Nic News ..

Belgian Domain Names to be released

Applications for .be domain names prior to December 8, 2000, had to be registered under the old registration rules. In order to prevent .be domain names from being registered in the new automated system, while awaiting the arrival of documents to support an application, those names have been blocked by the Belgian registry.

To give every applicant equal chances to register one or more of the released domain names and to prevent massive applications being sent before the actual release date, it has been decided that the blocked domain names will be released altogether at the same time.

All domain names to be released will be available to view on April 10, 2001, and all blocked domains will then be released April 17, 2001.

Industry Update ..

WIPO proposes international policy on domain names

Country-code top-level domain should be governed by the same regulations, which cover generic top-level domains such as .com and .org, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO. It says that a common set of rules governing country and international domains would help prevent cybersquatting, and is hoping to persuade administrators to sign up to a dispute resolution policy which sets rules on who is entitled to own certain domain names.

Celine Dion wins domain name

Canadian singer Celine Dion has been awarded the rights to the celinedion.com domain name, following a WIPO ruling earlier this week. The UN panel ruled that Jeff Burgar of Alberta, Canada had no legitimate rights to the name and ordered it to be transferred to Dion. Burgar had argued that he was using the web site as a fan club and not for commercial gain. However the panel was told that Burgar had a history of registering celebrity domain names, and that the fan club pages had only been added recently.

Russia races to register Cyrillic domain names

Russian domain name registration companies have reported a lot of interest in the registration of Cyrillic domain names, since their introduction last week. Although the project is still in its test phase, and the registered names cannot yet be mapped to web sites, business has been brisk. To find out more about the new multilingual domain names, click here.

Norwegian domain name draw

Domain name applicants went through a draw today after the new Norwegian domain name policy came into effect. 85 applicants were after the por.no name, whilst 208 wanted data.no. Other popular names included helse.no (meaning 'health') and reklame.no, (meaning commercial).

NetNames News..

Web surfers hide personality with three email addresses each
~ Addresses for life become reality as users find new use for domain names ~

The average Internet surfer now has three email addresses, according to research from Internet Solutions Provider, NetBenefit.

With many people now purchasing domain names for use as email addresses, the company has carried out research, which suggests that the average web surfer owns 3.1 addresses. Typically, these are for professional and personal use, with separate ones for web site registration where perhaps identity is an issue.

"A few years ago, one email address would suffice for all uses," said Jonathan Robinson, CEO of NetBenefit. "However with use of the Internet now so widespread, and with email being its number one application, it's obvious that people want different addresses for different scenarios."

"Whilst the 'firstname dot surname at my company dot com' is the industry standard for professional correspondence, outside of work, many people want to show off their personalities, and a unique email address is one way of doing this. Many people think that the only reason for buying a domain name is in order to build their own web site. However it makes sense to register your name or a name that defines you, and use that as the email you carry round with you for life," he continued.

Tip of the Week..

Don't forget that you can register your interest in the new gTLDs (generic top level domains) by going to www.gtld.com. The new domains, including .info, are set to go live in June 2001.

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