• ICANN Completes Negotiations For New Internet Suffixes
  Internet addressing authorities last week cleared one of the last major hurdles standing in the way of two new global Internet domains - ".biz" and ".info."
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• US domain deal goes to unknown Brits
  Unknown Welsh development team Purple Sun has landed an unexpected contract with Network Solutions (NSI) as the US domain name reseller rushes to prepare for the introduction of new top level domains.
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• Hijacked domain returned to rightful owner
  The case of the dropped domain and the PR company that we covered last week has been sorted out - with it returning to the original owners
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04/29/2001

• ICANN Sneaks In Reserved Names For Existing TLDs
  ... under everybody's noses, ICANN has recently snuck in some name exclusions for the existing TLDs, com, net and org. This was hidden in the revised agreements between ICANN and Verisign.
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04/27/2001

• VeriSign's domain deal on hold
  THE U.S. GOVERNMENT will need until May 14 to review a controversial deal extending computer security firm VeriSign's managerial responsibilities for running the .com domain system, according to documents released late Wednesday.
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• Ireland Plans Bid For EU Top-Level Domain Registry
  The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) says it aims to create an Irish-based association of businesses to bid for the planned European Union top-level domain (TLD) central registry and run it from Ireland. According to a report in the Irish Times, it is not yet certain that the registry will be given the go ahead yet by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, who are due to vote on the decision within the next two months
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• Philippines: Remember Consumers in '.ph' Domain Dispute
  A Filipino consumer advocate defends Web customers' rights in a debate over the nation's top-level domain ".ph"
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• VeriSign investors cheer, analysts debate
  Shares of VeriSign surged Friday after the company topped estimates in the first quarter and said it was comfortable with Wall Street's projections for 2001.
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04/26/2001

• 'Hijacked' domain saga continues
  The domain of PR company Portfolio Metrica that mysteriously disappeared on Monday to be replaced by an American free ISP is now up for sale on eBay.
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• ICANN gets its own cartoon
  If you ever thought that the political shenanigans of the self-appointed guardians of the Internet, the ICANN "directors", should be made into a play or sitcom, you'll be delighted to see this cartoon.
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• The Domain Rush is Over, or Has it Just Begun?
  The sudden rush to register domain names for new businesses or to protect existing trademarks has come to a screeching halt, according to a report by domain name protection concern SnapNames.
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• MPs warned over politically incorrect domain names
  MPs are being warned that they may have to shut down their websites in the run up to the General election.
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• VeriSign earns nearly twice estimates
  Domain name registrar VeriSign on Thursday reported first-quarter operating results that topped expectations because of corporate demand for its security and other online services.
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04/23/2001

• PR company loses Web site. Completely
  PR company Portfolio Metrica Group was very surprised to find its Web site had vanished this morning and had been replaced by a mirror of American cuckoos Free2Try.com.
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• Domain names include new graphical symbols
  For the first time ever, domain names can now include smiley faces, happy signs and hundreds of other weird and wonderful symbols.
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• ICANN challenger making a name for itself
  An Internet start-up that is marketing new domain names in a challenge to the existing system for regulating Web addresses has struck a deal with Juno Online Services to promote such destinations as ''.sports'' and ``.xxx,'' the companies said on Monday.
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• VeriSign Offers Domains In 350-Plus Languages
  VeriSign [NASDAQ:VRSN] has completed the latest stage in its language support expansion plans for domain names, adding another 180-plus languages to those supported by its registrar operation.
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04/21/2001

• Net Law Notebook: Domain Names with Symbols Will Make Trademark Owners Cry, !@#*!
  As if trademark owners and domain name registrants didn't have enough to fight about already, now comes word that registrars are permitting the use of "Unicode" symbols in domain names -- including such characters as the smiley face, musical notes, and (how ironic) the circle-"R" trademark-registration symbol.
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• The Domain Game
  IP lawyers help clients keep cybersquatters in check
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04/20/2001

• VeriSign trial offers domain names in over 350 languages
  Chinese, Arabic, and Hebrew characters only scratch the surface of what unicode domain name registration can offer.
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• Domain dispute drags on
  Icann, the organisation that oversees the internet, is coming under fire for the changes it is making to the net's domain names.
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• The Tragedy of ICANN
  Vannevar Bush, Ted Nelson, Tim Berners-Lee and others articulated a beautiful vision of a world-wide network of knowledge, one world of information sharing, the new digital home of mankind. For a while there it looked like it might happen.
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04/19/2001

• Domain name registration slumps
  New data shows that there has been a dramatic reduction in new domain name registrations. Customers too could suffer from opting to purchase from cheaper registrars during the dotcom boom. Many who did so may now find their registrar has become insolvent, or they may find that the customer service responsiveness of their registrars is slipping because of cost-cutting.
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• Breakaway domain registry seeks Euro ISP
  The US company threatening to undermine ICANN's hold on the domain name system has said that it's setting its sights on the European market, having held discussions with a number of UK ISPs.
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04/18/2001

