the Local Phase until October 21, 2012. The Landrush Phase will start on October 22nd, 2012 and end November 11th, 2012. During the Local Phase, legal and natural persons (individuals) registered in Sint Maarten can register eligible domain names restricted to variants and derivatives of the (legal) names of such eligible registrants.

The Landrush offers any interested party the possibility to apply for domain names that were not previously registered or applied for during the Sunrise/Local Phase or otherwise reserved/restricted by the registry. Multiple applications for the same domain name will be allocated following the outcome of an auction process.

The General Availability Period will start on November 15. Anyone can register a .SX domain name on a first-come, first-served basis.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=222</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:26:12 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=222</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Landrush for تونس. (.TUNISIA) started</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        
The council of the Telecommunications National Authority (INT) has launched the ccTLD for Tunisia in Arabic script on March 1, 2012. The aim of the TLD is to support content in Arabic script and expand the visibility of local Tunisian issues on the Internet. After two Sunrise phases, the Landrush period started on October 1, 2012. During the Landrush, the registration of تونس. domain names is open to all individuals or entities in accordance with the terms of the naming charter of the تونس. domain. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=221</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:16:09 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=221</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN News: Proposal for Prioritizing New gTLD Applications</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN published a proposal for the prioritization of the new gTLD applications in the evaluation process, the so-called Prioritization Draw method. The procedure shall enable the contemporary processing of applications and execution of pre-delegation tests. The result of this is that the first new TLDs could be delegated in the second quarter of 2013. ICANN also extended the objection period by two month to March 13, 2013. The Prioritization Draw method provides that ICANN will host a Draw in early December (between  December 4-15) and sell numbered  $100 paper tickets for each application. Participants will have to buy them in person or through an in-person representative. Travel costs can be avoided with the appointment of representatives. It is not possible to purchase tickets online. The tickets will be drawn in a lottery and the priority number, the so-called Draw Numbers, will be assigned in advance. Applicants won't be able to exchange their numbers. IDN applications will be given priority.

The Draw Number will be used to fix appointments for further processes such as pre-delegation testing, contract negotiations, and executing agreements and for the release of evaluation results. ICANN intends to announce the evaluation results at a rate of about 100 applications per week, starting with the IDN TLDs from late March to late June. 20 contract signatures and pre-delegation tests per week are planned. However, no contracts will be signed before the ICANN meeting in Beijing next April. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=220</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:15:21 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=220</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Nominet proposes shorter .UK domain names for businesses</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .UK registry, Nominet,  plans to offer companies shorter domain names registered at the second level, like www.example.uk, instead of www.example.co.uk. The  new .UK domain name service is called direct.uk. Stakeholders and participants are invited to comment on the proposed new service up to January 7, 2013. direct.uk would provide a package of security features that includes the verification to check a registrant has a UK address and a daily monitoring for malicious software and viruses. Furthermore, the domains would use a digital signature (DNSSEC) which minimizes the risks of a domain name being hijacked. The security measures would be supported by a trustmark to give consumers a clear sign that a domain name is verified.

Now Nominet asks for comments from all stakeholders about the introduction of this proposed new service. Stakeholders can view the proposals and respond to the consultation on www.nominet.org.uk/go/directuk (or via email: direct@nominet.org.uk). All comments need to be submitted up to January 7, 2013. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=219</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:36:57 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=219</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.TEL: French characters available as of October 3</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Telnic announced the launch of French Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) for .TEL. From October 3, 2012, on, domains in French language will be available for registration on a first-come, first-served basis. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=218</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:28:44 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=218</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SX: New Schedule</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The SX Registry postpones the beginning of the General Availability Phase to 15:00 UTC on November 15, 2012. The Landrush Phase will end – as scheduled – on November 11. The SX Registry will use the time from November 11 to 15 to perform maintenance work on the system Due to a legal holiday in many countries on November 12, the SX Registry decided to delay the beginning of the General Availability Phase.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=217</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:26:31 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=217</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .中国 (.CHINA )</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        As of September 15, 2012 ASCII domain names will become available under .中国. This IDN ccTLD means .CHINA in Simplified Chinese and is subject to the same registration rules as .CN. It was officially added into the root zone file in July, 2010.  Previously, only Chinese-script domain names were allowed to be registered. The ASCII domain names under .中国 may consist of combinations of English letters (Latin-script strings), Arabic numbers and hyphens. 

The .中国 Sunrise period starts on September 15, 2012 and will end on October 14, 2012. The Sunrise requirements specify that eligible trademarks for Sunrise are those consisting of Chinese characters only, English letters only, numbers only, and  their combinations. Trademarks that include pictures, combination of words and pictures, or other non-word elements are excluded. It is also important that Chinese characters have to be transliterated in Pinyin notation not in Punycode. Following the Sunrise, the launch process will go on with the Grandfathering for registrants of ASCII .CN domains from October 14-23 (UTC). The Go Live will start on October 28 (UTC). Domains will be registered on a first-come, first served basis
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=216</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:22:24 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=216</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SX Sunrise Period ends next week </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Sunrise period of ccTLD of Sint Maarten, .SX, will end on September 21, 2012. During the Sunrise period trademark owners are able to apply for the registration of a .SX domain name corresponding to their trademark. Please contact your personal account manager or sales@key-systems.net for additional information.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=215</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:09:06 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=215</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Meet BrandShelter at dmexco 2012</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The BrandShelter team will visit the dmexco trade show on September 12-13, 2012 in Cologne, Germany. Trade show participants are invited to visit the BrandShelter booth (hall 7 / F052) or make an appointment in advance (info@brandshelter.com). Booth visitors also have the chance to win an iPad 3.  BrandShelter's focus at the exhibition will be its comprehensive monitoring services that include social media monitoring. Furthermore, the BrandShelter team will inform interested visitors about the possibilities of domain pre-registration under over 1,400 new top level domains (TLDs), which will be available beginning sometime in 2013.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=214</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2012 14:21:41 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=214</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.CN registrations for overseas individuals and businesses available again </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        CNNIC, the .CN registry, changed its policies and relaxed the restrictions for .CN registrations. Under the new rules, companies and individuals outside China are allowed to register Chinese domain names again. Registrants outside China do not need to sign and submit the Letter of Commitment anymore. Individuals only need to submit the scan or photo copy of an official document that could prove the identity of the registrant: ID card, passport, driver license, etc. All documents provided as a proof of identity must feature the name of the registrant. Businesses only need to submit the scan or photo copy of their business license/business certificate. 

Furthermore all applicants must be explicitly be informed of the following during the registration process:

- Applicants must provide authentic, accurate and complete documentation. 
- Applicants must confirm to have read and understood CNNIC's registration rules and policies.
- Applicants must adhere to all policies governing the contents of the website(s) under the domain name.
- In case the domain name is used for a website where the server is located in mainland China, a valid ICP number must be obtained from MIIT and provided to CNNIC through registrar.
- Applicants must accept full responsibility for the suspension of the domain name or any consequences caused by violations of the applicants commitments, and understand that CNNIC and the registrar undertake no responsibility in the event that to the usage of the domain name needs to be interrupted.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=213</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:04:47 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=213</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.Malaysia TLD in Arabic Script  Probably Approved Next Week</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The request for delegation of Malaysia's TLD in Arabic is one point on the agenda of the ICANN Special Board Meeting next week. It is very likely that the request is granted. If that happens, Malaysia's name in Arabic script will be the 40th IDN ccTLD that is integrated in the root zone under ICANN's Fast Track program. The agenda also includes the request for re-delegation of the .RW (Rwanda) ccTLD, but it contains no point to the new gTLD program.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=212</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:31:27 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=212</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Update: Comment on the further progress of the new gTLD process</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        After the end of the metering comment period last Sunday, during which the applicants were able to express their suggestions for a metering process, ICANN will use the next six weeks to check the proposals and to discuss them with the community. ICANN expects for the duration of the complete  Evaluation phase a period of up to eleven months. Furthermore, the number of application withdrawals has risen to six. ICANN will hold another webinar in September.
Further information can be found in ICANN's Roadmap for Processing New gTLD Applications. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=211</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:43:35 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=211</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Update: New Information about the new gTLD Evaluation Process </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has published new data about the next steps of the new gTLD evaluation process and about the metering/batching problem via an applicant webinar. ICANN has announced that there have been three application withdrawals and 49 requests to change applications. Further, ICANN described the concept of “Clarification Questions (CQs)” which are additional questions to provide applicants with the opportunity to clarify aspects of the applications that do not contain enough information to render a decision according to the evaluators. The great majority of applicants will receive at least one CQ. About 90% of the applicants will get a CQ about their financial status and another 40% about their technical plans. 

The following schedule results from the announcement of ICANN: 

July 29 – August 20: metering/batching: comment period
August 20 – September 27: metering/batching: solution development
September 26: application comment period closes 
September 27 – October 3: metering/batching: summarize status
Post-October 3: metering/batching: additional public discussion to develop consensus if required 
October 2012 (or shortly thereafter): GAC early warning expected
January 12, 2013: objection period closes
April 2013: GAC communicates considerations on GAC advice
June/July 2013: all initial evaluations complete, published at the same time
Autumn 2013: (expected) first delegations 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=210</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:00:34 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=210</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN extends new gTLD application comment period until September 26</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN's public comment period for new generic top level domains (gTLDs) applications was extended by 45 days and will now end on September 26, 2012. ICANN states that the comment period will remain open for the entire application process, but only those comments received until September 26, 2012, were sure to be delivered to evaluators. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=209</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2012 12:58:19 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=209</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: New timeline for new gTLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has published a new timetable for the new gTLD evaluation process.  According to this, the results of the Initial Evaluation could be released in summer 2013 and the first new gTLDs could go live in autumn 2013. ICANN has announced that there will be a simultaneous evaluation of all 1,930 applications and that the evaluation process is still ongoing.  More details on the evaluation process are not yet known. After suspending Digital Archery, ICANN admits to have not yet decided on a metering method. Therefore ICANN offers the community the opportunity to send its proposals for the further evaluation process to newgtld-input@icann.org. Comments received by 19 August 2012 (UTC 00:00) will be considered.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=208</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:26:52 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=208</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Second level .UY Domains available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .UY registry opened up domain registrations at the second level to all entitled registrants beginning on July 10, 2012. Now, in the current phase, all holders of a third level domain that was registered prior to June 10, 2012, qualify for the appropriate second level domain. For further information, please contact your account manager. .UY, the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Uruguay, was registered at the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) on September 10, 1990. The technical provider is the company Servicio Central de Informatica in Montevideo. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=207</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 19 Jul 2012 13:25:15 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=207</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.IT: IDN domain names available soon – opening to six countries outside the EU</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry operator of the Italian ccTLD .IT will change its registration rules on July 11. Subsequently, it will be possible to register internationalized domain names (IDN) for the .IT name space. Coinciding with the introduction of IDN domains, the registration space of .IT domain names will be extended. The Italian Registry announced: 'The it-domains go beyond the European Union boundaries and 'wear' the accent.' This statement is based on the fact that the registry will introduce .IT domain names with non-ASCII characters such as à, â, ä, è, é, ê, ë, ì, î, ï, ò, ô, ö, ß, ù, û, ü, æ, œ, ç as well as ÿ and that it will extend the registration space. To date, only companies and citizens from the EU can register an .IT domain. From July 11 on, citizens and companies of the countries of the European Economic Space – including Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Vatican City, San Marino and Switzerland – will be able to register .IT domains, too. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=206</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:05:15 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=206</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Second level .NI domains available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        NIC.NI offers second level registrations of .NI, the ccTLD of Nicaragua. Second level .NI domains are already available to be registered for one year. There is no priority registration period meaning that everybody has the same opportunity to register a domain following the 'first come, first served' principle. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=205</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:01:33 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=205</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.CO.NO Go Live – Today! </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .CO.NO Operator announced the .CO.NO Go Live to be held on July 4th, 2012. The South-Trøndelag District Court in Trondheim confirmed in its ruling from June 28 that the .CO.NO initiative, founded by Elineweb AS and CoDNS B.V. fully complies with the .NO registration policy and that Norid may not revoke the .CO.NO domain name. .CO.NO Operator is a common initiative between Elineweb A.S., the registrant of the domain name .CO.NO since 2001, and CoDNS, the technical provider. The Sunrise period for trademark holders was successfully operated more than a year ago. Now,
with the opening of .CO.NO registrations to the general public on a first come, first served basis, everyone will be entitled to secure their .CO.NO domain names without any requirement. Additionally, all Landrush applications which had to wait on court's decision will now be activated and their holders will be able to benefit from their registrations as of today.

.CO.NO should not be confused with .NO domain names as registered by Norid, the .NO registry. The .CO.NO subdomain is registered as a .NO domain name but the .CO.NO operator does not have any affiliation with Norid. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=204</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 04 Jul 2012 11:12:30 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=204</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request From Mongolia Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Mongolia. The .mn (Mongolia) domain extension will be represented in the Mongolian language and Cyrillic script. At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

ICANN has received a total of 31 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 23 languages. 30 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 21 countries/territories (represented by 31 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=203</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2012 06:53:54 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=203</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: Digital Archery Canceled</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        According to ICANN, the New gTLD Program Committee directs the President and CEO to terminate the Digital Archery process as approved in a resolution. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=202</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 29 Jun 2012 10:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=202</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>BrandShelter Newsletter now Available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Beginning now, you have the possibility to receive the BrandShelter Newsletter to regularly inform you about news in the domain and brand management industry.  Stay up to date and sign up for our BrandShelter Newsletter by sending an email to newsletter@brandshelter.com (subject: Newsletter signup, content: I would like to receive your newsletter.).

This month's newsletter contains information on the application process for the new TLDs and the Sunrise periods of .PA, .SX  and .UY.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=201</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:57:52 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=201</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: Digital Archery Suspended </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN suspended the digital archery in the application process for the new generic Top Level Domain Program last Saturday.  According to ICANN's announcement, the primary reason is that applicants have reported that the timestamp system returns unexpected results depending on circumstances. The suspension of the process should provide time to investigate technical concerns of the digital archery. Despite the delay of the batching process, the evaluation process for the new gTLD applications should continue to be executed as designed. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=200</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:55:26 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=200</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>BrandShelter attends the 44th ICANN Meeting in Prague</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        BrandShelter, including Bonnie Wittenburg, Executive Vice President US, will participate in the ICANN Meeting in Prague from June 24 to 29, 2012. Meeting participants are invited to visit the KeyDrive booth (number 4) in Hilton Hotel Prague. Key-Systems, BrandShelter's mother company, is a member of the KeyDrive S.A. Holding, which will be presented for the first time to the European industry in Prague. The KeyDrive members are Key-Systems, NameDrive, Moniker and SnapNames. The holding is silver sponsor of the ICANN Meeting and will host an exclusive evening event for approximately 250 invited guests at Troja Castle in Prague on Monday June 25, 2012.

The meeting, organized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is an important get-together of the international internet and domain industry to exchange views on current topics and new developments. In addition to exhibition booths, workshops and open forums about internet-related topics will be offered. The visit is free of charge and open to experts of the internet industry and to all who share an interest in internet and domain industry.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=199</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:20:56 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=199</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Lawsuit Between .CO.NO Operator and Norid</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Court case filed by the .CO.NO Operator against Uninett Norid A.S., the .NO registry, about the .CO.NO initiative, was held on May 24 – 25, 2012. .CO.NO Operator is a common initiative between Elineweb A.S., the registrant of the domain name .CO.NO, and CoDNS B.V., the technical provider. Together, these companies form the .CO.NO Operator. After several months of negotiation between .CO.NO Operator and the .NO registry without a final result, .CO.NO Operator decided to seek a court ruling to secure the .CO.NO initiative in September 2011. The argument is based on the fact that Norid asked to postpone the General Availability of .CO.NO to an unknown date, shortly before its start in February 2011. Norid justified this by saying that it had to check the legality of the registration service which had been offered by CoDNS B.V., although the official registrant of the domain .CO.NO is Elineweb A.S. Because the .CO.NO domain at that time was and still is on Norid's list of forbidden names, it can't be transferred to another registrant. The problem is that a domain on the list of forbidden names can’t be transferred in principle to another registrant.
As a result of Norids request, the .CO.NO Operator decided to postpone the opening of .CO.NO registrations to the public. According to CoDNS B.V., it made all relevant documents available to Norid and held a meeting with Norid to clarify any misunderstandings. But after eight months of negotiation with Norid, the .CO.NO Operator felt compelled to take court action.
Following a statement from CoDNS B.V, the Court should decide on the legality of Norid’s decision to place the .CO.NO domain name on its so-called “forbidden list” after its registration by Elineweb A.S. Furthermore, the court should confirm that the partnership between Elineweb A.S. and CoDNS B.V. for the .CO.NO initiative is not a transfer of the .CO.NO domain between the partners. At least the court should oblige Norid to refute false information they should have published on the .CO.NO initiative.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=198</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:15:16 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=198</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Key-Systems offers Digital Archery Service</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Key-Systems offers its technical expertise to new generic top level domain (gTLD) applicants for ICANN's batching process according to the Digital Archery procedure. For requests, please contact Key-Systems' sales team via email: sales@key-systems.net.  ICANN provides the batching process from June 8 to June 28, 2012. Applicants in the first batch will presumably be able to launch their TLD in 2013. An early launch of the TLD ensures minimal operating costs and timely sales. 

Due to the high number of applications approximately 2000 submitted, ICANN plans to review them in batches. The first batch will be the largest with 500 applications; each subsequent batch will contain 400 applications. Digital Archery means, that each applicant uses an online system to choose a date and time in the above mentioned timeframe. The applicant logs in and clicks the submit button close of possible to the chosen date. The closer the click is to the preselected time, the sooner the application will be reviewed.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=197</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:36:28 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=197</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.UY: Sunrise expected</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .UY registry will most likely announce the release of registrations directly under the .UY TLD. Because this is not official yet, an exact launch date isn’t known yet. It is very likely that holders of a .COM.UY domain name will be able to activate their domain name directly under .UY for a small fee. After one year, they could decide to keep or drop the domain name.
A local address is required for an Uruguayan domain name, but by using a local presence service anyone from all over the world is able to register such a domain name. Key-Systems can help by providing local presence services if required.

