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The
Latest Domain Name News
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Welcome
to N3 lite .....
In this
week's edition of the magazine, we bring you the latest
news on the .aero and .coop 'sponsored' domains, as well
as Nominet's plans to release a suffix aimed at individuals,
.me.uk.
As ever,
if you have any questions, please send them to the address
below.
Kind
regards, Colette
- N3lite@netnames.com
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1.
gTLD Update
ICANN
completes contract with .coop
ICANN
this week signed a contract with .coop - the domain reserved
for co-operatives. The deal means that ICANN has now completed
registry contracts with six of the seven new Internet domains,
with only .pro awaiting approval.
.aero
objections answered by ICANN
ICANN
this week refuted accusations that the air travel industry
is improperly limiting public access to the recently commissioned
.aero Internet domain.
Last year ICANN approved .aero with the understanding that
it would be restricted to members of the air travel and
transport community. But some experts claim that that the
contract unfairly excludes consumers and other non-commercial
entities within the air travel community from registering
.aero addresses.
2.
Industry
News
Kevin
Spacey loses cybersquatting case
Film
star Kevin Spacey this week lost a pivotal landmark court
battle over the ownership of www.kevinspacey.com.
This was despite the fact that the registrant is an "infamous
cybersquatter" who has had celebrity run-ins with other
stars such as Celine Dion and Jodie Foster.
The
judge at the US District Court of the Central District of
California ruled that if Mr Spacey wished to take ownership
of the domain, he would have to file the case in a the Canadian
court, where the current owner resides.
The
decision means that from now on, complainants are unlikely
to be able to choose where a case is heard, removing any
incentive for law courts in specific areas to advertise
a stronger approach to any particular interest group. Mr
Spacey is now unlikely to be handed over the domain unless
he buys it.
3.
NIC News
Nominet
considers .me.uk suffix
Nominet,
the .uk Registry this week announced that it is considering
adding a .me.uk category of names for personal web sites.
There are currently 11 .uk domain extensions, although they
currently all relate to organisations, rather than individuals.
These are:
.co.uk
- commercial enterprises
.org.uk - non-profit making organisations
.plc.uk - registered public limited companies
.ltd.uk - registered limited companies
.net.uk - Internet service providers
.sch.uk - schools
.ac.uk - academic establishments
.gov.uk - governmental bodies
.nhs.uk - national health service establishments
.police.uk - police forces
.mod.uk - ministry of defence bodies
If the
new second-level domain is approved, it could be in operation
as early as 2002. N3Lite will keep you updated with any
developments.
4.
NetNames News
Head
of Reuters Mobile joins NetBenefit plc
~ new sales director brought on board to drive growth
~
NetBenefit
plc, the UK's leading Internet solutions provider, has
appointed Rodger Armstrong as Global Sales Director.
Armstrong,
37, will drive sales growth across the company and have
day-to-day responsibility of the company's sales activities,
in particular the NetNames global domain management team
and field sales operations around the world.
Armstrong
was previously vice-president of Business Development
and European General Manager of wireless technology business,
NewsTakes. Prior to this he was Chief Operating Officer
of Reuters Mobile, the wireless division of the media
giant. At Reuters Mobile, Armstrong was responsible for
defining and implementing Reuters' global strategy in
the mobile market.
"Rodger
has vast experience in sales, ranging from new business
and account management to a variety of senior management
roles," said Geoff Wicks, CEO of NetBenefit plc.
"NetNames is launching a groundbreaking suite of
domain name management products shortly for the corporate
and intellectual property markets, and with Rodger involved,
we're in a great position to capitalise on our already
strong UK market position, and expand both geographically
and through new product offerings."
"The
NetBenefit and NetNames brands have an exciting and growing
product range and an impressive client base, which I'm
keen to build on. I'm looking forward to working with
and building on the strong team we've already got in place
and driving growth across the company," said Rodger
Armstrong, Global Sales Director.
5.
Fact of the week
The
top ten Internet scams of 2001
The
U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 20,000 Internet
fraud complaints in the first nine months of this year,
it has been revealed.
The
average loss rose more than 50% to $636, largely due to
the Nigerian money laundering scam, which was the fastest-growing
fraud on the list. The FTC also warns against scams related
to the September 11 terrorist attacks, including sites
peddling anthrax treatments and fraudulent solicitations.
As
last year, the largest proportion of complaints relates
to scams relating to online auctions, with undelivered
or misrepresented merchandise the most common culprit.
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Category
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% of all complaints
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Average loss
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Auctions
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63%
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$478
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Online shopping
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11%
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$845
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Nigerian money
offers
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9%
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$6,542
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Information/adult
services
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3%
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$234
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Internet access
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3%
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$568
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Work-at-home
plans
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2%
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$120
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Computer equipment/software
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2%
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$1,102
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Advance-fee
loans
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1%
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$1,209
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Credit-card
offers
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0.6%
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$412
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Business opportunities
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0.4%
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$16,031
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Source: MSN Money
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