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Posts with tag icann

Filed under: Internet

ICANN loosens domain name rules, .SQUAD coming soon?

by Brad Linder Jun 26th 2008

Network SolutionsAs expected, the international body that oversees internet domain names has voted to change the way top-level domains work. Right now there are only about 200 top level domains, with some of the most widespread being .com, .net, .org, and .edu. But under the rules adopted by ICANN today, companies or individuals will be able to register top line domains using pretty much any string of characters.

For example, why settle for www.downloadquad.com when you could have www.download.squad? The advantage to the new system is that it will be much easier to snag the domain you really want. The down side is that most web surfers tend to think in .com. It's already hard enough to remember whether you need to type in .com, .net, or .org. It could be much harder to find the page you're looking for if there are literally millions of options.

Of course, it's not like just anybody is going to go out and register a new top-level domain. The application fee will be upwards of $100,000. And even if we do wind up with 2000 or even 2,000,000 top-level domains instead of 200, odds are it'll still be easy enough to find the sites you're looking for thanks to these nifty things called search engines.

ICANN has also approved the use of Arabic and Cyrillic scripts for top-level domains.

Tags: domain, domain-registration, icann, top-level-domain, top-level-domains

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Filed under: Internet

.XXX back on the drawing board as ICANN plans big domain name changes

by Gordon Finlayson Jun 23rd 2008

A far reaching transformation of domain names could be in store as Internet guardians, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) meets to discuss changes to top level domain names.

According to a report from the BBC, ICANN has plans to deregulate top level domain names to allow any string of letters to be used as a top level domain, paving the way for long proposed domains such as .xxx, for company names like .Disney or even personal names such as .gordonfinlayson to be used as a domain name.

The proposed system would also allow for internationalization of domain names so that additional new languages and characters could be used to register domains which will be a plus for the billions of people who don't use Latin alphabets.

ICANN will vote on the proposal on Thursday on the last day of a series of public meetings which are being held in Paris this week. ICANN acts as the guardian of all Internet domain names and more informally as a global regulator of the Internet, but such services don't come cheap and the new domain names could see the cash rolling in for ICANN.

The release of a new domain name system could see a feeding frenzy as people individuals and companies compete to acquire catchy or unique domain names, and will no doubt be a considerable disappointment to all the poor saps who have paid good money for quality .com, .net or .tv domain names. All this is is inevitably going to result in a ton of new disputes over precedence for registrations, trade marks and issues like obscenity so lets hope ICANN has a really good dispute resolution procedure in the works.

[Via the BBC]

Tags: .com, .xxx, domain names, DomainNames, icann, tld

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Filed under: Internet

ICANN aims to end U.S. oversight

by Romeo Wahed Jan 25th 2008

ICANN aims to end U.S. oversightThe group that is in charge of the Internet addressing system, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), has sent a response (PDF) to the U.S. Department of Commerce in a midterm review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the two parties, saying that the JPA has fulfilled its purpose and is no longer necessary.

The original agreement was put in place to get ICANN on its way to be a responsible, transparent entity to get it out of U.S. control, since this has been a topic of debate since the inception of ICANN. The report states that ICANN has already met its responsibilities of the JPA, and as such is ready for full "private sector leadership" where all the stakeholders are represented. As such, it also aims to cast off the misconception that the U.S. government is overseeing the DNS on a "daily basis."

Although this is unlikely to affect end-user interaction in any way, it will be nice to know that the root addressing system will not be under the direct control of a single entity - that is, if the U.S. Department of Commerce agrees and the JPA is indeed retired early. But considering that it is in private hands, even with stakeholders represented, it does make one wonder how it will affect competition considering that ICANN virtually has a monopoly whether it is under the oversight of the U.S. or a private group of stakeholders.

[via OSNews, ArsTechnica]

Tags: icann, internet, jpa, oversight

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Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services

Domain name prices are about to get a little higher

by Chris Gilmer Apr 6th 2007

domain name price increaseStill holding out on that perfect domain name because you can't choose between a few different ones? Try not to hold back any longer, VeriSign, the company that controls the domain name registry for .com, .net, among others, is set to raise prices.

Verisign will initiate a 7% yearly price hike effective October 15, 2007, raising prices from a wholesale cost of $6/ year to $6.42/ year. This amount isn't a considerable difference, however VeriSign does have the right to renegotiate their contract with ICANN to continue a 7% per year raise indefinitely.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: .com, .net, domain, icann, name, verisign

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Filed under: Internet, News

ICANN rejects .xxx domains

by Brad Linder Mar 30th 2007

Playboy T-shirtThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has rejected a proposed .xxx domain for pornographic websites. This is the third time ICANN has shot the idea down.

The proposal had faced opposition from adult-entertainment groups who feared it would ghettoize their sites, and also from religious organizations who were concerned that the domain would lead to more porn sites on the internet (would that even be possible?)

The proposal is being pushed by ICM Registry LLC, a Florida company that wants to oversee registration of .xxx sites. ICANN voted 9-5 to reject the measure.




Tags: icann, porn, pornography, xxx

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Filed under: Internet, News

3 more years of ICANN

by Ryan Carter Oct 4th 2006

ICANNThe ICANN retains its grip on being the Internet's addressing center. The US Commerce Department has taken a more hands-off approach at its oversight of the company. Of course all the other countries who are critics of ICANN are going to complain, since they don't want the US having control of any part of the Internet. Frankly, I don't care what they think. The Internet works just fine, so don't go screwing it up by letting the oversight change hands. I don't even like the idea of the UN taking over the Internet either. At least ICANN will be around for another three years.

Tags: 3 years, 3Years, ICANN, Internet, US dept commerce, UsDeptCommerce

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Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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