.UY, the country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Uruguay, was registered at the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) on September 10, 1990. The technical provider is the company Servicio Central de Informatica in Montevideo. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=196</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:27:54 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=196</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>End of June: .dm re-launch </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Dot DM Corporation will re-launch the operation of Dominica's Top Level Domain .dm with Key-Systems’ registration and management platform KSregistry at the ICANN meeting in Prague (24 to 29 June 2012). For further information please contact your account manager. In December 2011, the DotDM Corporation, official administrator for the Top Level Domain .dm, chose KSregisty GmbH to operate the new .dm registry platform. The KSregistry system will be the technical backbone for three further ccTLDs soon. The KSregistry system will serve as the technical basis of .dm and will supply the DotDM Corporation with comprehensive tools to facilitate registrations at the registry, registrar and reseller levels.  
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=194</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:39:25 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=194</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>CIRA plans to realize French IDNs in January 2013</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry operator of the Canadian ccTLD, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), plans to introduce internationalized domain names (IDN) for the .CA name space in January 2013. Currently, the .CA domain names are only available for registration in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange); 2013 CIRA will implement French IDNs at the second level. CIRA plans to allow registrations of the following French characters: é, ë, ê, è, â, à, æ, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ç, î, ï, and ÿ. According to CIRA, the implementation of French IDNs should provide the opportunity to register domain names correctly in French to registrants. English and French are Canada’s two Official Languages. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=193</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:37:08 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=193</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Update to News from May 31, 2012 –  .SX Sunrise extended</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .SX Sunrise has been extended until September 21, 2012. SX Registry constituted this decision with the delays in ICANN's new gTLD application process that had affected the entire domain name industry. The extension of the Sunrise period should allow the accredited registrars to spend more time preparing their websites and work with their clients. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=192</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:32:34 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=192</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>gTLD Multiple Applications – .APP leads the list</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        According to ICANN's list of all new gTLD applications,.APP,.HOME and .INC are the most sought-after gTLDs. Thirteen companies applied for .APP, among them Amazon.com and Google. Respectively, 11 applicants are interested in .HOME and .INC. Even before its press conference yesterday, ICANN announced that there are multiple applications for 230 gTLD. 751 applicants seek these 230 strings. Besides the above mentioned gTLDs, there are inter alia multiple applications for .ART (10 applications), .SHOP (9), .BLOG (9), .BOOK (9), .DESIGN (8), .MOVIE (8), .MUSIC (8), .STORE (7), .LOVE (7), .CLOUD (7)and .NEWS (7).

Surprisingly, several famous brands such as Coca-Cola, Porsche and Adidas did not apply for their own gTLD. It is also interesting that both the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter as well as the online auction site eBay abstained from applying for a new gTLD. More than 600 top brands such as Nike, BMW and McDonald's applied for its own .BRAND TLD.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=191</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:37:09 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=191</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Addendum to last BrandShelter News - ICANN: Maximum of new generic top level domains will be 1,409 </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN revealed list of new gTLD applications: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results/strings-1200utc-13jun12-en 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=190</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:32:58 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=190</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: Maximum of new generic top level domains will be 1,409 </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        With a total of 1,930 applications received at ICANN, there are 230 strings in direct contention by several applicants. 751 applications compete for those 230 strings. In consequence, the bottom line is a maximum of 1,409 new gTLDs. In anticipation of the Reveal Day ICANN commented on facts about the new gTLD applications. There were a total of 1,930 applications: 1846 of those are 'standard' applications for generic TLDs,  84 are 'community-based' domain extensions such as .IMMO, 66 are self-designated geographic name applications and 116 are applications for IDN extensions in non-Latin scripts.

Applications from 60 countries are in the application process. According to ICANN' definition of the world regions 911 applications are from North America, 675 from Europe, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region, 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 from Africa.

The Reveal Day Event in London will start at 2:00 PM CEST and will be broadcasted on http://www.icann.org/en/news/press/kits/reveal-day-video-13jun12-en.htm. ICANN will then reveal a list of every application.  
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=189</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:47:29 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=189</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN updates the Applicant Guidebook for new gTLD Program </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        With the end of the application period and anticipating the upcoming Batching process, ICANN released a new version of the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook. According to ICANN, the changes have not been made to the application process, rather the relevant information concerning objection filing period has been updated in the Guidebook.
The new version includes inter alia updated links to publications by the GAC and small changes with regards to GAC advice. The fees of the relevant dispute resolution service providers are now online and the objection filing rules has been replaced with a link to http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/objection-dispute-resolution. Furthermore, the relevant part of the Registry Functions Activity Report has been updated. 
An extensive summary of the changes has been posted at http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/summary-changes-applicant-guidebook-04jun12-en.pdf [PDF, 121 KB]. The text revisions, as well as a description and rationale for the changes are highlighted in red.

ICANN's Applicant Guidebook describes the requirements and procedures for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), as well as the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of applications.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=188</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 05 Jun 2012 12:49:22 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=188</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Maintenance  on June 9, 7:00 - 11:00</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        We will be performing a system maintenance on Saturday, June 9, 2012, 07:00 UTC (9:00 CEST). The following services may be affected:
DNS:           		Available - Domains will continue to resolve normally
Web interface: 		Not available in real-time
WHOIS:         		Not available
REGISTRATIONS: 		Available - not in real-time 
UPDATES: 		POSSIBLE - not in real-time

The BrandShelter system will not work in real-time during the specified time frame.
Orders and requests will be accepted and queued. They will be processed after the maintenance has been completed.

All other services will remain available during this maintenance window.

Please excuse any inconvenience this may cause.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=187</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:12:19 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=187</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.NZ Second Level Registrations planned</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The DNCL, New Zealand's domain name commission, proposed to extend the .NZ domain name space by allowing anybody to register .NZ second level domains. The implementation of the proposal would mean a significant modification of New Zealand's domain space name, so the commission asks for feedback and submissions to get customers' views on its latest proposal.  The DNCL proposes the introduction of second level registrations under .NZ together with the continuous support of existing domains and new registrations at the third level, under extensions such as .CO.NZ or .ORG.NZ.
Registrations under .NZ are supposed to be on a “first come, first served” basis. Excluded from this principle would be Sunrise applications and applications corresponding to multiple registrations for the same domain name under different second level extensions. 
The Sunrise Period shall allow existing .NZ domain name registrants to register their domain names at the second level if they are the only one that has that name at the third level. In case of multiple registrations of the same domain name by different owners under different second level extensions, an applicant has to have the consent of the other owners to obtain the domain.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=186</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:28:31 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=186</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SX Sunrise is still ongoing</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The ccTLD of Sint Maarten, .SX, is in the Sunrise period by July 4, 2012. Up to this time, trademark owners are allowed to submit an application for the registration of a .SX domain name which corresponds to their trademark. An auction process will decide in the case of multiple applications for the same domain name.  Following the Sunrise, the launch process will go on with the Local Phase from July 5 to September 4, when the registrants are restricted to legal and natural persons already registered in Sint Maarten as of January 1, 2012. Domain names will be restricted to variants and derivatives of the (legal) names. 

During the Landrush Period from September 5 to October 4, any interested party has the opportunity to apply for domain names that were not previously registered or applied for during the Sunrise/Local Phase, or otherwise reserved by the registry or restricted by the .SX policies. The General Availability Period will start on October 5, i.e. available domain names can be registered on a first-come, first served basis. 

In consequence of the decision of the ICANN Board the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA) delegated the .SX TLD to .SX Registry SA in December 2011.

Sint Maarten, established in 2010, belongs to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is the southern, 'Dutch Part' of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=185</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 31 May 2012 10:49:21 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=185</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New Timeline for the TLD Application Process</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has finalized dates for the new gTLD Reveal Day, the Batching process and the initial evaluation start. The Application System (TAS) will close today. In its recently published update, ICANN has presented a schedule for the application  review process. Therefore, the Reveal Day, when ICANN will release the entire list of applicants and the TLDs they applied for, will be June 13, 2012. The Batching process will take place from  June 8 to June 28, 2012 and its results will be announced on July 11, 2012.  After all, the initial evaluations should start on July 12, 2012.
The new gTLD process has been delayed, because the TAS was taken down on April 12, shortly before the application process should end. Due to a software glitch several applicants were able to view file names belonging to other applicants. 
To this day, 500 invalid applications are still in the TAS, i.e. the applicants haven’t yet completed the applications or haven’t paid for them yet. Today, the TAS will close at 23:59 UTC.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=184</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 30 May 2012 11:32:02 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=184</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Sunrise for Second-Level Domain Names under .PA (Panama)</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        NIC-Panama, the registry for .PA (Panama) domains, has started a domain Sunrise for second-level domains.  The registration during Sunrise is possible for users who registered a third-level .PA domain before January 31, 2012. They may register the corresponding domain name under .PA.
Until now, you could only register domains under the second-level extensions .NET.PA (reserved for isps), .COM.PA (for companies), .AC.PA, .SLD.PA, .GOB.PA, .EDU.PA, .ORG.PA, .ABO.PA, .ING.PA, .MED.PA and .NOM.PA. The end of the sunrise period will be shown on the news area on the website www.nic.pa. New customers (without third-level .PA domains) will presumably be able to register second-level .PA domains as of midyear. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=183</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 10:40:10 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=183</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.PT and .ES: Domain figures increase </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        .PT lists 29,000 registrations after rules liberalization and .ES has passed 1.5 million registration mark. .PT had a good start into the first week after the registration policies were liberalized. There were 18,220 .PT domain names registered in the first 24 hours. Up to now a total of 28,984 .PT domains have been implemented since the liberalization started. The liberalization allows anyone to register Portuguese country domain names. 
According to NIC.ES, .ES has now reached 1.5 million domain names. The .ES name space grew by 17% with more than 1,000 new domain names each day in the last 12 month. The domain represents about 50% of the Spanish domain name market and is among the top twenty domain registers in the world in terms of the number of domains registered.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=181</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2012 16:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=181</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Application System for new TLDs still closed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN' s TLD Application System (TAS) remains closed. ICANN's news update from today still doesn't provide information on when the system will reopen for the final five application days. The TAS was taken down on April 12, shortly before the application process should end. Because of a software glitch several applicants were able to view file names belonging to other applicants. According to ICANN, 105 applicants might have  been affected by the TAS software problem; their file names as well as user names could have been viewed by other applicants. 50 applicants might have viewed file names and user names from one or more other applicants. At this time, 2091 applications were received. ICANN planned to finish the process of notifying these applicants by today, but the end of the notification process and the schedule for reopening the TAS was not yet announced.
Today, ICANN assured a full refund of the application fees paid by any new gTLD applicant that wishes to withdraw its application prior to the publication of the list of applied-for new top-level domain names.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=179</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 08 May 2012 15:38:46 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=179</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.OM relaunch and launch of .oman in Arabic script</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ARI Registry Services and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Sultanate of Oman relaunched the .OM country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) and will also launch .oman in Arabic script. According to ARI Registry Services, .OM and .oman should ensure the current stability and growth of the Internet within Oman and greater Gulf region. Mohammed Al Kindy, Senior Manager Technical Affairs for the Oman TRA, affirmed: 'The relaunch of .OM and launch of .oman will provide Internet users in Oman with a stable and reliable piece of infrastructure that is based on best practice domain name registry operation. This will provide an opportunity to expand the reach of the Internet in Oman and reinforce its importance as a national asset.' Adrian Kinderis, CEO of ARI Registry Services, emphasized another advantage: 'The introduction of .oman will position Oman as one of only a few Arabic speaking countries with the capability to allow its citizens to navigate the web in their native language.'
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=178</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 03 May 2012 11:08:58 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=178</guid>
      <author>Julia Zang</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.XXX Registry Applies for More Adult TLDs at ICANN</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICM Registry, the registry operator for the .XXX top-level domain (TLD) has announced three applications for new adult entertainment-related TLDs .SEX, .PORN and .ADULT at ICANN. Each of the new TLD applications were submitted under separate, wholly-owned subsidiaries of ICM Registry LLC.
 If awarded these new TLDs, ICM Registry will offer a special 'grandfathering_; the registry will automatically reserve matching names at no cost for those who already have .XXX domains. .XXX registrants can either keep the matching names unreleased under the new TLD suffixes register the new names for a nominal fee to use them. Thus, brand and trademark holders who own .XXX domain names would automatically be protected and would not have to register the new domain names.

'By offering the grandfathering clause at no charge, we are demonstrating our commitment to our adult entertainment community and will not collect fees for this from anyone who already has purchased a .XXX domain by the appropriate cut-off date', said Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=177</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:50:27 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=177</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Registry changes policy for .ORG.TW domains</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        We would like to inform you of a new registry policy implemented by TWNIC for .ORG.TW domain names effective as of now.
 The new policy requires that the registrant of .ORG.TW domain names must be a non-profit organization legally registered under the laws of Taiwan. The only exception is for foreign non-profit organizations that provide supporting documentation of their non-profit status under the competent laws of their jurisdiction and if the Domain Name Committee of TWNIC approves such documentation.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=176</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:31:08 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=176</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN News: New gTLD registration system closed yesterday</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Yesterday, the ICANN TLD Application System (TAS) was closed for anyone planning to apply for a new gTLD to register and submit a TLD application request. According to ICANN, there were 839 registered users in the TAS on March 25. These registered users can submit their gTLDs applications until April 12 at the latest.
 We will know more on May 1 - the Reveal Day - when ICANN will publicly post all TLD character strings that have been applied for. But one thing is sure: we can expect quite a number of new TLDs in 2013.

On preorderyourdomain.com, the KeyDrive holding to which BrandShelter belongs offers non-binding pre-registrations of domains under any conceivable, new gTLDs. Specify your favorite domains at an early stage in order to prevent missing out the release of your desired extensions. You can set up a free account on preorderyourdomain.com and benefit from an overall management of your pre-registrations. BrandShelter will inform you as soon as a new extension is available for registration.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=175</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:18:18 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=175</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.NAME: numbers only / number-hyphen domains as of April 2</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has approved Verisign's registry service request to remove pure numbers and combinations
of numbers and hyphens from the list of names required to be reserved at the second level of .NAME domains.

 As a result, the following domain operations within .NAME are possible as of April 2, 2012 via BrandShelter:

- Add second-level domain names with pure numbers and/or combinations of numbers and hyphens.
- Add domain names with pure numbers and/or combinations of numbers and hyphens at the second-level of a third-level domain name.
- Add standard and premium defensive registrations with pure numbers and/or combinations of numbers and hyphen.
- Add e-mail forwarding registrations with pure numbers and/or combinations of numbers and hyphen.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=174</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:05:53 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=174</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DNSSEC for .AT now Available </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The nic.at registry system now accepts DS records for the .AT name space. Thus, now it is possible to secure .AT domain names using DNSSEC via BrandShelter.

 
 DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a chain of trus that starts with the public key for the root zone. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=173</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:04:52 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=173</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.UK One-year and Multi-year Registrations Available as of May 1, 2012 </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        On May 1, 2012 Nominet will be introducing one-year and multi-year registration periods so that .UK domain names can be registered and renewed for between 1 and 10 years.  Under the new multi-year registration options, single year registrations will be more expensive. The price for 2-year registrations will remain the same as before.

Domains can be renewed at any point as long as the additional years added to the domain do not take the total registration period over 10 years.


 
 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=172</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:01:38 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=172</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>AFNIC: Introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        On May 3, 2012 AFNIC will start the launch process for the registration of IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) under .FR, .RE, .TF, .WF, .PM, and .YT. The new feature will extend the number of available characters for composing a domain name from currently 37 to 67. 

 The new IDN characters include: 
ß, à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, ë, ì,í, î, ï, ñ, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ù, ú, û, ü, ý, ÿ, oe

The launch procedure will involve two phases:

- May 3 until July 3, 2012: IDN Sunrise (Grandfathering)
Domain holders will have priority in reserving an IDN corresponding to the ASCII version during this phase. If the ASCII equivalent has not yet been registered, it will be possible for the holder to create it at any time, even during the sunrise period.

Please be aware:
The concept of an ASCII-equivalent domain name is applied to the entire domain name (including the extension). A holder of cafe.fr is entitled to register café.fr, but not café.re.

Sunrise example: 
The holder of the domain name muller-strasse.fr may file müller-straße.fr. The holder can also register muller-straße.fr or even müller-strasse.fr since these three IDNs share the same ASCII-equivalent form.

- As of July 3, 2012: General Availability
The IDN registration will be open according to the first come, first served rule.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=171</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2012 10:58:30 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=171</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>WIPO: 2,764 Cybersquatting Cases in 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        In 2011, trademark holders filed 2,764 cybersquatting cases covering 4,781 domain names with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO Center) based on the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). The number of cybersquatting cases increased by 2.5% compared to 2010. 
 Since the UDRP’s launch in December 1999, the WIPO Center has received over 22,500 UDRP based cases, covering 40,500 gTLD and ccTLD domain names. Cases filed with WIPO in 2011 included complainants and respondents from 110 countries. In 2011 the top five areas of WIPO complainant activity were retail, Internet and IT, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, fashion, and banking and finance

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy is an international standard for resolving domain name disputes outside the courts. It is designed specifically to discourage and resolve the abusive registration of trademarks as domain names (cybersquatting). 

Under the UDRP, a complainant must demonstrate that the disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to its trademark, that the respondent does not have a right or legitimate interest in the domain name and that the respondent registered and uses the domain name in bad faith. Disputes are decided by independent panelists drawn from the WIPO Center’s global list of trademark specialists. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=170</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=170</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.GT registry Introduced IDN Domains and Second-level .GT Domains</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .GT (Guatemala) registry has introduced the possibility to register IDN domain names. Applications which contain the characters á, é, í, ó, ú, ü and ñ will be accepted according to the first-come, first-served principle as of May 29, 2012.  Furthermore, second-level domain names directly under .GT may be registered first-come, first-served as of this date. Before, it was only possible to register domain names under .COM.GT, .NET.GT and .ORG.GT. 

Until March 18 it’s possible to file a sunrise application. During Sunrise, you need to be the administrative contact of a registered Guatemalan domain name to register the IDN version or the (IDN) .gt version of this domain. From March 19 until May 28 the registry will analyze all Sunrise applications.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=169</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:56:42 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=169</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Liberalization of the Registration Rules for .PT Domain Names</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Portuguese registry (FCCN) has announced new registration requirements for .PT. Under the new policy, domain names directly under .PT may be registered by all individual or corporate entities following the first-come, first served principle. So far domain names directly under .PT are only available for companies, public and private institutions, registered business persons, independent 
professionals and trademark owners. The new .PT registration rules will come into force on March 1, 2012 with a Sunrise period of 60 days. This Sunrise period is the last opportunity for above mentioned entities to register their name / trademark as a .PT web address before the registration of .PT domain names will be opened to the general public.

During the Sunrise period, further rights will be accepted. These may be registered in Portugal or abroad. The registry will accept all fully constituted rights; applications for registration of rights will not be accepted. FCCN will request proof where necessary, which must be provided within 48 
hours after notification.

The newly accepted rights for individual persons include:
- Sole proprietorship establishment
- Brand (mixed or verbal)
- Name of establishment (mixed or verbal)
- Logo
- Artistic name
- Professional name
etc.

The newly accepted rights for collective entities include:
- Trademarks (mixed or verbal - right doesn't have to be extended to Portugal)
- Name of establishment (mixed or verbal)
- Logo
- Artistic name
- Publication Name (newspapers, magazines)
etc.

Please find more information on the accepted Sunrise rights here:
https://www.dns.pt/en/periodo-de-sunrise

In the event of a dispute over a Sunrise domain name, the applicant of a domain name and the .PT registry agree to turn to voluntary institutionalised arbitration (arbitration center: ARBITRARE. The arbitration procedure consists of an extra-judicial mechanism for resolving disputes.

The liberalization of .PT domains will fully apply as of May 1, 2012. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=168</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:07:38 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=168</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Study on .be Dropcatching</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        According to a recent study carried out by the .be registry dns.be dropcatching under the TLD .be is increasing rapidly. Dropcatching is the re-registering of an expired domain immediately after that domain name becomes available for registration again. The amount of dropcatching rose from under 5 per cent of all expired domains in 2009 and 2010 to over 10 per cent in 2011.
 Almost 90 per cent of the domain names re-registered by dropcatchers were offered for sale by their new owner. Since its foundation, dns.be has tried to prevent dropcatching, e.g. by forbidding dropcatching of direct .be-registrars. However, specialized companies create lists of expiring domains and work with external .be-registrars to dropcatch these names. 

