Following last week's break in transmission, we resume with the latest domain name news and information.

As ever, please don't hesitate to contact us on the email address below if you have any queries.

Kind regards,

Colette - N3lite@netnames.com

Update on .coop

Significant progress has been made with the .coop domain, aimed at not-for-profit organisations and a final agreement is expected in the near future. Once the agreement is reached, the contract will be presented to the US Department of Commerce for final approval. Planning and scheduling of the .coop launch will be completed soon after this date. We will of course keep you updated through N3Lite.

.info domain name challenges begin

Afilias, the consortium of domain name registrars that manages names registered in the .info Top-Level Domain (TLD), ended its Sunrise registration period reserved for trademark holders on August 28 and has moved the rollout of the new TLD into a Sunrise Challenge phase which will last until December 26. During the Sunrise Challenge phase, panelists from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will decide disputes between potential .info registrants who lay claim to the same names. Afilias will begin taking open registrations on September 12 and the names are expected to go live from September 19.

.name Sunrise period

In preparation for the new .name gTLD, plans have been announced for how the Sunrise period will operate in order to help intellectual property right owners to protect these rights.

Defensive registrations will be available for trademark owners who want to block out the registration of names that conflict with their trademarks. They aim to block out speculators, but should an individual be able to show that their name happens to coincide with a registered trademark, filed as a defensive registration, they may be given permission to use that name by the trademark owners.

2. Industry News

ICANN posts Montevideo meeting topics

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has posted a series of websites featuring topics to be addressed at its upcoming quarterly meetings in Montevideo, Uruguay, taking place between September 7-10. ICANN's quarterly meetings are free to attend and open to any individual or organisation. Among the topics of discussion are the rules domain name registrars must follow when names are transferred from one registrar to another at the name holder's request. In recent months, several ICANN-accredited registrars have complained that "gaining" registrars do not adequately verify that domain registrants truly want to transfer their registrations, while others have complained that "losing" registrars frequently refuse to transfer names when requested. ICANN also hopes to develop a coherent policy in the area of internationalized, or multilingual, non-English domain names. For more information, please go to: http://www.icann.org/montevideo/

ICANN attacked for board-voting method

ICANN this week came under fire over rules concerning the appointment of its board members. The criticism is contained in a preliminary report released by the organisation's At-Large Study Committee. Carl Bildt, the chairman of the committee, said "The controversy surrounding ICANN's membership selection has made it more difficult to address issues which ICANN needs to address."

ICANN bylaws stipulate that the organisation is governed by a board of directors comprising of a president and CEO, nine at-large directors and nine directors selected by ICANN's supporting organisations. The new report proposes six at-large board directors selected from six different regions of the world, instead of nine. These directors would be selected by an at-large membership comprised of 'individual domain name holders' and a new 'At-Large Supporting Organisation' (ALSO).

Judge rules peta.org was cybersquatting, not free speech

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court judge which ruled that a Maryland resident violated the trademark rights of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The individual, Michael Doughney, registered the domain name peta.org and created a website called People Eating Tasty Animals (PETA) in 1995. Federal judge Claude M. Hilton ruled, and the appeals court agreed, that Doughney's domain name did not count as a constitutionally protected parody of the animal rights group's message.

3. NIC News

Ministry wants control of RuNet

The Russian cabinet is considering a draft resolution which if adopted would see the entire Russian Internet under the control of the Communications Ministry.
The Ministry wants the right to turn Internet servers on and off and is also seeking the right to allocate domain names and decide which names can be called state property.

Currently, domain names are allocated by the independent non-commercial regional Network Information Centre, or Ru-Center.