• New domain name agreements step closer
  ICANN, the internet body responsible for the licensing of domain names to organisations for resale, has sent new agreements on the management of the three most important top level domain names to the US Department of Commerce (DOC) for final consent
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• VeriSign tests foreign domain names
  The wait is over if you want an Internet address in Hebrew, Arabic or Thai.
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04/17/2001

• VeriSign-ICANN .Com Deal Now In Govt Hands
  Contractual agreements that would ensconce VeriSign Inc. as the permanent steward of the global ".com" registry are now in the hands of the US Government, which will have the final say on whether to approve the controversial deal.
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• Georgia Entrepreneur Continues His Quest to Sell `The Million Dollar Domain Name' to Major Financial Institutions
  Entrepreneur Rick Anderson believes he's got the perfect Internet domain name for major players in the home loan industry--and is accepting bids on what he calls "the biggest financial home loan domain name still available."
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04/16/2001

• WIPO Files Interim Report On Domain-Naming Policies
  The United Nations-backed organization that has settled the lion's share of trademark disputes over Internet addresses has reached a major milestone in its drive to create a comprehensive, global policy on domain naming and intellectual property rights.
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• WIPO RECOMMENDS BANNING CERTAIN NAMES AND WORDS FROM DOMAINS
  In what can only be described as an ominous sign of things to come, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has issued new recommendations to WIPO's member states. These recommendations include new bans on domain names that, if accepted, will open the door to further - and more encompassing - restrictions in years to come.
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04/13/2001

• Business body's domain name bought by porn site
  People wanting to visit the website of an Idaho town are being directed to a pornography site. Caldwell Chamber of Commerce say they did not know the porn site had started to use their domain name which had expired.
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• TSTV: The World's Unluckiest Domain-Name Disputer?
  Wresting Internet addresses from so-called cybersquatters appears to be as easy for some companies as shooting fish in a barrel.
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04/12/2001

• Government launches study of domain names
  THE U.S. government is funding a study to examine the impact of new technologies and policies on the DNS as part of a long-term effort to ensure that searching on the Internet not only remains feasible but also improves.
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• Education group to take reins of .edu Web domain
  Educause, a nonprofit group that supports the integration of higher education and technology, has been chosen to take over as the manager of the Internet's .edu top-level domain.
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• Canadian Domain-Name Bid May Have Precedent On Its Side
  For the federal government of Canada, there's good news and bad news in its international bid to take Internet domains that sound like its own agencies from a man it considers a cyber-squatter.
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04/11/2001

• Domain Name ".net" Wins Popularity
  The Internet domain name, ".net," has received an enthusiastic welcome from Internet users around the world over the past few weeks, according to the world's largest domain name registrar, Network Solutions Inc.
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04/10/2001

• Domain name scam charges
  The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission is taking a Queensland firm to the Federal Court over allegedly deceptive invoices sent out to Australian domain name holders.
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• MicroStrategy's Many Domains
  In pursuit of glory, it helps to have hope, courage and wisdom. MicroStrategy Inc. didn't just believe in those words -- it bought them. According to its annual report, the Vienna software company spent $3.2 million on Internet domain names in the 13-month period ending in December. Its current holdings include the Web addresses glory.com, hope.com, courage.com and wisdom.com.
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• 'Domain Baron' offers to sell Ottawa addresses
  Case before adjudicator: Web site names closely resemble government's
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04/09/2001

• ICANN Has Hands Full Adding New Domains
  The long-awaited November announcement by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, that it had finally approved seven new top-level domains was supposed to be a good thing.
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• Master of his domain name: naughty man trumps Rogers
  An international tribunal has resoundingly dismissed a complaint by Rogers Cable Inc. over a Web site used by a Dutch man named Roger to sell videos and photographs "of an erotic nature."
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• Dot Conman targets Games Domain
  A dot conman who uses the Games Domain name to trick money out of unwitting victims is at work again.
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• New.net's Domain Gain
  Partnerships increase reach of unofficial domain-name peddler.
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04/08/2001

• Imminent domain
  Bargain hunters expect to cash in on used names
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• Seller of unsanctioned domains reaches deals
  An Internet startup that sells unsanctioned domain names has reached deals with five software companies to promote the use of such suffixes as ''.kids'' and ''.travel.''
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04/07/2001

• Net Law Notebook: Trademark Owner Wins First Multilingual Domain Dispute
  The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has resolved what appears to be the first dispute over a multilingual domain name. The ruling favors Sankyo Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest pharmaceutical company.
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• Domain Name Disputes in the PRC – What Trends are Emerging? Exclusive
  Disputes over domain names are a relatively recent phenomenon in China as “cybersquatters” take advantage of the first in, first served registration system of domain names. Several disputes in relation to domain names registered under the country domain .cn have been brought before the Courts. The results thus far are encouraging and indicate that Beijing is committed to dealing with these disputes in a fair manner with the emphasis on balancing the interests of international and domestic parties.
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04/06/2001