The .be registry is now evaluating appropriate procedures to further prevent dropcatching, e.g. technical hurdles, higher prices for expired domain names or auctioning these domains.  

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=167</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:23:50 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=167</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Domain Names under the Cyrillic Version of .RF Now Available for Non-residents</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Registration rules for the Cyrillic version of .RF now permit registrations by non- residents. 
 According to these changes all renewed domains under the Cyrillic version of .RU registered by providers in behalf of their clients at the start of General Availability in Cyrillic TLD will be automatically transferred to their owners. Thus owners will officially get registrant status for these names.


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=166</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:24:18 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=166</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.UK: Multi-year Registrations Available from May 2012</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Starting May 1, 2012, the .UK registry Nominet will offer multi-year registrations for registrants, who can secure their domain for a longer term without considering regular renewals. The current 2 year registration period for .UK domain names will change to offer flexible registrations of up to 10 years.

Before taking the decision, Nominet consulted with its members and the wider domain name community. The consultation showed that the majority of the registrar community supported the introduction of more flexible registration periods. 


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=165</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:23:30 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=165</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Top-level-domain .SU now DNSSEC signed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The TLD .SU is now signed with DNSSEC. Currently, about 90,000 second-level domain names are registered under .SU. The Internet Technical Center (ITC) plans to sign the Cyrillic IDN TLD meaning .RF (Russian Federation) and the .RU TLD with DNSSEC next year. ITC was co-founded by the .RU registry and the .SU registry in 2009 to provide technical domain registration and management services.

 According to ICANN, 83 of the 310 TLDs in the root zone are currently DNSSEC signed.

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a chain of trust that starts with the public key for the root zone.


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=164</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:40:40 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=164</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DENIC must delete .de domain names in case of a clear abuse</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The German Federal Court of Justice yesterday decided, that the .de registry DENIC must delete misused domains. In case DENIC receives a hint for an infringement, they must delete the domain “if the infringement is obvious and easily identifiable for them”.
 The Free State of Bavaria had filed the law suit against DENIC. Several companies based in Panama had registered six domain names under the .de TLD that consisted of the word “government” and the name of a Bavarian administrative district (such as “regierung-oberfranken.de”). Bavaria uses similar domain names for its seven districts (e.g. “regierung.oberfranken.bayern.de”). The federal state asked DENIC to delete the six domain names.

The District Court and the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main had already approved the complaint. The disputed domain names had been deleted and registered for the Free State of Bavaria. However, DENIC, did not accept the dispute as completed. Thus, the Supreme Court yesterday had to decide whether the complaint was primarily founded. In its verdict, the Supreme Court affirmed this.

DENIC still has only limited review obligations, following the decision “ambiente.de” of the Federal Court (Verdict of 17 May 2001 - I ZR 251/99, BGHZ 148, 13). No review has to be done during the registration procedure itself. However, in the case of the six Bavaria domains registered in Panama, DENIC had received a hint for an infringement, which can be easily detected by a DENIC clerk without knowledge about rights to a name.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=163</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:06:29 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=163</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request From Malaysia Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Malaysia. The .Malaysia domain extension will be represented in the Malay language and Arabic script.
 At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 29 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 20 countries/territories (represented by 30 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=162</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:38:14 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=162</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .co.bz delayed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The launch of the co.bz zone, which was scheduled for October 17, has been delayed.  The .BZ registry has scheduled the new launch date of the co.bz zone for October 21, 2011 after 15:00 UTC.

The BrandShelter news team will keep you updated.


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=161</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:15:32 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=161</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Preorders for .COM.RU Domains with BrandShelter</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .RU registry now accepts preorders for .COM.RU domain registrations until October 25, 2011. The General Availability of .COM.RU domains will start on October 25, 2011. The .COM.RU extension is especially useful for individuals and legal entities doing business in the Russian segment of the Internet.

Please contact your BrandShelter Account Manager for preorders under .COM.RU.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=160</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:07:03 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=160</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.ASIA IDN Landrush extended until October 29, 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        .ASIA CJK IDN Landrush has been extended for an additional period of 18 days and will now close on October 29, 2011 (24:00 UTC). The original scheduled close of the .ASIA CJK IDN Landrush was October 11, 2011.
 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=159</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:51:18 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=159</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Special .SG domain names for a limited period</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        SGNIC will release a selected group of premium domain names (single-character ASCII Domain names, e.g. A.sg, B.sg, E.sg, I.sg, and Y.sg) and numeric domain names from October 1, 2011 to October 31, 2011 at a base price ranging from $642 to $21,400 (including GST). If the name has multiple applications, it will be allocated to the applicant with the highest bid. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=158</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=158</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.FR Opening To Europe on December 6</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        AFNIC will open the .FR registration as well as the TLDs .WF, .TF, .RE, .PM and .YT to entities domiciled in the European Union on December 6, 2011.  Furthermore, starting this day, the domain extensions .WF (Wallis and Futuna), .TF (French Southern and Antarctic territories), .RE (Reunion Island), .PM (St. Pierre and Miquelon), and .YT (Mayotte) will be subject to the same registration rules as the .FR TLD. 


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=157</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:32:47 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=157</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New ICANN Web Appearance for New gTLDs and Updated Applicant Guidebook</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has launched a new micro-site for information about the New Generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLDs) Program on http://newgtlds.icann.org/.  The micro-site is designed to help everyone interested in new gTLDs, regardless of their knowledge base. A new version of the Applicant Guidebook can be found on http://newgtlds.icann.org/applicants/agb. 


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=156</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:26:44 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=156</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request From Kazakhstan Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Kazakhstan. The .kaz (Kazakhstan) domain extension will be represented in the Kazakh language and Cyrillic script. At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 28 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 20 countries/territories (represented by 30 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=155</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:33:06 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=155</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DotAsia Plans to Release 1 and 2 Character .ASIA Domain Names </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        DotAsia has filed a Registry Services Evaluation Process request with ICANN. The registry would make 1 and 2 character domain names available for registration; these names are currently reserved from registration. DotAsia proposes to implement an equitable phased allocation program, similar to the .ASIA startup process with three main components:

1. A Request for Proposal process to invite interested registrants to propose specific plans for use and promotion
2. A Sunrise round for eligible trademark names holders and company names holders to submit applications for domains not allocated in the RFP round
3. A Landrush and Auction round for domains not allocated during the Pioneer Domains Program and Sunrise processes
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=154</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:30:58 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=154</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Arabic Domain Names Under .qa and the Arabic Version of .qatar Soon Available </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Qatar Domains Registry (QDR) is currently accepting Sunrise registrations for Arabic domain under .qa. The Sunrise period for Arabic domains under the IDN TLD .qatar in Arabic will start on August 17. The Sunrise periods allow local, regional and international trademark holders to protect their brands before the Arabic domains become available to the general public. Following the Sunrise period, Arabic domains under .qa will be publicly available as of early September. A General Availability phase for .qatar domains has not been scheduled yet.  Qatar was one of the first countries to apply for an Arabic domain extension at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). 

Launch of Arabic domain names under .qa
Phase 1: Trademark Sunrise Period (ongoing)
Sunrise applications during this phase will only be accepted from the registered owner of an eligible trademark, a licensee of an eligible trademark duly authorized by the relevant registered owner or an assignee of an eligible trademark duly authorized by the relevant registered owner. 

Phase 2 : General Availability (Expected : Early September 2011)
Domain registration will be open to everyone on a first-come, first-served basis.

Launch of the extension .Qatar (Arabic script)
Phase 1: Government Registration Period (ongoing)

Phase 2: Trademark Sunrise Period (2 months, starting August 17, 2011)
Sunrise applications during this phase will only be accepted from the registered owner of an eligible trademark, a licensee of an eligible trademark duly authorized by the relevant registered owner or an assignee of an eligible trademark duly authorized by the relevant registered owner. 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=153</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:26:05 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=153</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.ASIA IDNs: Sunrise closed, Landrush starts on August 2</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        DotAsia is introducing Simplified and Traditional Chinese [ZH], Japanese [JA] and Korean [KO] IDN characters under the TLD .ASIA. For the detailed guidelines, please refer to the .ASIA IDN Policies: http://www.dot.asia/policies/DotAsia-CJK-IDN-Policies-COMPLETE--2011-05-04.pdf The .ASIA IDN Sunrise has closed: Successful single application IDN domains will be allocated to registrants within about 4 weeks. IDNs with multiple applications will be scheduled for auction in September 2011.

The .ASIA IDN Landrush Period starts on August 2, 2011 (12:00 UTC). The minimum registration period is 2 years. If only one application is received for a domain name during Landrush, the domain will be allocated to the applicant. If there are more than one successful application for the same domain name, the domain will go to an auction.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=152</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:33:42 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=152</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Webinar about the background and chances of new gTLDs and KSregistry  </title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        You would like to know more about the new generic top-level domains? You are considering if and 
how you could realize your own gTLD? We developed a webinar to give you answers: Listen to a well-founded overview on the topic new gTLDs given by one of the Key-Systems executives and get to know our KSregistry solution. After his speech, the KS speaker answers your questions in a chat. 

Content of the free webinar (held in English):
1. Who are we?
2. Domains today 
3. The new gTLDs
4. Future of the Internet / new gTLD advantages
5. How we can help your new gTLD
6. Technical infrastructure
7. Pricing

The webinar will be held on the following dates at 14:00 UTC / 16:00 CEST. To take part in one of the webinars, please choose your preferred date, click the link below, and sign up:

- Tuesday, July 19, 2011
http://www.key-systems.net/webex/en/07192011.php 
- Thursday, July 21, 2011
http://www.key-systems.net/webex/en/07212011.php
- Tuesday, July 26, 2011
http://www.key-systems.net/webex/en/07262011.php
- Thursday, July 28, 2011
http://www.key-systems.net/webex/en/07282011.php

We support you in planning, executing and operating your own TLD. Whether .company, .product, .brand, .city or .community - KSregistry offers registry operation functions supporting all current standards including whitelabel registry and registrar interface. 

The application window for new gTLDs will be open from January 12 to April 12, 2012. It is expected that the first domain names in new gTLDs will be available for registration in 2013. ICANN has not yet approved plans for a second round of applications. The time to act is now! Don't miss out on this opportunity! Inform yourself about the new gTLD program and its benefits! 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=151</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:56:56 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=151</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Update: .XXX Sunrise will start on September, 7</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The sunrise period for .XXX will begin on September 7 and run for up to 30 days. Sunrise B is aimed at applicants from outside of the sponsored community, who would like to protect their trademark in the .XXX name space. Owners of a qualifying trademark registration may reserve domain names during sunrise B in order to ensure they are not registered as domain names by others. At the close of sunrise, if a conflicting application by another sunrise A applicant (of the sponsored community) has not been made, these names will be reserved from registration (blocked).
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=148</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:06:02 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=148</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Update: .COM.DE: Sunrise for trademark owners and German companies open</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The CentralNic registry is launching the domain ending .COM.DE. The launch
has started with a Sunrise period für trademark owners. .COM.DE allows German
and International customers as well as search engines to locate you easily.
No restrictions. No local presence required. Sunrise Period:
Until July 22, 2011 (5pm CEST)
This phase is for owners of validated trademark rights and for commercial
firm names which are entered in the German Commercial Register. The date of
such registration must be before July 30, 2010. If there are more than one
application for the same domain name, the domain will be allocated through
an auction process. Validation agent is CHIP (ClearingHouse for Intellectual
Property).

Landrush Period:
July 25 (5pm CEST) to August 26, 2011 (5pm CEST)
Open for all interested applicants. If there are more than one application
for the same domain name, the domain will be allocated through an auction
process.

.DE Owner Promotion:
August 30 (5pm CEST) to September 23 (5pm CEST)
The .DE Owner Promotion (Grandfathering) is open to all registrants of a
current .DE domain, wishing to secure the same domain name under .COM.DE,
where that name was not previously registered during Sunrise or Landrush.

General Availability:
Starting September 26, 2011 (5pm CEST)
Open for all interested registrants on a "first-come, first-served" basis.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=147</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 11:44:58 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=147</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Approves Launch of New Top-Level Domains</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        During its meeting in Singapore ICANN's Board of Directors today has approved the new gTLD program with 13 approving votes, 1 opposed, and 2 abstaining. Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012. The evaluation of the new gTLD applications is scheduled to last until November 2012. ICANN will soon begin a global campaign to tell the world about this change in Internet names and to raise awareness of the opportunities afforded by new gTLDs. The approval of the new gTLD program goes along with some changes to the current applicant guidebook. These changes include additional protections for trademark holders such as the International Olympic Committee and a reduction in the application fee for some applicants to encourage applications from developing countries. 

“ICANN has opened the Internet's naming system to unleash the global human imagination. Today's decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=146</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:06:32 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=146</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Open Letter To ICANN Urging New gTLD Approval in Singapore</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Representatives of Key-Systems GmbH, operator of the BrandShelter service, have signed an open letter urging the ICANN board to approve the new gTLD program at the meeting next week in Singapore. A meeting has been scheduled for 20 June at which approval may be given.
 The letter lists issues under three broad areas: process and consensus, ICANN and internet governance as well as benefits and harms. The letter says “If the ICANN Board can answer these questions affirmatively, we believe that it has a duty to vote to begin the New gTLD Program immediately.”

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=145</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:20:40 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=145</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SG Domain Names in Full Chinese and Tamil Characters Soon Available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Singapore Network Information Centre (SGNIC) will be accepting registrations of fully Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) starting from 4 July 2011. SGNIC will offer these
IDNs under two IDN top-level levels, one representing “.Singapore” in Chinese and one representing “.Singapore” in Tamil language.
 Registration phases:
Sunrise Phase 1: For existing domain holders (4 July – 15 August 2011)
• Applications from existing registrants for domain names corresponding to existent .SG domains will be accepted.
• Multiple valid applications will be subject to an auction.
• Corresponding premium names (single-character domain names and numeric domain names) will be available for registration. 

Sunrise Phase 2: For trademark holders, government agencies and other interested businesses and individuals (12 September – 8 November 2011)
• Applications from trademark holders, government agencies and other interested entities and individuals will be possible.
• A priority sunrise fee of $100 for each name will apply to registrations from non-trademark holders and non-governmental agencies. 
• Multiple valid applications will be subject to an auction.
• Premium names will be available for registration. 

General Launch: Starting 14 December 2011 
• Applications from all entities will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.
• Remaining premium names will be reserved and will not be available for registration. 

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=142</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:11:31 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=142</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: New gTLD Applicant Guidebook released</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) yesterday released a new version of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook.  This version contains updates based on community feedback and the recent consultations between ICANN's Board of Directors and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). The Board and GAC agreed to hold another meeting in Singapore on 19 June. The Board will listen to community dialogue at the ICANN public meeting in Singapore, and will continue to solicit comments on specific areas. Furthermore, the Board of Directors will consider approval of the New gTLD Program at an extraordinary meeting on Monday, 20 June 2011, during ICANN’s international meeting in Singapore.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=113</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=113</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN: June Approval For New gTLDs Still Possible</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        In a joint statement with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), the ICANN Board has underlined its hope to approve the new gTLD program at the upcoming Singapore meeting (June 19-24).  The joint statement was a result of another meeting between Board and GAC to discuss the remaining issues related to the anticipated launch of the new gTLD program. This teleconference was the latest in a series targeted at addressing GAC concerns to ensure the stable and secure delegation of new top-level domains.

ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush commented: “The discussions have resulted in significant progress, including improvements to trademark and consumer protections, assistance for potential applicants from developing countries, and other areas of the program.” Together, the Board and GAC reviewed twelve issues, comprised of 80 sub-issues, discussing each in depth. 



        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=112</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=112</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Norid still evaluating .co.no domain extension</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        In February CoDNS B.V. wanted to launch the General Availability period for domain names ending .co.no after having executed a Sunrise for trademark owners. Shortly before the start of General Availability, the .no registry Norid intervened and decided to  After being removed from the list of forbidden domain names in 2001, .co.no was registered by ELINEWEB AS. In 2009 the name was put back on the list of forbidden domain names by Norid. Norid’s  investigation shows that ELINEWEB AS is not the company which started offering registrations under.co.no. The problem is, that a domain on the list of forbidden names can’t be transferred to another registrant. The Whois information of .co.no still shows ELINEWEB AS as the owner. But the offering of registrations under .co.no was executed by CoDNS B.V. Norid is now checking whether such outsourcing of services is legal.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=110</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=110</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Details about blocking trademarks in .XXX Sunrise</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The sunrise period for .XXX will run for up to 30 days starting early September 2011. Sunrise B is aimed at applicants from outside of the sponsored community.  In general, these applicants will be owners of a qualifying trademark registration, who are looking to reserve names in order to ensure they are not registered as domain names by others. At the close of sunrise, if a conflicting application by another sunrise A applicant (of the sponsored community) has not been made, these names will be reserved from registration (blocked).

Sunrise applicants using registered marks to qualify will be required to own, without qualification, a subsisting trade or service mark registration of national effect. This will need to be issued prior to the time of the application submission, in a jurisdiction were the applicant conducts substantial bona fide commerce in connection with the trade or service mark actually registered. The second-level domain will be required to correspond to the entire text of a text mark or alternatively, correspond to the complete textual component of a graphical or compound mark.

A successful application to block a domain name by a single qualified applicant under sunrise B and not subject to a competing application from a sponsored community applicant under sunrise A, will be designated “reserved – trademark” or similar. It will be removed from the pool of names available for registration in future phases of the registry operation and the WHOIS information will simply list standard registry information. The corresponding domain name will resolve to a standard informational page indicating the status of the domain name as not available for registration or similar. Allowing the domain name to resolve is designed to prevent “synthetic DNS” or non-DNS resolution systems, from hi-jacking queries to these domain names.

In the event that there is more than one qualified applicant under sunrise B, the name will be reserved in exactly the same way as if there were only a single applicant and there will be no refund or apportionment of fees amongst such applicants.

If a name is subject to reservation by at least one sunrise B applicant, any sunrise A applicant for the exact same domain name will be notified of this, and will have the opportunity to withdraw the application(s) for the domain name. Also, the corresponding sunrise B rights holder will be notified of the sunrise A application for the domain name. Should the applicant proceed with registration, then the sunrise A applicant will not be able to claim lack of notice in any subsequent dispute proceeding.

IPRota, a provider of rights protection and related services, has been contracted by ICM Registry to assist with the design detail and implementation of the .XXX rights protection mechanisms at launch. IPRota will process and validate all sunrise applications.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=111</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=111</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DNSSEC Available for domains in .UK name space by 18 May</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .uk registry Nominet will accept DS records for third-level domains starting on May, 18. This will enable registrars to secure .uk domain names using DNSSEC. Currently, DNSSEC is deployed for .me.uk and .co.uk. The signing of the remaining second-level .uk zones will be completed by 18 May.  DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=108</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=108</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>China Announces creation of State Internet Information Office and tighter Internet regulations</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        In a statement to the country’s State Council, the Chinese government announced the creation of the State Internet Information Office, which will be responsible for directing, coordinating and managing the country’s online content. “The new body should allow policy makers and top authorities to better coordinate the various regulatory bodies that oversee the Internet. This will allow for tighter regulations of the Internet.”  Mark Natkin, managing director of Chinese research firm Marbridge Consulting, said in a statement to PC World.



        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=109</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=109</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .ee domain names including letters with diacritical marks in May/June</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Starting from June 13, 2011 letters with diacritical marks (õ, ä, ö, ü, š and ž) will be possible in domain names with the suffix .ee, which means that the .ee name space will include the full range of the Estonian alphabet. The .ee registry (Estionian Internet Foundation) has announced a reservation period for .ee domains containing letters with diacritical marks, which will take place between May 16, 2011 and June 5, 2011 – before the start of general registration of these domains on June 13, 2011. 

Only those Domain Names can be reserved that are identical to the Prior Right. A Prior Right can be any of the following:
1. a business name (including a self-employed person’s business name) entered in the Estonian Commercial Register or a name entered in the register of non-profit associations and foundations;
2 a trademark registered in Estonia;
3. the surname of the physical person as of the Application submission date;
4. the first name(s) and surname of the physical person as of the Application submission date.

Rules regarding the period of reservation on the basis of a prior right for .ee domain names containing letters with diacritical marks can be found on http://www.eestiinternet.ee/eng/domain-regulation/rules-regarding-the-reservation-of-domains-names-with-idns.

From June 6, 2011 until June 12, 2011, applications for reservation will be verified by the registry. If the application is accepted, the domain name will be entered in the list of reserved domain names. The domain can be registered by the applicant until December 31, 2011. 

As of June 13, 2011, the registration of .ee domain names containing letters with diacritical marks is opened to all interested persons on a “first come, first served” basis. 

For more information about details and prices, please contact your BrandShelter Account Manager.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=107</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=107</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.FR DNSSEC Opened to Registrars</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        On April 19, AFNIC opened DNSSEC to all its registrars. This was the final step of the deployment of DNSSEC which AFNIC started last September by signing the .fr and .re TLDs. Registrars are now able to ask AFNIC for domain names to be secured with DNSSEC.  DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=103</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=103</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Board Approves IDN Top-Level Domains for Algeria, Morocco and Serbia</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        During its meeting on last Thursday, the ICANN board approved the IDN extensions “.Al Jazair” for Algeria in Arabic, “.al-Maghrib” for Morocco in Arabic and “.srb” for Serbia in Cyrillic. ICANN also approved the re-delegation of North Korea’s ccTLD, .kp to Star Joint Venture Company.

        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=104</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=104</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>South Korea to Launch IDN TLD</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The .kr registry will launch South Korea’s IDN top-level domain (meaning .korearep in English) with a Sunrise for brand owners from May 25 until August 16.  The Sunrise application window will start on May 25 and end on June 21. Registrants during the Sunrise phase need to provide:

- a Korean Trademark Certificate and
- a Korean Business Registration Certificate.

In case of valid multiple applications, the winner will be decided by lottery. 

The application window for the Landrush phase (August 22 – October 4) will start on August 21 and end on August 31. In case of multiple, valid Landrush applications, the winner will be decided by lottery. Any entity who resides in Korea can apply. Open registration will follow the Landrush and start on October 5, 2011.

Domains under the IDN extension .korearep may consist of 1 up to 17 Korean word(s). English characters, number (0–9) and hyphens can us used, but at least one Korean word must be included.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=105</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=105</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Sunrise Applications for .XXX Domains Now Possible with BrandShelter</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         .XXX is a new sponsored top-level domain (sTLD), specifically designed for the benefit of the global online adult entertainment industry. In March 2011, ICANN authorized .XXX as a
top-level domain name and granted ICM Registry final approval to operate the domain
extension.

The .XXX Sunrise is expected to start late summer 2011 and will be divided into two tracks A & B:
Track A is for members of the Sponsored Community with either Trademark Rights
and/or prospective Rights through Pre-Owned Strings in other TLDs.
Track B is for Trademark Rights Holders outside the Sponsored Community. Rights owners
from outside the Sponsored Community will have the opportunity to reserve and therefore
block names at the .XXX registry so that they cannot be used as conventional web addresses.

To block the domains matching your brand(s) in the evolving .XXX domain name space, please contact your personal BrandShelter Account Manager. 

http://www.icmregistry.com
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=106</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=106</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD request from Yemen successfully passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Yemen. The .AlYemen domain extension will be represented in the Arabic language and script.

At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process proceeds in three stages:

Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 27 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 17 countries/territories (represented by 27 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
 
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-15apr11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=101</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=101</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Changes in the New Draft of the Applicant Guidebook for New gTLDs concerning Trademark Owners</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has published the April 2011 Discussion Draft of the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook for public comment.

Here are some of the relevant changes concerning trademark owners:

1) A limited “loser pays” model has been adopted for the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS): Complaints listing twenty-six or more disputed domain names will be subject to a Response Fee which will be refundable to the prevailing party. Under no circumstances shall the Response Fee exceed the fee charged to the Complainant.

2) New TLD registry operators must offer two rights protection mechanisms during their launch phase: a Trademark Claims service and a Sunrise period. The Trademark Claims service claims registrants to certify not to infringe when registering a domain name that matches a registered trademark. In case of registration, the trademark holder is informed. The Trademark Claims service must be offered for at least 60 days after the start of General Availability and the Sunrise must start at least 30 days before General Availability. 

3) The future manager of the Trademark Clearinghouse will validate that each submitted trademark is legit. Companies only need to submit a declaration and a single piece of evidence of use in order to get into the Clearinghouse, which enables them to take part in the Sunrise. Such a validation will not be required for participating in the Trademark Claims service, though brand owners will need to be listed in the Clearinghouse for both mechanisms. Evidence of use will also be needed to file URS complaints, but that can be done separately at the time of filing, with no need for a Clearinghouse registration.

http://domainincite.com/icann-brings-loser-pays-to-domain-disputes/
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-15apr11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=102</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=102</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Upcoming Changes for .fr domains</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Law of 22 March 2011 has changed certain aspects of the legal framework for domain names in France.

This will be the key changes coming into effect on 1 July 2011:

--- Disputes between rights holders and holders of .fr domain names ---
The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure for .fr domains will be suspended by WIPO on 15 April 2011, as no decision may be carried out after the deadline of 30 June. The dispute resolution procedure for obvious breaches of the Decree of 6 February 2007 (PREDEC) will be suspended as of 15 May 2011 for the same reason. AFNIC is currently working on the draft of a new procedure for resolving disputes. In the meantime, disputes can be brought before the courts or submitted for online arbitration by the CMAP (Paris Mediation and Arbitration Centre).

--- Prohibited and reserved terms ---
As of 1 July, AFNIC will amend the registration procedure for the terms included in the lists including the names of French towns. Applicants must state the grounds for registration requests. AFNIC will only be entitled to refuse a registration request if there is evidence it has been made in bad faith and lacks legitimate interest.

--- Access to the list of .fr domain names registered ---
As of 1 July, every day AFNIC will publish on its website the list of domain names registered on the previous day for viewing and downloading.

In the coming weeks AFNIC will continue to consult the stakeholders on the means of implementing these provisions. 

http://www.afnic.fr/actu/nouvelles/280/the-new-legal-framework-for-domain-names-the-things-that-will-change-on-1-july
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=100</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=100</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Verisign Deploys DNS Security Extensions in .com Top-Level Domain</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         VeriSign, Inc. announced that .com now supports DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). 

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.

According to the ICANN TLD DNSSEC Report (2011-04-01), 65 of the world’s 306 TLDs are currently signed with DNSSEC. 

https://press.verisign.com/easyir/customrel.do?easyirid=AFC0FF0DB5C560D3&version=live&prid=739246&releasejsp=custom_97
http://stats.research.icann.org/dns/tld_report/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=98</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=98</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Telnic Announces Launch of Two‐Character and Numeric‐Only .tel Names</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Telnic Limited (http://telnic.tel), the registry operator for the .tel top-level domain (TLD), announced the launch of short (two‐character) and numeric‐only .tel names for the 1st June 2011.

The launch will consist of two phases. All registrations will be on a first‐come, first served basis. Registrations can be from one to ten years. 

Landrush: a two‐week period starting on 1st June 2011 which will enable any individual or business to secure a short or numeric‐only .tel name at a premium registration price

General Availability: starting on 14th June 2011 at regular registration pricing

The following strings will not be available for registration in this round:
Short domains:
- all one‐letter domains (from a.tel through to z.tel)
- all two‐character country code top level domains (ccTLDs, such as uk.tel for example)
Numeric‐only domains:
- all single‐digit domains (from 0.tel through to 9.tel)
- all combinations of digits and/or digit and hyphen strings that contain eight or more characters (for example, 12345678.tel or 123‐5678.tel)

Further information regarding short and numeric‐only .tel names can be found at http://telnic.org/short‐numeric‐only.html.

Source: http://telnic.org/downloads/Telnic_Launch_Short_and_Numeric.pdf
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=99</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=99</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of the new extension .COM.DE starts with a Sunrise in June 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The .COM.DE second-level domain extension will be launched with a Sunrise for trademark owners from June 20, 2011 until July 1, 2011. .COM.DE presents an opportunity for restriction-free registration of third-level domains in the .DE name space: a local presence is not required and there is no limit to the amount of domains each individual can register.

.COM.DE is a third-level variant (sub domain) of the country-code top-level domain for Germany. .COM.DE is registered as a .DE domain name but the .COM.DE operator (CentralNic) does not have any affiliation with DENIC, the official registry of the ccTLD .DE. 

The launch schedule for .COM.DE is as follows: 
Sunrise: June 20, 2011 until July 1, 2011
Landrush: July 4, 2011 until September 14, 2011
General Availability: September 19, 2011 onwards

The .COM.DE extension is operated by CentralNic, which already runs other second-level extensions such as EU.COM, UK.COM

http://www.com.de
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=96</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=96</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New Legal Framework for Domain Names in France Declared</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The President of the French Republic has announced the law to bring various French legislative provisions on health, labor and telecommunications into line with EU law.

On 6 October 2010, the Constitutional Council had declared section L. 45 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code unconstitutional and set a deadline of July 1, 2011 for the legislature to provide a new legal framework for top-level domains corresponding to the national territory. 

The new law will take effect on June 30, 2011. All the French top-level domains (.fr, .re, .gp, .mq, .gf, etc.) are concerned, except for .pf (French Polynesia) and .nc (New Caledonia).

A number of procedures established by AFNIC will be affected, for example those for resolving legal disputes will be changed. Furthermore, the law will open certain restrictions on the registration of domain names, and affect the opening of the .fr TLD to Europe scheduled for December 31, 2011.

After its next Board meeting, to be held on 8 April, AFNIC will publish details about the upcoming changes.  

About AFNIC 
(Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération) 
Non-profit organization, AFNIC is in charge of the administrative and technical management of the .fr (France) and .re (Reunion Island) Internet domain names. AFNIC brings together public and private members: representatives from the French government, Internet users and Internet Service Providers (Registrars).

Find out more:
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000023751262&dateTexte=&oldAction=rechJO&categorieLien=id
See article 19 of the law at: 
http://www.afnic.fr/actu/nouvelles/278/a-new-legal-framework-for-domain-names-in-france
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=97</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=97</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Approves New Timeline for new gTLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         During its San Francisco meeting, the ICANN board has again approved a draft of a final timeline (http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/draft-timeline-new-gtlds-18mar11-en.pdf) for the introduction of new top-level domains. 

March 25 – Governmental Advisory Committee feedback expected 

April 15 – Publication of relevant edited extracts of the final Applicant Guidebook for 30 days of public comment.

May 20 – ICANN’s final consultation with the GAC via teleconference

May 30 – Publication of the final Applicant Guidebook

June 20 –ICANN Board Consultation in Singapore to (presumably) approve the Guidebook

http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-21mar11-en.pdf
http://domainincite.com/new-tlds-have-a-timetable-again/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=95</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=95</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .ASIA IDNs in May</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        DotAsia will introduce Chinese, Japanese and Korean IDN characters under the TLD .ASIA in a Sunrise from May, 11 (Wed, 12:00UTC) until July, 25 (Wed, 24:00UTC). The registry will implement character variants for Simplified and Traditional Chinese; the Korean IDN characters do not include Hanja characters. Sunrise 1 is opened only for Governmental Reserved Names. In Sunrise 2, domain names matching registered trademarks may be registered. In the following Sunrise 3, entities registered in the DotAsia Community may apply for domain names corresponding to their registered <ASCII>.ASIA domains.  
For Sunrise 2 applications, applicants must submit bibliographical data in relation to the right that qualifies an applicant for the domain name applied for. The bibliographical data to be submitted include: registered mark, registration number, registration locality, application date, registration date, registered class (Nice Classification System - http://www.wipo.int/classifications/nivilo/nice/index.htm#), nature of entitlement (original owner, co-owner or assignee).
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=94</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=94</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Approves .XXX Domains for Pornographic Websites</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Last Friday, during the ICANN meeting in San Francisco, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) finally decided to give green light to the long-awaited .XXX extension for websites with pornographic contents. 

The ICANN board members voted 9-3 in favor, while 4 board members abstained. This final approval of the clearly defined Web address for adult entertainment is celebrated as a “landmark decision” by the ICM Registry.

After several years of discussions about the controversial .XXX suffix, moral considerations seem to be overcome. By creating an adult-only top-level domain, ICANN hopes to make the Internet safer. The establishment of a new internet domain for adult entertainment sites enables individuals to filter out unwanted .XXX material. 

In contrast to other generic domain names, this sponsored .XXX TLD will only be available to the adult entertainment industry. The International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR) will undertake the supervision and monitoring of the application process.

Trademark owners will be given the opportunity to reserve relevant domain names before going to the open market, enabling them to protect their brand names and intellectual property rights within .XXX. Until now, more than 200,000 pre-applications for .XXX domains have been submitted.


More Information:
http://www.icmregistry.com/news/welcomeapproval.php
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=93</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=93</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Syria Starts Registration under Top-Level Domain .SYRIA in Arabic</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The National Agency for Network Services (NANS) has launched the registration under the Arabic top-level domain .Syria. The registration process includes two stages: the first one started on March 15 and will end on June 15. Applications during this test phase will be accepted primarily. To resolve any disputes, applicants won’t get their domain until the end of the test phase. Domain registrations will be confirmed after resolving disputes at the end of the test phase. The date of confirmation will be considered as registration date; applicants may then pay their registration fee during one month after confirmation. The test phase will be followed by the general registration period which will be open for everybody.

http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011031310208/Technology/syria-launches-registration-for-top-level-domain-in-arabic.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=91</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=91</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DotAsia to Support Macao Government in the Development of the .MO TLD</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The DotAsia Organisation will support the Macao government in modernizing the operation of the .MO top-level domain. DotAsia (registry for .ASIA) formed a joint venture with a local conglomerate in Macao to create HNET Asia (http://www.hnet.asia). HNET Asia entered into a contract with the Macao government on 25 February 2011, to assume the operation of the .MO registry beginning March 12, 2011. In advancing the .MO registry, DotAsia will deploy Chinese domain names (including at the top-level), DNSSEC and other capabilities for the registry. 

http://www.dotasia.org/pressreleases/DotAsia-MONIC-PR--20110303.pdf
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=92</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=92</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>WIPO Launches New Online Tool to Facilitate Brand Searches Share</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has opened up a free, searchable web-based database of over 640,000 trademarks. At present, the Global Brand Database search interface allows users to access three WIPO databases –  international trademarks registered under the Madrid system for the international registration of marks; appellations of origin registered under the Lisbon system for the international registration of appellations of origin; and armorial bearings, flags and other state emblems as well as the names, abbreviations and emblems of intergovernmental organizations protected under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property – by means of one simple, user-friendly screen. WIPO said in its announcement that it plans to add national databases to the system in the future. 

http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2011/article_0007.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=89</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=89</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request From Bangladesh Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of String Evaluation on proposed IDN ccTLD string for Bangladesh (string in English: Bangla, language: Bangla, script: Bangla).

With this announcement, a total of 26 countries/territories requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation. Of these, 17 countries/territories (represented by 27 IDN ccTLDs) are delegated in the DNS root zone; with the remainder either readying to apply, or actively applying for, delegation of the string. 

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-10mar11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=90</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=90</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Further Discussion of New gTLDs Between ICANN and GAC in San Francisco</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         In a letter to GAC chair Heather Dryden (PDF: http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/dengate-thrush-to-dryden-05mar11-en.pdf), ICANN chair Peter Dengate Thrush said that he thinks the San Francisco talks should be final: “The Board looks forward to continuing to collaborate with the GAC in order to conclude the consultation process on the new gTLD program during the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Meeting.” 

Thrush states, that ICANN has agreed to compromise with the GAC wholly or partially on all but 23 of its 80 recommendations for the program. According to him, these remaining issues should be the focus of the two days consulting with the GAC in San Francisco. Cybersquatting is the major issue still unresolved. Fifteen of the 23 areas where the board still disagrees with the GAC concern trademark protection in new TLDs. 

ICANN has already officially resolved that the consultation with the GAC in San Francisco should be on March 17, but GAC chair Heather Dryden objected to that date in an email sent during the GAC/ICANN meeting Brussels (on 11-02-28 and 11-03-01). It was not clear from Brussels, but ICANN’s position that March 17 is the date now appears to be firm. The just-published agenda for the March 18 board meeting carries this line item “Outcome of Bylaw Consultation with the GAC on the new gTLD Program” (http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/agenda-18mar11-en.htm).

Source: http://domainincite.com/icann-takes-firm-stance-on-new-tld-delays/
http://www.brandtlds.com/2011/03/new-timeline-for-new-gtlds-again.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=85</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=85</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>1 and 2 Character .INFO Domain Names now available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Afilias has announced the opening of a submission period for the allocation of 1 and 2 character .INFO domain names. Afilias is accepting proposals from parties that wish to register one of the domain names subject to the Program. Proposals will be evaluated on the manner in which the applicant proposes to enhance the .INFO brand through its use of the domain name. The application form can be found here: http://www.info.info/webfm_send/142. A US$1,000.00 application fee, which is non-refundable, will be charged to each application. The deadline for receipt of all applications (both electronic and print versions) is 12:00 UTC on 30 April 2011. 

http://www.info.info/1and2character
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=86</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=86</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Sunrise Phase for Registering Second-Level Domains under .SA has Ended</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Sunrise phase of registering second-level domains under .SA is over now. The .SA registry SaudiNIC will notify all registrants, who have submitted second-level domain name applications during the Sunrise phase of their application results before the beginning of the Landrush phase. All applicants who did not qualify for the Sunrise phase may apply for second-level .SA domains during the Landrush, which begins on 2nd May 2011. Only registrants of existing third-level domains could apply for the corresponding second-level .SA domain during Sunrise. During Landrush domains will be allocated following the first-come, first-served principle. 

http://nic.sa/page.php?page=9&lang=1
http://www.brandshelter.com/en/news/index.php?sid=52
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=87</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=87</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Internet use in Libya suppressed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Because of the protests against his regime, the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi is now suppressing the Internet traffic almost completely. Since last Thursday at about 17.30 CET, there is only little traffic, Google's Transparency report shows. Both the unencrypted Google searches as well as services such as Blogger, the social network Orkut, Google Mail, and YouTube are blocked. Other service providers are also affected. Web sites that are hosted in Libya don’t give an answer, even the DNS does not work, so domain names don’t resolve. Traffic reports from security firms indicate that the traffic into and out of the country is gone.
 http://www.zdnet.de/news/digitale_wirtschaft_internet_ebusiness_libyen_ist_komplett_offline_story-39002364-41549816-1.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=88</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=88</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Qatar-Specific Arabic Domains Available in March</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Domains under the Qatar IDN TLD .qatar in Arabic will be available starting in March. Government entities and registered trademark holders will be given priority during the different launch phases. Domain names will be made available to the public by August of this year. The IDN TLD is managed by ictQATAR through the Qatar Domain Names Registry. Qatar received the official delegation for its Arabic domains by ICANN in December 2010.