• ICANN Pressed to Reform Outdated WHOIS Policy
  In an attempt to reform outdated policies governing the use of a registrar's WHOIS database, Tucows Inc. of Canada is spearheading an effort to force the Internet Corporate for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to protect domain name registrants, which must publicly disclose critical private information.
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• Canadian Retailer Says: We Deserve 'Crappy' Internet Domain
  In a move that would make most marketers cringe, an icon of chain-store retailing in Canada is asking an international intellectual property organization to rule that, when shoppers say "Crappy Tire," they really mean "Canadian Tire."
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• Canada Disputes Doppelganger Dot-Com Domains
  The government of Canada is asking international arbitrators to help decide a dispute over Internet domains that sound a lot like the names of its own agencies but which are held by a Burnaby, B.C., man.
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• DOMAIN NAME PIRATE SENT TO PRISON
  Details have now emerged of the case of Craig Cottrell heard by the High Court at the end of February
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• Playing the domain name game
  If buying and selling domain names were done in a pub, it would resemble the famous bar in Star Wars ... all manner of persons and species doing business with all manner of motives, and with a lot more going on than meets the eye.
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04/05/2001

• Australian Watchdog Acts Against Domain Name
  The Australian consumer watchdog has taken a businessman to court alleging he tried to trick companies into paying a registration fee for an online business listings directory.
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• Federal judge rules man stole sex.com domain, must pay damages
  A man accused of stealing the Internet domain name sex.com must pay more than $60 million in damages to the rightful owner, a federal judge has ruled.
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• Yahoo in dispute over SA yahoo.co.za domain name
  US internet company yahoo, via its representative in SA, Core Holdings, is in a trademark dispute with the holder of the Yahoo.co.za domain name, Kevin Caine.
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• The help desk: Renew domain name or lose it
  Under the rules, you can register your domain name for one to 10 years. During this time, the name is yours to be attached to any Web site you choose to create for it
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04/04/2001

• Boot camp week 169: domain names and the internet: part 1
  MOST of us have a basic grasp of how telephone numbers work, and even postcodes make some sort of sense. But the system of domain names and web "addresses" used for sending and receiving email and accessing information on the internet causes a great deal of confusion, even to seasoned PC users.
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04/03/2001

• Verisign retains .com domain till 2007
  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) agreed yesterday to allow VeriSign to manage the lucrative .com domain until at least 2007, and possibly indefinitely.
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• ICANN Gives VeriSign Final Handshake
  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and VeriSign Monday signed a revised version of a contract regardin the future of the .com, .net, and .org domain name registries, after heeding at least some of the passionate objections from competitive registries and ICANN members about the contract that was originally proposed. But it's not clear whether the U.S. Department of Commerce, which must ratify ICANN's actions, will rubber-stamp this deal as it has others.
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• ICANN Board Member Blasts VeriSign Decision
  The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) violated its own bylaws and shortchanged the Internet community by approving a contract that could give VeriSign Inc. near permanent control over the ".com" addressing space, an ICANN board member said today.
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• Thumbs down for bank domain
  A vote conducted by IsocNZ on the proposal to adopt a bank Internet address space has narrowly missed the society's required threshold for next level consideration.
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• Domain Name Sanity
  The cost of domain names has long been one of my bugaboos. I see a domain as a business license, a necessary cost that (for the sake of business) should be kept as low as possible. The asset value of a domain name lies in the business built around it, not in the name itself.
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04/02/2001

• ICANN Gives .Com To VeriSign
  The powerful Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today overwhelmingly approved a controversial contract that gives VeriSign Inc. near permanent control over the ".com" addressing space.
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• VeriSign Keeps Dot-Com Domain In ICANN Deal
  The Internet's top naming authority on Monday modified VeriSign Inc.'s control over domain name suffixes, but allowed it to keep its thumb on .com and .net for decades if it follows the rules
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• ICANN Warns Against Preregistering Domain Names
  Pending arrival of seven top-level domains has users, registrars jumping the gun
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• ICANN puts domain term limits on Verisign
  The Internet's top naming authority on Monday approved revisions to its agreement with VeriSign that modifies its control over domain name suffixes .com, .net, and .org.
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• Web sites wary of losing domains
  The Net address overseer will meet today to consider domain restrictions. It may limit ".org" to nonprofits.
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• Dot-com domain control up for grabs
  The future of dot-com, dot-net and dot-org web addresses will be decided later today in Marina del Rey, California.
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04/01/2001

• HC order against misuse of Tata domain names
  A nondescript company had robbed corporate giant Tata of its domain names in the cyber world leaving the latter with no option but to secure remedy from the Delhi High Court.
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