We will inform you about the launch details as soon as they become available.

http://www.ict.gov.qa/output/Page2120.asp
http://www.ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle.asp?Art_ID=8819&lang=en
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=84</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=84</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>June 2011 ICANN Meeting to be Held in Singapore</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN announced that ICANN’s 19-24 June 2011 Public Meeting will be held in Singapore.
The meeting was supposed to be held in Amman, Jordan. But security concerns and unrest in the region prompted ICANN to change the location. The Board reluctantly made its decision after closely monitoring the rapidly changing developments affecting the Middle East. The decision reflects the Board’s view that regional developments could have a negative impact on attendance at the meeting. More details about the meeting location will be forthcoming soon.

http://blog.icann.org/2011/02/middle-east-developments-interfere-with-icann-41-jordan-meeting/
http://blog.icann.org/2011/02/june-2011-icann-meeting-to-be-held-in-singapore/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=78</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=78</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Go Live of .CO.NO Postponed to March 25, 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The .CO.NO registry has postponed the Go Live of .CO.NO at very short notice to Friday, March 25, 2011 (2:00 pm UTC). 

As of March 25, 2011, .CO.NO will be available for everyone on a first-come, first-served basis (Go Live). 

.CO.NO is a third-level variant (sub domain) of the country code top-level domain for Norway. .CO.NO is registered as a .NO domain name but the .CO.NO operator (CoDNS B.V.) does not have any affiliation with Norid, the official registry of the ccTLD .NO.  
.CO.NO domains will be open to everyone without requirements such as local presence or ties with Norway. While the registration of ("real") .NO domains is only possible for organizations based in Norway, the name space of the sub-level domain .CO.NO opens up the opportunity for everyone to easily get a Norwegian web presence. 

The advantages of .CO.NO:
- The registration of .CO.NO does NOT require a local presence in Norway.
- Both companies and private persons are eligible to register .CO.NO domains.
- There are no limitations regarding the number of .CO.NO domains one can register.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=79</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=79</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Premium .SG Domain now Available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         From 1 March to 31 March 2011, a selected group of premium .SG domain names will be released for application. If the registry receives multiple applications for a domain name, it will be allocated to the applicant with the highest bid. Premium domain names are names that are limited in quantity and have a higher value than non-premium domain names. They include single character domain names, numeric domain names, domains of single digits, 2 digits, 3 and 4 digits as well selected domains of 5 to 11 digits. 

Details of the launch can be found in the following documents:
-Application guidelines for premium domain names: https://www.sgnic.sg/sites/default/files/Application%20Guidelines%20for%20Premium%20Domain%20Names_1%20Feb%202011.pdf

-List of premium domain names for application: 
https://www.sgnic.sg/sites/default/files/List%20of%20PDNs%20for%20application_1%20Mar%202011(R1).pdf

-Timeline for premium domain name application
https://www.sgnic.sg/sites/default/files/Milestones%20for%20PDN%20Application.pdf

Source:
https://www.sgnic.sg/news/special-names-limited-period-grab-it-now
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=80</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=80</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Pre-Launch Priority Registration of Hong Kong IDN TLD for Existing .hk Customers</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         HKIRC, the .hk registry is currently accepting registrations under the Chinese IDN TLD (meaning .HongKong) by existing .hk customers. They can register their corresponding Chinese domain names before the start of public registration during a Pre-Launch Priority Registration (PLPR) Period until March 10. With the introduction of the IDN TLD on March 23, customers will enjoy the additional benefits of pairing (Chinese .hk and Chinese domain under IDN TLD) and bundling (English .hk and Chinese domain under IDN TLD). Domain name registration on a first‐come, first‐served basis is scheduled to start on May 31, 2011.

https://www.hkirc.hk/pdf/Annex_A.pdf
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=81</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=81</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Requests From Pakistan and Ukraine Successfully Pass String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD strings for Pakistan (.Pakistan in Urdu language and Arabic script) and Ukraine (.ukr in Ukrainian language and Cyrillic script).
 
Up to now, ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 25 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 17 countries/territories (represented by 27 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.

These are the three stages of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process:

1. Preparation 
The requester in the country / territory builds community consensus for which IDN ccTLD to apply for, how it is run, and which organization will be running it, and prepares the required supporting documentation.

2. String Evaluation: 
After the submission of an application, the technical and linguistic requirements for the IDN ccTLD string are examined by ICANN. 

3. String Delegation: 
Requests successfully meeting string evaluation criteria are eligible to apply for delegation. This follows the same ICANN/IANA process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs. String delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management. 

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-01mar11-en.htm
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-25feb11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=82</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=82</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Results of ICANN/GAC consultations in Brussels</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         During the meeting of the ICANN Board with the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on February 28/March1 in Brussels, GAC representatives reaffirmed their demand for veto powers against a number of new TLDs and other concessions to brand owners. The continuing disagreement between governments and ICANN continues to delay the process for introducing new TLDs. The start date for the new gTLD program remains undefined.

Background 

ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) plays a key role within ICANN, particularly with regard to providing advice to the Board on public policy issues. The GAC has been actively involved in the discussions on the introduction of new gTLDs and has regularly provided advice to the ICANN Board on a number of issues, which the Board has sought to address. The most recent GAC communiqué identified a number of issues associated with the introduction of new gTLDs that the GAC considers outstanding, or unresolved to the GAC's satisfaction. 

During the recent ICANN meeting in Cartagena, the ICANN Board of Directors and Governmental Advisory Committee agreed to meet at some time prior to the upcoming Silicon Valley/San Francisco meeting in order to devote significant time in the interest of resolving the outstanding issues the GAC has identified with the new gTLD process.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=83</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=83</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Syria’s IDN TLD approved</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) recently approved Syria’s Arabic TLD. Including the Syrian IDN TLD, the number of delegated Arabic TLDs is eight. The Arabic TLDs of Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Occupied Territory, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates have all been approved. The first IDN TLD that went live in May 2010 was the Egyptian.  

Source: http://thenextweb.com/me/2011/02/17/syria-gets-first-arabic/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=75</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=75</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN will not Approve or Announce the new gTLD Program at San Francisco Meeting</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has released some additional information about the work being carried out by ICANN’s Board of Directors and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to prepare for their upcoming meeting in Brussels on the new gTLD program. 

In addition to the Brussels consultation, a bylaws-defined consultation will take place on 17 March, the day before the Silicon Valley–San Francisco Board Meeting. Because of the timing of the bylaws consultation, the Board will not approve or announce the new gTLD program at that Board Meeting. 

As detailed in recent ICANN announcements, the Board and the GAC will hold a joint workshop to discuss the GAC’s concerns regarding the proposed implementation of the new gTLD program. Following the workshop, it is anticipated that the Board and GAC will meet for a bylaws-triggered consultation. 

The Board, ICANN staff and the GAC are working diligently to understand the GAC’s concerns and identify the areas of disagreement and possible solutions. Substantial preparatory work has been done, including the appointment of “issue leads” for the topics raised in the GAC’s Cartagena Communiqué, exchanges of draft issue papers and joint conference call discussions. The papers will be published prior to the meeting.

Most ICANN Board Members and a strong contingent of GAC representatives are expected to attend. The timing and substance of any subsequent Board actions on the new gTLD program will depend on the outcome of the bylaws consultation.

Source: http://blog.icann.org/2011/02/update-on-icann-boardgac-consultation-on-new-gtlds-2/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=77</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=77</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.UK: Second Sunrise phase for short domains starts on Monday</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The second step of the release of previously reserved one and two-character .UK domains will start on Monday, February 14, 2011. Here is the list of available domains:
http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/47860_Reserved_domains_status_table_090211.pdf

Details for Phase 2: Unregistered Rights Sunrise

Application period:
From February 14, 2011 (12:00 UTC) until March 16, 2011 (12:00 UTC)

This phase is for:
(i) any person who would have qualified for the Registered Rights Sunrise phase but missed the application deadline and for 
(ii) those who can show that they have unregistered rights in a mark which is identical to the domain name. Essentially, if you have goodwill associated with a sign which is identical to the domain name, and that goodwill would entitle you to prevent third parties from using the sign to misrepresent their goods or services as yours (the practice known as "passing off"), then if you or the person from who you acquired the right have had that goodwill since at least 1 January 2008, you will be able to take part.

All applications for the same domain name will be treated the same, regardless whether they are based in a registered or unregistered right. If there are two or more qualifying applicants for a domain name, an open auction process will be used to decide the successful applicant.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=74</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=74</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Cyrillic IDNs for .ORG soon available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         As of 19 February 2011 .ORG will support Cyrillic Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs). Registrations will be available starting on 19:00 UTC on a first-come, first-served basis. For Cyrillic IDNs registered between 19:00 UTC, 19 February 2011 and 19:00 UTC, 
21 March 2011, no modifications such as owner change or registrar change will be allowed until 20 April 2011. This is intended to allow intellectual property interests to file UDRP actions if warranted.

A Cyrillic Domain Name (in native script) must contain at least three (3) Cyrillic characters. You may choose Cyrillic characters, numbers (0-9) or hyphen (-) to compose your Cyrillic Domain Name. The length shall be limited within 63 characters (EPP limit).

The following languages will be supported as part of Cyrillic IDN support. Request to register a Cyrillic IDN MUST specify one of the following language tags:

Bosnian -  BS
Bulgarian -  BG
Belarusian - BE
Macedonian - MK
Russian - RU
Serbian - SR
Ukrainian - UK
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=72</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=72</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD Request from Georgia Successfully Passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Georgia. The .GE (Georgia) domain extension will be represented in the Georgian language and script.

At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process proceeds in three stages:

Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 23 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 17 countries/territories (represented by 27 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
 

Source: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09feb11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=73</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=73</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DNSSEC for .de as of May</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         DENIC, cooperative for the administration of the TLD .de, will launch DNSSEC (Domain Name Security Extensions) on 31 May 2011. "DNSSEC has successfully passed the operative phase in the testbed," says DENIC's CEO, Sabine Dolderer. The testbed was launched jointly by DENIC, the Association of the German Internet Economy eco e.V. and the Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) and ran from July 2009 to December 2010.

About DNSSEC
DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.

Source:
http://www.denic.de/en/denic-in-dialogue/press-releases/press/3116.html?cHash=52534a8357d3e0c8be494d1419c43cdd
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=70</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=70</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.my now Supports 2nd level IDNs in Jawi</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         .my DOMAIN REGISTRY announced that the Malaysian TLD .my now supports Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) in Jawi (extended Arabic alphabet for the Malay language). Chinese and Tamil IDNs will also be implemented soon.  

The launch of Jawi IDNs is separated in three phases. In the current first phase until April 30, 2011, registration of Jawi IDNs is limited to government agencies and government educational entities. In the second phase registration is open to existing .my registrants. With the concluding third phase, Jawi IDNs will be available for the public. 
 
More information: 
http://www.domainregistry.my/faq.php?id=98

Source:
http://www.domainregistry.my/readnews.php?id=110
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=71</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=71</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN aims for March deadline for new TLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The resolutions from ICANN’s board meeting on January 25 wants the final GAC consultation to take place March 17, the day before the board meets in San Francisco. 

The board resolved that it “intends to progress toward launching the New gTLD Program, as close as practically possible to the form as set out in the Proposed Final Applicant Guidebook.”

http://domainincite.com/breaking-icann-sets-march-deadline-for-new-tlds/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=65</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=65</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Approves Numeric-Only and 1&amp;2 Character .TEL Names</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has now approved the release of both short (such as JJ.TEL) and numeric-only (such as 442074676450.TEL or 88.TEL) .TEL domain names for registration. Details of how to register short and numeric-only .TEL names will be made available in due course. One-character ASCII (such as X.TEL), single-digit (such as 3.TEL) and names that may be confused with country-code top-level domain extensions will not be available for registration. Over 300,000 .TEL names have been registered to date in over 180 countries. 

Source: http://www.telnic.org/downloads/Short_and_numeric_tel_domains.pdf
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=66</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=66</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IANA Created Three new ccTLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         IANA has created three new country-code top-level domains in December 2010 to represent the new nations created by the breakup of the Netherlands Antilles. The new ccTLDs are: .BQ for Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba, .CW for Curacao and .SX for Sint Maarten (Dutch part). All three appeared in IANA’s database on December 20, 2010. None of the strings are currently delegated. The governments of the respective nations will have to apply at IANA if they want to start using their TLDs on the Internet.

Source: http://domainincite.com/three-new-cctlds-including-sx-up-for-grabs/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=67</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=67</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>TRA Extends Registration Period for dotEmarat</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has extended the registration in the (dotEmarat) Sunrise period for an additional six months (probably until June 15, 2011) to give trademark owners opportunity to register their brands. 

In Arabic language, the string .Emarat has a meaning equivalent to “Emirates” in English. TRA, the sponsoring organization and a federal governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates will operate the domain using the same policies used for the .AE domain today that is published on its website. TRA is already delegating the United Arab Emirates’ ccTLD .AE. 

Source: http://tra.gov.ae/news_Registration_in_the_dotEmarat_Sunrise_period_has_been_extended_for_six_months-240-1.php
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=68</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=68</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Saudi Registry Opens Second-Level Registrations Under .SA</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Saudi Network Information Center (SaudiNIC), the registry for .SA domains, has scheduled the registration of domains directly under the .SA extension. Up to now, the registration of domain names was only possible with second-level extensions such as .COM.SA (for commercial entities and registered trademarks) or .NET.SA (for ISPs, Internet services  such as web hosting, portal sites, etc.).

During the Sunrise phase for second-level .SA domain names, which lasts from January 10 until March 7, 2011, only registrants of existing third-level domains are qualified to apply for the corresponding .SA second-level domain names. These third-level domain names have to be registered before December 6, 2010.

If SaudiNIC receives more than one valid Sunrise application from different qualified registrants for the same domain name, the first priority will be given to .GOV.SA. Otherwise, priority will be based on the earliest registration date.

Eligible registrants for .SA domain names are:

- an entity physically located in Saudi Arabia 
- a natural person, not underage, with a Saudi national identification card or equivalent document issued by the Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia 
- an entity with a registration or license issued by a pertinent authority in Saudi Arabia 
- an owner of a trademark or trade name that is registered in Saudi Arabia. 

The Landrush phase for .SA second-level domain names will start on May 2, 2011. The domains will then be allocated following the first-come, first-served principle.  

More information: www.nic.sa
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=52</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=52</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN's Board and GAC to Meet on New gTLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         January 21, 2011
During the recent ICANN meeting in Cartagena, the ICANN Board of Directors and Governmental Advisory Committee agreed to meet at some time prior to the upcoming Silicon Valley/San Francisco meeting in order to devote significant time in the interest of resolving the outstanding issues the GAC has identified with the new gTLD process.

Planning for that meeting has occurred and the Board and the GAC have agreed to meet on 28 February and 1 March 2011, in Brussels, at the Square Brussels Meeting Centre, Mont des Arts – Kunstberg, Brussels.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

1.Identify the specific differences between Governmental Advisory Committee ("GAC") advice and the current implementation of the GNSO New gTLD Policy recommendations embodied in the Applicant Guidebook.

2.Through discussion among Board and GAC members, either: 
a. arrive at an agreed upon resolution of those differences, or
b. for those issues not resolved, identify what differences remain. This meeting is not intended to address the requirements/steps outlined in the Bylaws mandated Board-GAC consultation process.
The meeting will be open, scribed and streamed live over the Internet. Only GAC members, ICANN Board members, select ICANN staff members and subject matter experts will participate in the discussion, whether in person or remotely. It will be possible for interested parties to attend and observe proceedings.  Remote participation facilities will also be made available. 

Papers to inform the discussions will be published prior to the meeting. Details of the agenda and logistics will be made available closer to the meeting.

Background

ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) plays a key role within ICANN, particularly with regard to providing advice to the Board on public policy issues. The GAC has been actively involved in the discussions on the introduction of new gTLDs and has regularly provided advice to the ICANN Board on a number of issues, which the Board has sought to address. The most recent GAC communiqué  identified a number of issues associated with the introduction of new gTLDs that the GAC considers outstanding, or unresolved to the GAC's satisfaction.

Source:  http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-21jan11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=64</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=64</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Board to Delegate Eleven new ccTLDs Next Week</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         During its meeting on January 25, the ICANN Board will probably approve eleven new IDN ccTLDs, representing four nations in Asia and the Middle East. The meeting agenda includes the approval of IDN ccTLDs for South Korea (“Hanguk”), Singapore (“Singapore” in Chinese and Tamil language) and Syria (“Sourya” in Arabic). Seven ccTLDs for India will be delegated in the country’s most popular languages. The upcoming delegations will push the number of TLDs in IANA’s database to over 300 for the first time. This week, the ccTLD for Thailand went live with Thai-language registrations.

Also on ICANN’s agenda for the Board meeting next week is the re-delegation of the ASCII ccTLDs for Burkina Faso (.BF), Congo (.CD) and Syria (.SY) to new registry managers. Furthermore, the ICANN Board will decide on the Telnic request for release of numeric-only strings except for single-character labels and VeriSign’s request for release of numeric-only strings and numeric strings with hyphens under .NAME. The new gTLDs are also a topic of the upcoming meeting; among the issues to discuss are “Vertical Integration”, the Board/GAC consultations and an update on public comments on the Applicant Guidebook.

Sources:
http://domainincite.com/eleven-new-cctlds-coming-next-week/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/agenda-25jan11-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=63</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=63</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>The new law on domain names is adopted on first reading by the French National Assembly</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         On January, 13, the French National Assembly adopted a bill to define the new legal framework for extensions corresponding to the national territory on first reading. 

On 6 October 2010, the Constitutional Council had declared section L. 45 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code unconstitutional and set a deadline of July 1, 2011 for the legislature to provide a new legal framework for top-level domains corresponding to the national territory.

The text adopted on January, 13 takes into account the main points raised by the Constitutional Council and explicitly refers to the constitutional rights involved in the Freedom of Communication and Freedom of Trade.

The new law also reinforces key principles for the players in the domain name market such as the “first come, first served” rule, or the accountability of applicants for domain names in relation to the rights of third parties.

The draft will soon be handed over to the Senate, where it should pass during the coming weeks.

About AFNIC
(Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération)
Non-profit organization, AFNIC is in charge of the administrative and technical management of the .fr (France) and .re (Reunion Island) Internet domain names. AFNIC brings together public and private members: representatives from the French government, Internet users and Internet Service Providers (Registrars).

Source: 
http://www.afnic.fr/actu/nouvelles/270/the-new-law-on-domain-names-is-adopted-on-first-reading-by-the-french-national-assembly
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=61</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=61</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Temporary Drafting Group Work Session on New gTLD Base Registry Agreement Issues</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The Temporary Drafting Group will hold a teleconference on 27 January 2011. The issues open for drafting/discussion during the call will include: - Suggestions for additional language for Specification 9 (the Registry Code of Conduct)
- Proposed modifications to conditions related to the termination of a registry services agreement
- Suggestions for clarifications to provision requiring advance notice of registry price increases
- Concepts for continued registry operations instrument to provide continuity of services

This is not a formal public consultation, but is intended to inform drafting which might make up a later public consultation. Any results from the Temporary Drafting Group will be included in documents that will be posted for public comment. No results from the Group will necessarily be used in any agreement drafts, but inputs from the Group will be considered by the ICANN Staff in making recommendations relating to questions discussed or posed to the Group.

This third Temporary Drafting Group session will be held via teleconference on 27 January 2011 at 18.00 UTC, and is scheduled to last for 120 minutes.

Source:
http://blog.icann.org/2011/01/temporary-drafting-group-work-session-on-new-gtld-base-registry-agreement-issues-%e2%80%93-to-be-held-27-january-2011/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=62</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=62</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New Terms and Conditions for .SE</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         .SE registry will introduce updated conditions of registration (Terms and Conditions of Registration applicable for the top-level domain .SE effective from February 15, 2011) for the purpose of simplifying and clarifying the rules and regulations. The new Terms and Conditions of Registration contain new wording concerning alternative dispute solution procedures (item 7) as well as a clarification in item 9 concerning the handling of personal data.

The new Terms and Conditions of Registration will be in force as of February 15, 2011 and will apply to all registered domain names under the .SE top-level domain.

You will find the new Terms and Conditions of Registration on .SE's website:
http://www.iis.se/en/domaner.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=60</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=60</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SO Landrush Postponed</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         .SO registry today announced a postponement of the .SO (Somalia) Landrush phase by a week to January 17th, 2011, for precautious measures.

Landrush: 
Open: Jan 17, 2011 
Close: Feb 28, 2011 

Landrush Auction:
Open: Mar 14, 2011

General Availability:
Open: Apr 01, 2011
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=59</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=59</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Last Nine .DE Short Domains Released for Registration on January 12, 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         On January 12, 2011, 10:00 CET, the central German registry DENIC will release the last nine short domains under .DE for general registration.

Up to now, these one and two letter domains have been excluded from registration due to legal disputes. During the first registration period of .DE short domains in October 2009, applicants obtained temporary injunctions in order to avoid the “first come, first served” principle in the release of short domains, and hence gaining priority rights for registration. As a result,  DENIC was banned to release these short domains for registration. By now, the higher regional court of Frankfurt (Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt) has annulled  the injunctions and affirmed the admissibility of the registration procedure.

Registration procedure
The allocation of E.DE, F.DE, G.DE, X.DE, Y.DE, Z.DE, DW.DE, HR.DE and SR.DE is carried out in a special procedure. Following the “first come, first served” principle, DENIC exclusively accepts registration requests per fax. There will be a 30-minute time-slot, a separate fax number and application form for each domain. More information on registration guidelines, as well as a detailed timetable, the corresponding fax numbers and application forms are available on the DENIC web site: http://www.denic.de/en/domains/general-information/registration-short-domains.html?cHash=3486f26050ac1dc3cbe6f5842dc70494

Source: http://www.denic.de/en/homepage.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=58</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=58</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN Third-Level Domain Names Under .CO.IL and .ORG.IL  Available as of December 26</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Starting on Sunday, 26th of December domain names written in Hebrew characters under .CO.IL and .ORG.IL will be available to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis. During the preceding Sunrise Period, only certain applicants were allowed to submit a registration request, among them owners of registered Israeli trademarks and Israeli legal entities.
The Internet Society of Israel (ISOC-IL) is the authorized registry of the .IL country-code top-level-domain. The non-profit organization aims at increasing Internet use in Israel and therefore expanded the domain name registration service by opening the public registration of Hebrew IDNs. 
Israel Internet Association VP Doron Shikmoni said, "Hebrew domain names will facilitate Internet access for the public, which until now may have refrained from going online because of the need to use the Latin alphabet. With the completion of the application of Hebrew domain names, it will be possible to access sites with Hebrew names from Israel and anywhere in the world."
For more information visit:
http://www.isoc.org.il/domains/registration.html
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000609869&fid=1725
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=57</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=57</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.ME TLD Secured by DNSSEC</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Montenegrin Registry and Afilias, a leading provider of Internet infrastructure solutions, announced the deployment of Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) in the .ME top-level domain. Predrag Lesic, Executive Director of the .ME Registry, noted “Enabling DNSSEC allows us to provide a safer and more trustworthy experience for .ME website owners and visitors.” 

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.

For more information about the .ME registry and how to register a .ME domain, please visit: www.Domain.Me.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=55</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=55</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Extends Public Comment Period for New TLD Guidebook</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Taking into account public comment and decisions made during ICANN’s Cartagena meeting, ICANN has extended the public comment period for the Proposed Final Applicant Guidebook and supporting documentation to 15 January 2011 (1200 UTC).

In advance of the ICANN meeting in Cartagena (Colombia) on December 5 – 10, a number of people had requested additional time to comment on the proposed Final Applicant Guidebook for new TLDs, but the comment period ended on December 10. 

One week later, on last Friday, ICANN announced the extension of the comment period.

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-17dec10-en.htm
http://domainnamewire.com/2010/12/17/icann-extends-public-comment-period-for-new-tld-guidebook/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=56</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=56</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Delay of new gTLD launch: ICANN “would rather do it right than do it fast”</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN’s Board of Directors plans several measures prior to launching the new gTLD program, which will probably result in an adjustment of the current timetable and a delay of the program’s start.

At the ICANN meeting in Cartagena, Colombia last week, the Board announced a potential further delay in approving the Applicant Guidebook stating that more time is needed to allow the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to resolve the remaining concerns of the committee by allowing further review of the public comment on the final draft of the Applicant Guidebook, the economic analyses, and the final written proposals regarding issues affecting morality and public order. Revisions to the guidebook will be made as appropriate.  

In a letter to ICANN earlier this month, the GAC criticized ICANNs launch schedule citing that the Applicant Guidebook doesn’t adequately protect trademark rights and that the cost of the program could outweigh the benefits.

The open issues that ICANN hopes to address with this delay look to be: trademark protection, mitigating malicious conduct, root-zone scaling, the economic consequences of the new gTLD introduction, the treatment of geographic names and the handling of “morality and public order” objections.

The Board Resolution states: “[The ICANN board] directs staff to synthesize the results of these consultations and comments, and to prepare revisions to the guidebook to enable the Board to make a decision on the launch of the new gTLD program as soon as possible.” (http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-10dec10-en.htm#2)

It is unclear if “as soon as possible” means that the current timetable will be kept. According to the current timetable, the first application round for new gTLDs is scheduled to start on May 30, 2011. ICANN’s Chair of the Board Dengate Thrush said: “We would rather do it right than do it fast”. (http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-2-10dec10-en.pdf)

Definition:
Governmental Advisory Committee  (GAC):
The GAC is made up of representatives of more than 100 governments and is intended to give governments from around the world a voice in ICANN’s multi-stakeholder, bottom up model of policy formation.

More information:
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-10dec10-en.htm#2
http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-2-10dec10-en.pdf
http://domainincite.com/icann-new-tld-launch-delayed-again/
http://www.heise.de/netze/meldung/ICANN-beugt-sich-dem-Druck-der-Regierungen-1151599.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=54</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=54</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Delay of new gTLD launch because of GAC concerns seems possible</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         During the ongoing ICANN meeting in Cartagena, different governments told ICANN they want a delay of the new TLD program. Members of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) are most concerned about the protection of brand owners. They question that the potential opportunities related to new gTLDs will outweigh the costs for these rights holders. 

During a meeting of ICANN and GAC, the UK representative, Mark Carvell, criticized the rights protection mechanisms such as the proposed Trademark Clearinghouse and the Uniform Rapid Suspension policies as still not effective enough. His view was supported by Germany, Norway and the Canadian GAC chair, among others. ICANN chair Peter Dengate Thrush argued for a meeting between GAC and the ICANN before the San Francisco ICANN meeting next March to discuss open issues. 
 
The GAC will probably submit its formal Cartagena advice today. Tomorrow the ICANN Board meeting will show if the GAC’s objections lead to a delay of the first application round for new gTLDs scheduled to start on May 30, 2011. The ICANN Board will then decide about the Applicant Guidebook. 

The US government’s recent request for a delay of the new gTLD program could also be a reason for ICANN to change the timeline again. In a letter the US Department of Commerce asked ICANN not to approve the launch of new TLDs during its meeting in Cartagena. The letter reminded ICANN that it has not completed the economic study it agreed to conduct for evaluating the potential consumer benefits vs. consumer costs associated to the launch of new gTLDs.

Sources:
http://domainincite.com/trademarks-may-delay-new-tld-approval/
http://domainincite.com/new-tlds-not-at-risk-but-delay-not-ruled-out/
http://forum.icann.org/lists/5gtld-guide/msg00013.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=53</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=53</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>CentralNic Releases the .GR.COM Domain Extension</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Trademark holders may now register domain names that match their brands under the new sub-level domain extension .GR.COM. GR is an acronym with different possible interpretations: It represents Greece's ISO code and Internet country code for the regional ccTLD (.GR /.COM.GR). It may also stand for generic terms such as "group" or "green". 

GR.COM launch schedule

Sunrise:
The Sunrise for trademark owners ends on January 9, 2011. Only validated registered trademarks may be used. Unique requests registered with the registry at the end of the period are successful. Duplicate validated requests will be sent to auction.

Landrush:
From January 10 until February 6, 2011 registration requests will be open to all interested parties.  Unique requests registered with the registry at the end of the period are successful. Duplicate requests will be sent to auction.

General Availability:
As of February 8th, 2011 everyone may apply for GR.COM domains. The requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

.GR.COM is the 19th sub-level domain extension that combines a country code with the .COM suffix. As of November 18th, 2010 the sub-level domain GR.COM is part of CentralNic's services.

More information:
http://www.domain.gr.com
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=50</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=50</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>US Government Opposes Introduction of New gTLD Program in Cartagena</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The US Department of Commerce asks ICANN not to approve the launch of new TLDs during its meeting in Cartagena, starting on Sunday. In a letter to ICANN, the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, Lawrence E. Strickling writes: 

“I am writing to express my concern regarding the apparent failure of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to carry out its obligations as specified in the Affirmation of Commitments... .” 

The author reminds ICANN that it didn't complete the economic study it agreed to conduct for evaluating the potential consumer benefits vs. consumer costs associated to the launch of new gTLDs.

Strickling also expressed concern of how ICANN changed its position on cross ownership between registrars and registries. Its position in May limited cross-ownership of registrars to registries to a maximum of 2%; the November Board decision allows full cross-ownership.

Furthermore, the Department of Commerce complains about the short time frame for comments and review of the latest Applicant Guidebook. The comment period for the Guidebook is scheduled to close on December 10th, the same day the ICANN meeting in Colombia ends.

Finally, Strickling writes, “While I am aware of the desire by some to move forward, the suggestion that the ICANN Board could make an informed decision regarding the timing of the launch of the new gTLD program in Cartagena is unrealistic.”

In response to the letter, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom blogged:

“In the Affirmation of Commitments, the US government and ICANN reconfirmed our mutual commitment to the multistakeholder model. ICANN confirmed our commitment to solicit public comment and to hear all voices. As with all contributions, ICANN will give DoC’s comments careful consideration as part of the implementation of the GNSO policy.” 

Sources:
http://www.thedomains.com/2010/12/02/us-government-opposes-launch-of-new-gtld-program-in-cartagena/comment-page-1/
http://domainnamewire.com/2010/12/02/u-s-government-calls-for-delay-to-new-top-level-domain-names/
http://blog.icann.org/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=51</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=51</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.SO Sunrise has been extended</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Due to the high demand, the registry has decided to extend the deadline for .SO Sunrise Registrations until December 31, 2010.

The new time table for the .SO launch:
- Sunrise: until December 31, 2010 (UTC 23:59)
- Landrush: January 10, 2011 (UTC 00:00) until February 28, 2011 (UTC 23:59)
- General Availability: as of April 1, 2011 (UTC 00:00)


http://www.soregistry.so/news/detail.html?nid=8
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=49</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=49</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Afilias Secures .GI, .MN, and .SC Domains with DNSSEC</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Afilias, a global provider of Internet infrastructure services, today announced that it has enabled Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) for .GI, the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for Gibraltar, .MN for Mongolia, and .SC for the Seychelles. 

"This is another step forward in Afilias' Project Safeguard rollout that is broadening DNSSEC deployment across our registry system," said Ram Mohan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Afilias. "With more than 50 TLDs having now deployed DNSSEC, we are pleased to enable our customers to benefit from our global leadership on DNSSEC and our supporting registry technology."

"Gibraltar is pleased to be able to provide our country of Internet users and domain owners with the confidence of their domain security" said Jimmy Immosi, .GI Manager.  "Deploying DNSSEC, along with our registry provider Afilias, will allow our domain to participate equally with world leaders on this important Internet security milestone."

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone. 

"Being an early adopter of the latest security technology is a significant opportunity for our country," said Baasansuren Burmaa, Director, MN Domain Registry.  "We are excited to be able to provide this benefit to Internet users from Mongolia and others around the world who have adopted a .MN Web address."

Mr. Marc Houareau, Executive Chairman of VCS Pty Ltd, the managers of .SC TLD added, ".SC domains are used not just in the Seychelles, but around the globe as a meaningful and short Web address.  Signing the .SC domain with DNSSEC allows us to play a key leadership role in evolution of the Internet." 

Afilias' signing of these TLDs is part of its "Project Safeguard" initiative, bringing the number of secured TLDs on its registry platform to eleven.  Afilias' Project Safeguard includes the rollout of DNSSEC across its registry and DNS platforms and will incorporate an education and training program for Registrars to facilitate their adoption and implementation through 2011. 

Source: http://www.afilias.info/news/2010/11/18/afilias-secures-gi-mn-and-sc-domains-dnssec
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=48</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=48</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Russia's IDN TLD achieves nearly half a million registrations in one week</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Since the impressive results of the opening hours on November 11 (200,000 domains within the first six hours, see http://www.brandshelter.com/en/news/index.php?sid=43), the number of registrations under the Russian IDN ccTLD .RF in Cyrillic script has grown to 495,485. The current number of purchased Cyrillic .RF domain names is nearly five times higher than what the registry expected to be registered by the end of the year, namely 100,000 domains. The new Russian domain extension is one of the first country-code top-level domains in the world, which is not written in Latin characters. It is administrated by the "Coordination Center for TLD RU", which is also the registry for the .RU TLD.  

More information:

http://blog.icann.org/2010/11/russian-idn-cctld-%D1%80%D1%84-opens-for-registrations-makes-history/

http://www.cctld.ru/en/statistics/rfdomains.php
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=47</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=47</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN’s Proposed Final New gTLD Applicant Guidebook now open to public comment</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has published its Proposed Final New gTLD Applicant Guidebook that describes the process of applying for new generic top-level domains. The document is now subject to public comment until noon UTC, December 10. During the 10 December Board Meeting in Cartagena the ICANN Board will decide about the timing of the launch of the New gTLD Program. The Board will either approve the Guidebook or direct that changes be made. 
The publication of the final version of the Guidebook on January 11, 2011 will be followed by a four-month global communications campaign. The aim of this campaign is to ensure potential participants in all regions of the world are aware of program details and how to apply.

--- Important changes in the Guidebook ---

-- Batching of applications -- 
(Module 1: Introduction to the gTLD Application Process)
If the volume of applications received by ICANN significantly exceeds 500, the five months lasting “Initial Evaluation” of applications will be processed in batches. The first batch will be limited to 500 applications and subsequent batches will be limited to 400.  ICANN determined that no more than 1000 new gTLDs will be added to the root zone within one year. 

-- Vertical integration --
(Module 1: Introduction to the gTLD Application Process)
The vertical integration issue resolved by the ICANN board is now included. Registrars are now able to apply for new TLDs, but ICANN reserves the right to refer such applications to governmental competition authorities.

-- Background Screening --
(Module 2: Evaluation Procedures)
The section on applicant background screening now focuses more on intellectual property infringements, but disclaims references to terrorism. 

-- Morality and Public Order -- 
(Module  3: Dispute Resolution Procedures)
The right of governments to object to TLDs on “Morality and Public Order” is now called a “Limited Public Interest Objection”: Governments may provide a notification using the public comment forum to communicate concerns relating to national laws, which is not valued as a formal objection. Such objections must be based on principles of international law. 

A thorough discussion of the topic "New generic top-level domains" makes sense for companies of all sizes and geographic approach. BrandShelter offers companies and brand owners the management of large domain portfolios, the registration of all domain extensions available worldwide and an extensive domain monitoring. The BrandShelter team also gives assistance in applying for a corporate TLD such as .BRAND or .COMPANY. Furthermore, the consulting about the new challenges for online brand protection as a consequence of the introduction of new generic TLDs is part of the BrandShelter services. 


--- Sources ---
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-12nov10-en.htm
http://domainincite.com/icanns-new-tld-rulebook-is-out/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29

--- See also ---
BrandShelter News (November 10, 2010): 
ICANN Board Votes to Enhance New gTLDs Competition http://www.brandshelter.com/en/news/index.php?sid=41

BrandShelter News (November 3, 2010):
ICANN publishes an updated timeline for the introduction of new gTLDs
http://www.brandshelter.com/en/news/index.php?sid=33
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=46</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=46</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD request from Morocco successfully passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Morocco. The .al-Maghrib (Morocco) domain extension will be represented in the Arabic language and script and managed by the "Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications" (ANRT). 

At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process proceeds in three stages:

Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 22 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 12 countries/territories (represented by 15 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
 

Source: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-3-15nov10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=45</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=45</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Successful Start of General Availability for Russia’s Cyrillic TLD</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         According to the Russian registry Coordination Center for TLD RU (http://www.cctld.ru/en/), the number of domain registrations under the Cyrillic version of .RF (meaning: Russian Federation) broke the 200,000 domains mark within the first six hours after the start of general availability yesterday. This speed of first-day registrations even exceeds the recent launch of the Colombian .CO. The preceding Sunrise period for trademark holders closed with 18,000 domains. Only Russian citizens and legal entities registered in Russia can register domains under the Cyrillic TLD .RF.

More information:
http://domainincite.com/new-russian-tld-is-a-smash-hit/
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15669535&PageNum=0
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=43</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=43</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>DNSSEC for .IN and .ASIA</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Afilias, a global provider of Internet infrastructure services announced the enabling of  Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) for the .IN TLD (India) and .ASIA.
Registry operator for .IN is the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI, http://nixi.in/), .ASIA is operated by Dotasia (http://www.dotasia.org/).  

-- Definition of DNSSEC --

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone. 

More information:
http://www.afilias.info/news/2010/11/11/afilias-and-dotasia-collaborate-dnssec-implementation-asia
http://www.afilias.info/news/2010/11/09/afilias-improves-security-domain-dnssec
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=44</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=44</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD request from Serbia successfully passes String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string for Serbia. The .srb domain extension will be represented in the Cyrillic script and managed by the Serbian National Register of Internet Domain Names (RNIDS). 

At the annual meeting of the ICANN Board on October 30, 2009 in Seoul, South Korea, the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names that represent their respective country or territory in non-Latin scripts. 

Requirements for requests:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process proceeds in three stages:

Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 21 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 12 countries/territories (represented by 15 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.
 

Source: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-08nov10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=42</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=42</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN Board Votes to Enhance New gTLDs Competition</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         New gTLD Registrars and Registries will Compete for the Benefit of Consumers

9 November 2010
ICANN's Board of Directors voted to allow new gTLD registries to own registrars, opting not to create new rules prohibiting registrars from applying for or operating new gTLD registries.

Following over two years of community discussions, which had not resulted in consensus, the Board carefully considered expert economic advice, community comments, and numerous proposed approaches to registry-registrar cross-ownership.

"In the absence of existing policy or new bottom-up policy recommendations, the Board saw no rationale for placing restrictions on cross-ownership;" said Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board. "Any possible abuses can be better addressed by properly targeted mechanisms. Co-ownership rules are not an optimal technique in this area."

Under the Board resolution additional enforcement mechanisms have been added. New gTLD registry agreements are to include: (1) a Code of Conduct prohibiting any misuse of data or other abusive conduct arising out of registry-registrar cross-ownership; (2) robust auditing requirements; (3) graduated sanctions up to and including contractual termination and punitive damages; and (4) ICANN's right to refer competition issues to appropriate government competition authorities.

Background: The cross-ownership provisions have varied over time and no formal "policy" on this topic has ever been recommended or adopted by ICANN. (For example, each of the seven new gTLDs delegated by ICANN in the 2000-2001 proof-of-concept introduced by ICANN in 2000 have featured some degree of registry-registrar cross-operation or cross-ownership.)

The ICANN community has been discussing whether to continue, expand or remove the restrictions in current registry agreements that limit the existing registries from owning more than 15% of a registrar. Some have urged the creation of new rules that would for the first time prohibit registrars from applying for or operating new gTLDs.

The ICANN Board had previously attempted to spur a consensus view, asking ICANN's GNSO to resolve the registry-registrar cross-ownership question. In May 2010, the ICANN Board encouraged the GNSO to develop a consensus based policy on this issue, but indicated that the Board would review the issue if no consensus position was reached. The GNSO recently reported that it has been unable to reach consensus.

###

To read the resolutions passed by ICANN Board, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-05nov10-en.htm

To learn more about gTLDs, go here: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm

SOURCE: http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-09nov10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=41</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=41</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.Qatar IDN TLD will be launched in early 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         At the Special Meeting of the ICANN Board on October 28th, the IDN ccTLD delegation for .Qatar was approved, giving users the opportunity to choose domain names which are entirely written in Arabic characters. The Arabic .Qatar will be introduced by early 2011 and managed by the Qatar Domains Registry.

With the integration of the Arabic version of .Qatar 16 IDN ccTLDs will be integrated into the DNS root zone. These 16 TLDs represent 13 different countries/territories. Up to now, ICANN has received 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 different languages. 

IDNs written in Arabic script:
Since Arabic is one of the top non-Latin scripts to be used as IDN ccTLD, ten out of the total of 19 countries or territories that have passed the String Evaluation step in the Fast Track Process have requested strings that are in the Arabic script. The IDN ccTLDs of Egypt, Jordan,  Occupied Palestinian Territory, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar have been delegated and the delegation of the IDN extensions for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Oman, and the Syrian Arab Republic will be coming up soon.  

Details about the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process: 
Qualifications for participation:
- a non-Latin script has to be used to represent the IDN ccTLD
- the corresponding language has to be official in the country or territory
- a specific set of technical requirements must be met (as evaluated by an external DNS Stability Panel comprised of DNS and IDN experts)

The request and evaluation proceeds in three stages:
Preparation (Applicant): 
- selection of the IDN ccTLD
- planning realization and management
- preparation of the supporting documentation

String Evaluation (ICANN): 
- selection of a string to represent the country
- evaluation of the technical and linguistic string requirements 

String Delegation (ICANN): 
- determination of the entity that will manage the domain
- follows the same process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs
- string delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management

More information: http://www.icann.org
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=38</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=38</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN ccTLD request from Algeria successfully passed String Evaluation</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string .Algeria (Algeria / Al Jazair).

ICANN has received a total of 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs representing 22 languages. 20 countries’/territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation, 12 countries/territories (represented by 15 IDN ccTLDs) are currently delegated in the DNS root zone.

These are the three stages of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process:

1. Preparation 
The requester in the country / territory builds community consensus for which IDN ccTLD to apply for, how it is run, and which organization will be running it, and prepares the required supporting documentation.

2. String Evaluation: 
After the submission of an application, the technical and linguistic requirements for the IDN ccTLD string are examined by ICANN. 

3. String Delegation: 
Requests successfully meeting string evaluation criteria are eligible to apply for delegation. This follows the same ICANN/IANA process as is used for ASCII based ccTLDs. String delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=39</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=39</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Sunrise for Cyrillic domain names under .COM.UA and .KIEV.UA open</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Hostmaster Ltd., the registry for .UA domains, has announced a domain Sunrise for Cyrillic .COM.UA and .KIEV.UA domain names. Trademark owners can now register corresponding Cyrillic domain until November 17, 2010. The brands have to be composed of Cyrillic characters and registered in the Ukraine (a registration following the “Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks” covering the Ukraine is also possible). The domain name must match the registrant’s Cyrillic trademark exactly.    

The Sunrise is followed by a second phase from November 19 to December 19, 2010, during which set-term domain name registrations of ten (10) years will be accepted. Finally, open registration will start on December 21, 2010. 

The domain names must be composed of Cyrillic characters. At least one of these characters must not have a visually similar counterpart in the Latin alphabet.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=40</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=40</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>VeriSign publishes time table for DNSSEC signing of .COM and .NET zones</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         VeriSign, the registry for .COM and .NET domains, has announced their time table for the signing of the .COM and .NET zones via DNSSEC keys (Domain Name System Security Extensions). The .NET zone will be signed as of December 9, 2010. .COM will follow in March 2011.

DNSSEC applies digital signatures to DNS (Domain Name System) data to authenticate the data's origin and verify its integrity as it moves across the Internet. The security extensions are designed to protect the DNS from attacks, especially cache poisoning attacks, which can occur when hackers corrupt DNS data stored on recursive servers to redirect queries to malicious sites. With DNSSEC, poisoning a recursive server's cache is much more difficult because DNS administrators sign their data. The resulting digital signatures on that DNS data are validated through a "chain of trust" that starts with the public key for the root zone.


According to a new .EU Insights report by the .EU registry EURid, 87 per cent of the world’s TLD still have to integrate the DNSSEC protocol. Only 37 of the world’s 283 active TLDs (13%) have enabled DNSSEC to varying extents. DNSSEC-enabled TLDs include .biz, .gov, .info and .org in addition to country-code extensions such as .be, .eu, .fr, .nl and .uk.

Sources:
heise.de, verisign.com, eurid.eu
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=36</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=36</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>.travel one and two-character domain names soon available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Tralliance, the .travel registry, has decided to allocate the .travel one and two-character in a special release program: The registry asks for direct domain applications: From December 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 anyone can send proposals for the registration of premium one and two-character domains to the registry. Tralliance will delegate a domain to the applicant with the best promotion proposal for this domain. The list of names that are only available to applicants with the best proposals can be found here: http://www.travel.travel/PDFs/1-2CharReleaseList.pdf. Trademark holders don’t have priority rights, but the registry plans to take trademark and marks into consideration if a rights holder applies for a domain. Tralliance has announced to release one and two-character names in one or more phases, so there might follow another delegation phase after the special release program.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=37</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=37</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN publishes an updated timeline for the introduction of new gTLDs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The first application period for new generic top-level domains will presumably open on May 30, 2011.

This is the updated timeline for the introduction of new gTLDs:

November 9, 2010:
The final Applicant Guidebook will be released. This is followed by a public comment period of 30 days. 

December 9, 2010:
The public comment period for the final Applicant Guidebook will end.

December 10, 2010: (ICANN Board meeting in Cartagena, Colombia)
The ICANN Board will approve the final version of the Applicant Guidebook. The Board will then implement any required final changes into the document.

January 10, 2011:
The Final Applicant Guidebook will be made public and a 4 month communications campaign will start.

May 30, 2011:
First applications for a new gTLD may be submitted.

The special meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors on October 28th did not result in any resolutions concerning Vertical Integration, the GNSO New gTLD Recommendation 6 Objection Process, the GAC Issues Letter including Geographic Names or the affirmation of commitment considerations.

Abbreviations:
ICANN: Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers
GNSO: Generic Names Supporting Organization 
gTLD: generic top-level domain
GAC: Governmental Advisory Committee

http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/new-gtld-work-plan-28oct10-en.pdf
http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-28oct10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=33</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=33</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Applications for short .uk domain names open on 1 December</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Applications for the previously reserved short .uk domains will open on 1st December, with a Registered Rights Sunrise phase for trade mark holders.

The Sunrise period starts at midday (UTC) on December 1, 2010. Trade mark rights holders have until midday (UTC) on January 17, 2011 to apply for a domain that matches their trade mark. They will need evidence of using the trade mark in the UK prior to January 1,2008. 

If there is more than one verified application, domains will be auctioned off to the highest bidder, with proceeds going to the Nominet Trust, an independently run charity focused on increasing access, safety and education on Internet issues.

Any domains still available will then go forward to a second Sunrise period, when the rights qualification will be extended to unregistered rights holders. Any remaining domains will proceed to a Landrush period in which anyone can participate. Nominet will make further announcements regarding these stages in due course.

A ‘Sunrise whois’ tool will be available from December 1, 2010, which can be used to check on the status of available domains. Applicants will be able to monitor the progress of their applications. All applications and supporting evidence will be published for total transparency. 

Source: http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=7989 

List with prospectively available domains: http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/46443_domains-to-be-released.pdf
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=35</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=35</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>"ß" now permitted in .DE domains – Sunrise (Grandfathering) period started yesterday</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Effective 16 November 2010, the LATIN SMALL LETTER SHARP S (ß) will be allowed as an independent character in .DE domain names. Holders of domains containing "ss" registered until Oct 26, 2010, 15:00 (CEST) can register the corresponding ß-domain since yesterday. This Sunrise (Grandfathering) period will expire on 16 November 2010 and be followed by a regular delegation on a “first come, first served” basis. 

More information: http://www.denic.de/en/denic-in-dialogue/news/2985.html?cHash=895741dd84
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=31</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=31</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Two interesting news by blogger Kevin Murphy (domainincite.com)</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Trademark lobby keeps up pressure on ICANN

Kevin Murphy, October 24, 2010, 14:53:57 (UTC), Domain Policy 

Introduction: 
The International Trademark Association is continuing to press ICANN into commissioning a study of the potential economic “harms” its new top-level domain program could cause.

Read article: http://domainincite.com/trademark-lobby-keeps-up-pressure-on-icann/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29

Survey reveals demand for .brand TLDs

Kevin Murphy, October 26, 2010, 17:57:37 (UTC), Domain Registries 

Introduction:
Almost half of trademark-conscious companies are considering a “.brand” top-level domain, according to a survey carried out by World Trademark Review magazine.

Read article: http://domainincite.com/survey-reveals-demand-for-brand-tlds/

Note: Key-Systems, provider of the BrandShelter service also took part in this study.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=32</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=32</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Agenda for ICANN board meeting on October 28 now public</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has published the agenda for next Thursday’s board meeting. Important issues will be the update on the timeline for the New gTLD Program, the Vertical Integration of registry and registrar functions as well as the GNSO New gTLD Recommendation 6 Objection Process concerning the “Morality and Public Order” (MOPO) part of the Draft Applicant Guidebook. The Governmental Advisory Committee advice on geographic names is also on the agenda. In addition, the board meeting will give an update on IDN ccTLDs and cover the delegation of the IDN version of .Qatar as well as the redelegation of the .QA (Qatar) TLD. 
 
More information: http://icann.org/en/minutes/agenda-28oct10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=30</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=30</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Trademark registrations under Palestinian IDN top-level-domain now possible</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The Palestinian National Internet Naming Authority (PNINA) has launched the Palestinian IDN ccTLD .falasteen (in Arabic). The registration is separated in two stages: Since October 17 trademarks holders may register their domain names in a Sunrise period (end of Sunrise: November 30). The open registration period for local and international individuals and institutions that follows the first-come, first-served principle will start on January 2, 2011.

More information: http://www.pnina.ps/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=29</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=29</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN approves Iran’s IDN top-level-domain</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         ICANN has announced the successful completion of the String Evaluation process on the IDN ccTLD string .IRAN in Persian language (Arabic script) for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The “String Evaluation” is the second of three steps of the “Internationalized Domain Name ccTLD Fast Track Process” that was approved by the ICANN Board during its Seoul meeting in October 2009.  The first step is “Preparations in country/territory” and the last one is an ICANN standard procedure of “String Delegation”. During the “String Evaluation”, the request for the selected string is verified by ICANN as eligible to be a representation of the country or territory. 

The “Fast Track Process” enables countries and territories that use languages based on non-Latin scripts to apply for a corresponding domain extension. Applications for permission to implement an IDN ccTLDs are available only to administrations of countries and territories or their designated representatives, and must constitute a meaningful representation of the country or territory name. 

At this time, ICANN has 33 requests for IDN ccTLDs, representing 22 languages in the Fast Track Process. Up to now, a total of 18 countries’ / territories’ requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation; 12 countries/territories (represented by 15 IDN ccTLDs) are delegated in the DNS root zone; and the rest are either in or ready for the requesting country or territory to initiate the application for String Delegation.
More information: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-15oct10-en.htm
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=25</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=25</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New extension .CO.NO soon available</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         On November 1, 2010, CoDNS B.V. will launch its .CO.NO domain extension with a Sunrise phase for brand owners. The Sunrise gives the exclusive opportunity to register .CO.NO trademark domains with priority before anyone else can. Deloitte will validate customers’ requests based on trademark registries. After the Sunrise period, .CO.NO will Go Live on February 22, 2011. Then, everyone can register .CO.NO domains on a first come, first served basis.

.CO.NO is intended to be a new gateway to Norwegian enterprises and individuals for international businesses and people. The .CO.NO extension will be open to anyone, with no requirement of local presence or tie with Norway. While the registration of .NO domains is only possible for organizations (among them companies) with a seat in Norway, the name space of the sublevel domain .CO.NO opens up the opportunity to get a Norwegian web presence to anyone interested in an easy way.

According to the registry CoDNS B.V., almost 20 per cent of all registered country code-domains worldwide have a .CO.XX extension, such as .CO.UK for the United Kingdom, .CO.KR for Korea or .CO.NZ for New Zealand. 45 countries are actively promoting their .CO.XX extension as the internationally accepted domain extension. 

More information: http://www.domain.co.no
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=26</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=26</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Updated information about .SO launch</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         1. Launch Schedule with exact time

Sunrise: 
November 1st, 2010 UTC 0:00 – November 30th, 2010 UTC 23:59
November 2nd, 2010 CET 1:00 – December 2nd, 2010, 00:59 CET

Landrush: 
December 16th, 2010 UTC 0:00 – February 9th, 2011 UTC 23:59
December 17th, 2010 CET 1:00 – February 10th, 2011 CET 00:59

General Availability: 
March 1st, 2011 UTC 0:00
March 2nd 2011 CET 1:00

2. Reserved, Premium, Restricted domain lists

You can find the lists of reserved domains, premium domains, and restricted domains  on the .SO website: http://www.soregistry.so/pdfs/dotSO_Reserved_Restricted_Premium.pdf
The premium auction will take place after the general availability begins. We will inform you about the precise schedule for the auction as soon it is published.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=27</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=27</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Oman to offer Arabic domain names by 2011</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The IDN ccTLD request from Oman successfully passed the stage of String Evaluation during ICANN’s IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process. Oman plans to introduce Arabic domain names by mid-2011, the Oman Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced this week. 

The String Evaluation process includes several steps such as verification that the selected language is considered official in the respective country and that the string requested is a meaningful representation of the corresponding country name.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=28</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 22 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=28</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of two Arabic IDN top-level domains announced</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        This week, the National Information Technology Center (NITC) of Jordan announced the launch of the IDN top-level domain .al-Ordon. Shortly before, also the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the United Arab Emirates notified the opening of the Arabic top-level domain .Emerat. Companies can use the Arabic domain names to specifically target Arab audiences.

In a first step, registrations of .Emerat domain names will be open to trademark institutions. The delegation process begins on October 17 and ends on December 15. The registration of .al-Ordon will first be open to government institutes and ministries, diplomatic missions and trademarks for a period of time. After an intervening period of closure, the registration will then be open for anyone interested in domain names under .al-Ordon.

In Arabic language, the string .Emarat has a meaning equivalent to “Emirates” in English. TRA, the sponsoring organization and a federal governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates will operate the domain using the same policies used for the .AE domain today that is published on its website. TRA is already delegating the United Arab Emirates’ ccTLD .AE.

The extension .al-Ordon means “Jordan” in English. The sponsoring organization NITC is a governmental entity of Jordan and the current registry for the .JO domain, the Jordan ccTLD. The NITC will operate the domain using the same policies used for the .JO ccTLD today.

Both registries NITC and TRA hope to increase the internet use in the countries Jordan and United Arab Emirates with the introduction of Arabic IDN top-level domains by breaking language barriers.

The BrandShelter Team will inform you about registration details as soon as they are available.

Sources:
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=24</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=24</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>ICANN permits internationalized domain names under .ASIA</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         DotAsia Organisation LTD has received the permission to start offering internationalized domain names under .ASIA by ICANN: http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/pritz-to-chung-11oct10-en.pdf. 

'Having a .Asia domain helps companies doing business with Asia or in Asia, save on cost without having to register all country code level domains within the region', says Leona Chen, Director of Registrar & Community Relations at DotAsia. The gTLD covers 73 countries as Japan or India and economies such as Hong Kong or Macau. 

According to the UN, the Asian region represents 60 percent of the world’s population. With the generic top-level domain.Asia the DotAsia Registry aspires to bring together the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific region for cementing a common regional identity. 

DotAsia is a non-profit membership-based organization located at Hong Kong which promotes the Internet development in Asia. Its mission is to sponsor, establish and operate .Asia as a regional Internet namespace with global recognition and regional significance. The gTLD for the Asian region was launched in October 2007.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=23</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=23</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New gTLD conference .nxt in advance to ICANN meeting in San Francisco</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         IT journalist Kieren McCarthy has announced a dedicated conference for new gTLDs called .nxt, planned for February 2011 in San Francisco. McCarthy is the General Manager of the .nxt conference which is hosted by the San Francisco Bay chapter of the Internet Society (SF-Bay ISOC). The conference web site http://dot-nxt.com already provides the conference agenda, and an extensive database of those who plan to apply for a new top-level domain. Implementation, business plans and marketing opportunities of the new gTLDs will be topics of the meeting.

As the conceptual and technical support for new gTLD applications is part of the BrandShelter service, we will certainly attend the conference. It’s a good opportunity to prepare for the following ICANN meeting which will be held in San Francisco in March 2011.

More information: 
http://dot-nxt.com 
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20100928_come_to_the_first_ever_dedicated_new_gtld_conference_nxt/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=22</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=22</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Companies get their domain names in the first two decisions of .CO domain disputes</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has carried out the first two UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) decisions for .CO domain names since the final of the .CO launch. WIPO resolved in favor of the complaining companies for lafitness.co and tilda.co. Twenty-one .CO UDRP cases have been filed since August. Recently filed .CO domain disputes are: CLS Rémy Cointreau going after e.g. Cointreau.co, Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited going after imperialtobacco.co.

Source: http://domainnamewire.com/2010/09/28/first-two-co-domain-disputes-decided/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=20</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=20</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New gTLDs: ICANN Board announces new Applicant Guidebook &amp; improvements</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The next version of the ICANN Applicant Guidebook for new gTLDs will be made public prior to the upcoming ICANN meeting in Caragena (Colombia) in December. This is one result of the ICANN Board meeting in Trondheim (Norway) on September 24-25.  The next ICANN Board meeting will take place October 28. 

These are central outcomes of the meeting in Trondheim:

1. Trademark Protection
In its resolution the Board announces a clear description of the term "substantive evaluation" at registration for the new version of the Applicant Guidebook. The evaluation is required on absolute grounds and use of the mark.
Furthermore, the Guidebook shall retain the requirement for at least substantive review of marks in TLD Sunrises and the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS).
The time to respond to a complaint in the URS mechanism was shortened from 21 to 14 days, with one opportunity for an extension of seven days if there is a good basis for it.

2. Morality and Public Order (MOPO)
The Board announced to accept the Rec6 CWG recommendations that are not inconsistent with the existing process. It states that these can be achieved before the opening of the first gTLD application round. The board will also work to resolve any inconsistencies.
The ICANN "Cross-community" Working Group (CWG) had recently suggested using international conventions such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as a foundation for objections against new top-level domains instead of “Morality and Public Order”. The main argument is that there exists no international standard about what MOPO is.

3. Mitigating Malicious Conduct
The Board describes the implementation work to address the mitigation of malicious conduct as sufficient to proceed the launch of the first new gTLD application round. The remaining issues should not delay launch.

4. Root Zone Scaling
The ICANN staff will publish a model and a rationale for the maximum rate of new gTLD applications that can be processed over the next few years. Up to know this limit is expected to be about 1,000 new delegations per year. An objective method for determining the order of application processing that conforms to the limited delegation rate (not relying primarily on time-stamping) will be defined in the upcoming Applicant Guidebook.

Up to now, the group of companies that are linked with an interest in applying for their own top-level domain includes the companies Canon, Nokia and IBM. Many initiatives have been found to apply for a geographic or conceptual new gTLD such as .nyc, .london, .paris, .köln, .sport, .surf, .free etc.

See ICANN Board resolution: 
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=21</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=21</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Registration for Arabic domains under the IDN version of .SA starts today</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The registry for the TLD .SA, Saudi Network Information Center (SaudiNIC), will begin registering completely Arabic domain names under the IDN version of .SA today. 

The registration process is divided into two main phases: The first phase is dedicated to entities and trademark owners while the second applies to anyone interested on a first come, first served basis.

Qualified registrants in the first phase are any entity or individual who has registered a trademark with the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry, including all governmental or semi-governmental authorities and organizations. Qualified registrants may register the Arabic domain name that corresponds to their appearance in the commercial registrations, trademark registration certificates, or the official name in case of governmental entities.

During the first phase the domain name will be registered for the first entity that submits a complete and valid request. If another entity claims the same name, it can submit an objection. 

Source: http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article147104.ece
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=19</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=19</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New Domain Name Management System for .ES domains simplifies processes</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Red.es, the registry of the Spanish ccTLD .ES, has announced a new version 5.1 of the .ES Domain Name Management System. According to the registry, its main improvement is the integration of former external procedures within the system. 

Furthermore, the ability to use digital identity and signature was added. This will speed up processes as for example owner changes which then can be processed digitally without written documents. The changes shall be implemented in October.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=17</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=17</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>BrandShelter takes part in a study about the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs)</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Key-Systems, operator of the BrandShelter service contributed to a survey of World Trademark Review (http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/survey/gtld2010/landing.aspx). World Trademark Review (WTR) is a bi-monthly magazine and daily email news service that focuses on issues concerning trademark professionals. The running study aims to understand attitudes and strategies around the launch of new top-level domains. 

The qualitative, anonymous survey is targeted at different groups to ensure that the views of a broad range of interested parties are represented. The groups included in the survey are: in-house trademark lawyers, private practice trademark lawyers as well as marketing and communications professionals plus representatives from already announced applications for a new gTLD.
BrandShelter will inform you on the study’s results as soon as they are made public.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=18</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 24 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=18</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Large information needs concerning new TLDs on part of companies</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The upcoming introduction of new generic top-level domains (TLDs) opens up new chances for companies. With their own international, corporate domain extension in the style of .BRAND or .COMPANY they may consolidate their communication and reach a worldwide unique position on the Internet. A cross-industry study (http://www.noshokaty-doering-thun.com/fileadmin/downloads/Bedeutung_individueller_Domain-Endungen_f%C3%BCr_Unternehmen__Studienergebnisse_.pdf) of the Berlin management consulting firm “Noshokaty, Döring & Thun” (http://www.noshokaty-doering-thun.com) examined the relevance of such corporate domain extensions for companies. The majority of companies included in the study are not fully prepared for the upcoming development of the Internet.

The survey(1) of “Noshokaty, Döring & Thun” addressed a total of 162 companies: 30 DAX companies, 50 MDAX companies, 30 online firms and 52 other companies. 84 marketing and online managers participated. For 74 percent of the companies in the study a turnover of more than 500 million Euros was reported.

The knowledge about the new corporate TLDs in the companies is not exhaustive: More than a third of the surveyed company representatives (38 percent) claim to have not heard of the possibility of a corporate domain extension. Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (62 percent) had heard about it, while the majority of them (88 percent) have not yet worked intensively with the topic. Accordingly to the low information level, only a third of the companies (32 percent) plan the registration of a corporate domain extension. Furthermore, the majority of these companies (24 percent) have not yet concretized these plans. Overall, the study shows that companies still have a great need for information about the importance and possibilities of corporate domain extensions.

The realization of a corporate domain extension is not the only part of ICANN’s (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) proposed liberalization of the TLD market. Also conceptual domain extensions such as .hotel, .food, .music or .sport as well as geographic TLDs such as .saarland, .nyc or .london will be possible with the forthcoming enlargement of the Domain Name System. Many initiatives and associations have been formed for the application purpose (e.g. dotBERLIN, dotSaarland eV, etc.). The number of TLDs is therefore expected to increase significantly in the near future. Currently, there are 21 generic TLDs such as .com and .net and around 250 country-code domain extensions like .de or .us available.

An increase in domain extensions includes the task for companies to register their name and trademarks as domain names under these new TLDs in time. In addition, companies need to keep an overview of unauthorized registrations of the company name and related trademarks as domain names and address the problem. The same applies to typo domains and domains with phonetic misspellings.

Thus, a thorough discussion of the topic "New generic top-level domains" for companies of all sizes and geographic approach makes sense. BrandShelter offers companies and brand owners the management of large domain portfolios, the registration of all domain extensions available worldwide and an extensive domain monitoring. The BrandShelter team also gives assistance in applying for a corporate TLD such as .BRAND or .COMPANY. Furthermore, the consulting about the new challenges for online brand protection as a consequence of the introduction of new generic TLDs is part of the BrandShelter services.

(1) Return of the questionnaires by e-mail or fax, period: June – August 2010
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=16</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 23 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=16</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Hebrew domain names</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Hebrew IDNs for the .IL name space will be available soon - the Sunrise period for Israeli trademark holders / entities is currently open for pre-registrations.

Furthermore, the .IL registry is currently taking the steps required for the allocation of a Hebrew ccTLD in the ICANN Fast Track process for IDN country code Top Level Domains.

More details: http://www.isoc.org.il/domains/idn_eng/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=15</link>
       <pubDate>Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=15</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .SO for Somalia starts on November 1, 2010</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         .SO, the ccTLD for the Republic of Somalia will be launched in 2010/2011, starting on November 1, 2010 with a Sunrise period. 

The domain extensions available will be: 
- .so – For general purpose
- .com.so – For commercial entities
- .net.so – For networks
- .org.so – For non-profit organizations

The launch schedule is as follows: 
- Sunrise Period: Nov. 01 – 30, 2010 – for holders of eligible trademarks, submitting an application for the corresponding domain name.
- Sunrise Auction:  Dec. 01 – 15, 2010 – for domains with more than one credible Sunrise application
- Landrush Period: Dec. 16, 2010 - Feb.09, 2011 – for any interested party, allowed are applications for domains, which were not previously registered or applied for during the Sunrise, or otherwise reserved or restricted by the Registry.
- Landrush Auction: Feb. 10 2011 - Feb.28 2011 – for domains with more than one credible Landrush application.
- Open Registration: starting Mar. 01 2011 – for the registration of available domain names on a first-come, first served basis.

Sunrise domain names may be registered for a minimum of three years, and a maximum of ten years, Landrush domains and Open Registration domains for a minimum of one year, and a maximum of ten years. 

.SO domain names must be made up of a minimum of 3 characters and a maximum of 63 characters (excluding the extension). Only the Latin alphabet letters a-z, digits, and hyphens will be accepted. Domain names beginning or ending with hyphens, as well as domain names with hyphens on the third and fourth position are prohibited.

The policy for the TLD .SO is liberal, there are no restrictions concerning the registrants, no local presence service is needed. The technical support for .SO is carried out by “GMO Registry”, operational support is provided by “SO Registry”.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=14</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=14</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>New Version of the Draft Applicant Guidebook</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         A fourth draft of the Applicant Guidebook that describes the process of applying for new generic top-level domains was released by ICANN on May 31, 2010 along with explanatory memoranda and detailed analysis of comments received.

The new version has important new content, for example:
- Incorporation of trademark protections, including improvements to the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), the Trademark Clearinghouse (TM Clearinghouse), and the Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Proposal (PDDRP);
- Changes to rules for geographic TLDs, including a prohibition on country names as gTLDs;
- A new gTLD Registry transition process model, including provisions for emergency transition in the case of prolonged Registry technical outages;
- A model for providing centralized zone file access (ZFA) to aid in combating malicious conduct;
- A revised base Registry agreement, the contract future registries must sign with ICANN, including new features such as:
+ Registry-Registrar cross-ownership language;
+ Emergency Registry transition provision;
+ Special new agreement provisions for governmental and inter-governmental organization (IGO) applicants -- based on negotiations with Universal Postal Union (UPU) for .post (subject to modification for different circumstances of other similar organizations);
+ New "hybrid" process for future amendments;
+ New provisions for centralized registry zone file access (ZFA).

ICANN announcement:
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-31may10-en.htm

Here you can download the PDF:
http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/draft-rfp-clean-28may10-en.pdf

More information:
http://www.brandtlds.com/
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=13</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=13</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>IDN country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) delegations for Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and UAE approved</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Last week, the ICANN Board (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) approved the first IDN ccTLD delegation requests for the countries Egypt, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Russian registry is already accepting pre-registrationos of brand owners for domains ending with the IDN TLD РФ (meaning Russian Federation) in the so called “Sunrise”. 

The ICANN Board also supports the inclusion of Chinese characters in top-level domains as part of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. Furthermore, the IDN ccTLD for Jordan has passed the so called String Evaluation stage. This means, the characters for the internationalized domain extension for Jordan are determined now. Thus, Jordan now enters the String Delegation step, the last step in the Fast Track Process, which decides about the delegation. Including Jordan, there are currently 13 countries/territories, that have successfully passed String Evaulation 

Fast Track Process means, that ICANN is accepting requests to fast track IDN ccTLD applications. The process enables countries and territories that use languages based on non-Latin scripts to apply for a corresponding domain extension. 

Applications for permission to implement an IDN ccTLDs are available only to administrations of countries and territories or their designated representatives, and must constitute a meaningful representation of the country or territory name. At this time, ICANN has 21 requests for IDN ccTLDs, representing eleven languages in the Fast Track Process. 

Read more about the IDN ccTLD Fast Track: http://www.icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=12</link>
       <pubDate>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=12</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Survey Reveals Business with Typosquatting</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         Averaged 280 typo domains are allocated to each of the 3,264 most popular .COM web sites ranked by Alexa.com. This is the conclusion of the study “Measuring the Perpetrators and Funders of Typosquatting"carried out by the two Harvard scientists Tyler Moore (Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) and Benjamin Edelman (Harvard Business School).

The term typosquatting describes the registration of domains with typos or phonetic misspellings, which are similar to well-known internet addresses, e.g. examble.com as typo domain for example.com. Internet users, which enter the mistyped domain name into the browser, often reach a parked typo domain. Because of  these accidental visitors, the owner of this typo domain generates money, e.g. when the misrouted visitors click the Google Ads on the typo web site. Well established web sites in particular are a popular object of typosquatting: For example, 1.865 typo domains aim at the web site hotels.com according to the study.

For the .COM domains analyzed in their survey, the scientists Edelman and Moore created a list of possible typos. They compared this list with all 81 million registered .COM domains. The result were 1.9 million possible typo domains among all registered .COM names. With a manual comparison of a sample of these typo candidates followed by an estimation procedure, the scientists reached a final result of 938,000 likely typo domains for the 3,264 analyzed .COM web sites consisting of at least five characters. However, the effective number of typo domains could be even higher: Edelman's and Moores' survey excluded typo domains with typos in the domain ending (e.g. .CO or .CM). 

The Harvard academics analyzed the source of revenue of more than 285,000 of the identified typo domains and discovered a tendency of concentration of the typo business: They detected that 80 percent of the sites use pay-per-click ads. These ads often promote the correctly written domain and its competitors. This means, the owners of domains, which are affected by typosquatting, partly finance the causers of the abuse with their ads. Furthermore, the scientists revealed that especially the ad programs of Google and Yahoo are used for pay-per-click ads. The fact that 63 percent of the typo domains with Google ads could be allocated to altogether five ad accounts, was also valued as a sign for the concentration of the business by the Harvard academics.  

Sources:
http://www.benedelman.org/typosquatting/typosquatting.pdf
http://www.intern.de/news/neue--meldungen/--201002186952.html
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=11</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=11</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .LU IDNs</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        The registry of .LU has announced the launch of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) as of February 1, 2010.
 There will be a Sunrise period between February 1, 2010 and March 31, 2010. During this period only owners of already registered ASCII .LU names will be able to get the respective IDNs.

Beginning April 1, 2010 IDN registrations will be performed on a "first-come, first-served" basis.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=10</link>
       <pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=10</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Introduction of .ORG Chinese IDNs on January 23, 2010</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         The .ORG registry has announced the introduction of .ORG Chinese IDNs on January 23, 2010. The principle first-come, first-served applies.

.ORG Chinese IDNs registered between January 23, 2010 and February 22, 2010 will be placed on Server Hold, Server Update Prohibited, Server Renew Prohibited, Server Transfer Prohibited and Server Delete Prohibited until March 25, 2010 to allow any Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) disputes to be initiated. While locked, the domains will not resolve and cannot be updated, deleted or transferred. This will provide intellectual property owners an opportunity to identify any potential infringements. Please contact your registrar for further details.

A Chinese Domain Name (in native script) must contain at least one (1) Chinese character. You may choose Chinese characters, numbers (0-9) or hyphen (-) to compose your Chinese Domain Name. The (native script) length shall be limited within 14 characters. ASCII letters (A-Z same as a-z) are not permitted.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=9</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=9</guid>
      <author>Jasmina Meiser</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Launch of .EU IDNs on December 10, 2009</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         EURid, the registry of the European TLD .EU, will launch Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) under .EU on December 10, 2009, 11:00 CET (10:00 UTC). 

Pre-registrations are possible. If you are interested in pre-register .EU IDN names, please contact us.

IDNs are domain names that may contain non-ASCII characters including letters with accents and characters in non-Latin languages, including Cyrillic and Greek scripts and e.g. the German umlauts ä, ö and ü. With the implementation of IDNs under .EU it will be possible to register domain names using the characters of all the 23 official languages of the European Union, including Cyrillic and Greek scripts and e.g. the German umlauts ä, ö and ü.

The maximum length of an IDN under .EU is 63 characters. On the following web page you can find a list of all non-ASCII characters that will be supported: http://www.eurid.eu/en/eu-domain-names/idns-eu/supported-characters

You are not allowed to mix character sets (for example Latin, Greek and Cyrillic) in a single IDN. This means each IDN must use characters from a single (1) character set only.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=7</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=7</guid>
      <author>Jamile Tarabay</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Cyrillic version of .RU - Sunrise period has started</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
         As one of the first registries and in a sudden move, .RU offers IDN Top-Level-Domains. Until March 25, 2010 Sunrise Domain Registrations for the Cyrillic version of .RU (.РФ, meaning Russian Federation) are available for holders of
Russian trademarks.

Please contact our BrandShelter team in case you would like to apply for and register domain names under the Cyrillic version of .RU.

The Sunrise Registration Procedure provides the following rules:

1. only trademarks registered not later than March 25, 2009 are subject to domains sunrise reservation;
2. if two or more trademark holders applied for the domain standing for trademarks with identical verbal designation, but registered under different classes of International Classification of Goods and Services, further
registration of this domain will be provided for the trademark with an earlier registration date;
3. any issues for domains reservation with regard to trademarks, including well-known ones, registered after March 25, 2009, will be reviewed by the dedicated Assessment Board of the Coordination Center.

Among others, trademark holders applying for a domain under Cyrillic version of .RU will be required to submit the trademark number and upon request, a copy of the trademark certificate and legal entity or entrepreneur registration certificate sealed by applicant's signature (via e-mail and by fax). After having received all necessary documentation, the review of the IDN application will take up to 10 days. 

Please note that under the Cyrillic version of .RU, only characters in the Cyrillic alphabet, numbers and hyphens will be allowed. No Latin or other characters will be possible.
        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=8</link>
       <pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=8</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Open Letter To ICANN Urging New gTLD Approval in Singapore</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Representatives of Key-Systems GmbH, operator of the BrandShelter service, have signed an open letter urging the ICANN board to approve the new gTLD program at the meeting next week in Singapore. A meeting has been scheduled for 20 June at which approval may be given.
 The letter lists issues under three broad areas: process and consensus, ICANN and internet governance as well as benefits and harms. The letter says “If the ICANN Board can answer these questions affirmatively, we believe that it has a duty to vote to begin the New gTLD Program immediately.”


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=143</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=143</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>

    <item>
      <title>Open Letter To ICANN Urging New gTLD Approval in Singapore</title>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[
        Representatives of Key-Systems GmbH, operator of the BrandShelter service, have signed an open letter urging the ICANN board to approve the new gTLD program at the meeting next week in Singapore. A meeting has been scheduled for 20 June at which approval may be given.
 The letter lists issues under three broad areas: process and consensus, ICANN and internet governance as well as benefits and harms. The letter says “If the ICANN Board can answer these questions affirmatively, we believe that it has a duty to vote to begin the New gTLD Program immediately.”


        ]]>
      </description>
      <link>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=144</link>
       <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
       <guid>http://brandshelter.com/en/news/news.php?id=144</guid>
      <author>Dorothea Marx</author>
    </item>


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