EuroDNS Blog

The United Kingdom 2012, Ancient Greece arrives in London’s East End, and no, it’s not a new restaurant; London will welcome 10,500 foreigners from 205 nations around the world. EuroDNS invites its customers to join the millions of spectators of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and register a .CO.UK domain name today for only €5.99 valid until August 31, with promo code NLCOUK12B.

.CO.UK was introduced in 1985 as a second-level domain under .UK; it is widely used and recognized as the most popular domain extension in the United Kingdom. The .CO.UK domain takes precedence over .UK, the country’s ccTLD which has a restriction on new registrations. Online purchases are increasing every day and customers behaviour seems to indicate that they have more confidence buying from a website with their own country extension; big name brands recognizing this and utilize ccTLDs specific to the country they are targeting, for example Amazon and eBay. Equally, a company such as Triumph Motorcycles, known all over the world for its classic British motorbikes, treats its domain extension as part of its branding, triumph.co.uk shouts ‘Great Britain’.

Nations gather under the Union Flag

The vibrant, multicultural city is finalizing preparations; after years of blood, sweat and tears, London is ready and waiting. London 2012 begins on July 27, when Queen Elizabeth II will open the games; two weeks later it will all be over.

London was selected to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games on July 6, 2005; this will be the first time a city has hosted the modern games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and 1948. Countries all over the world are asking; how many medals will we win? Do the beach volley ball teams really wear bikinis, even the men? Will Beckham play? Will it rain all the time? What is that London 2012 logo all about? How do we become a part of this historic event?

In answer to the questions, EuroDNS are here to help: we shall see, take a camera just in case, unfortunately not, take an umbrella – it’s England, good question, register a .CO.UK domain name now!

Address the nation

No medals, unfortunately; just lots of new visitors. Register a .CO.UK domain name now, entering the promo code NLCOUK12B, before August 31. 

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS would like to offer the .CO.UK extension to our customers, it will inspire trust and confidence and your business can only benefit.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS not only registers international domain names; we also offer a wide range of solutions and services to support our customers with all their domain needs. The list of services currently includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or contact our sales office at sales@eurodns.com, where our domain experts are on hand to help.”

To register or transfer an existing .CO.UK domain name, please visit the EuroDNS website. Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

It’s the Formula 1 race calendar! It’s the European Football Championship! It’s the Eurovision Song Contest! No, better, it’s the EuroDNS European Summer Bundle. 

Yes, we are promoting domain extensions across Europe, namely: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and The United Kingdom. Register now with any of these country domains and add a hint of continental Europe to your website, valid until September 30, 2012.

The EuroDNS European Summer Bundle is our latest promotion; we want our customers to enjoy the summer, come rain or shine. The promotion is on 11 European domains, register today using the codes provided and be like a European; drive a Ferrari past windmills, eat a waffle with caviar, listen to punk rockers playing Chopin, read Sartre in German, dance the flamenco to ABBA whilst your cuckoo clock strikes the hour.

Target your audience

Speak to your European audience directly; by registering the ccTLD related to the country you want to target, you will increase trust, respect and loyalty with that particular audience. Users feel more confident engaging with a website local to their country; .COM’s popularity is global but when looking for local companies a ccTLD is the direction users will take. Targeting several countries is a good option for an international business; the most efficient way, and most beneficial for SEO purposes is to use separate ccTLDs hosted in the relevant country. EuroDNS published an article in June discussing the role of ccTLDs in the SEO world; it offers advice and opinion with regard registration of country code domain names.

Touring Europe with EuroDNS

Take a look at the list below and register with one, two, three, or all of the domains, your business can only improve. The promotion is valid until September 30, 2012.

PBBE12C .BE (Belgium) €9.99 

PBFR12E .FR (France)  €10.99 

PBDE12D .DE (Germany)  €9.99 

PBIT12A .IT (Italy)  €16.99 

PBNL12C .NL (Netherlands)  €10.99 

PBPL12B .PL (Poland) €14.99 

PBRU12A .RU (Russia)  €10.99 

PBES12C .ES (Spain)  €10.99 

PBSE12C .SE (Sweden) €16.99 

PBCH12B .CH (Switzerland) €16.99 

PBCOUK12D .CO.UK (United Kingdom)  €8.99 

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS had this to say, “EuroDNS are offering these popular extensions, at a discounted rate, for the whole of the summer period. Any business will benefit greatly by talking directly to their audience, bringing more visitors and improving their search engine ranking.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS is a leading registrar that not only registers international domain names; we also deliver a range of solutions and services to support our customers with all their domain requirements. The list of services currently includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or contact our sales office at sales@eurodns.com, where our domain experts are on hand to help.”

To register or transfer an existing domain name, please visit theEuroDNS website. Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, pleasesubscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

June 24-29, 2012, EuroDNS delegates attended the ICANN 44 conference in Prague; on their return they summarized the highlights of the event. 

VeriSign secure .COM for a further six years

The ICANN board announced their approval of the renewal of VeriSign’s agreement to act as registry for the .COM domain. The agreement commences on December 1, 2012, finishing on November 30, 2018.

The ICANN board resolution contains new clauses, one introducing, “…modified provisions to bring .COM into line with other comparable agreements (.BIZ, .INFO, .NET and .ORG), including modifications to terms such as functional and performance specifications, Whois, indemnification, and broad audit provisions.”

Prior to the renewal of the agreement ICANN invited public comment, these comments were then taken into consideration when making their final decision. Several comments highlighted the concern regarding increases to the charges registrars pay for domain names registrations, the 2012 renewed agreement states, “Both the current .com registry agreement and the proposed renewal agreement permit VeriSign to increase the price it charges registrars for domain names registrations four times during the six-year term with each increase being no greater than 7 percent.”

The implications are that VeriSign can raise the registration fees by 7% in four of the next six years, as opposed to in all six years as was the original proposal; the price increases can be made without consultation.

Since 2006, the .COM registry fee has steadily increased; regrettably the new agreement allows this to continue. The most popular domain in the world, .COM continues to grow, VeriSign are surely set to increase their profit substantially. But, whilst they collect with one hand, they will have to give with the other; the quarterly fixed-fee VeriSign currently pay to ICANN has been cancelled in favor of payments of $0.25 per registered, transferred or renewed .COM domain, on top of the $0.18 per domain fee already paid.

It would be advisable if registrants considered registering ccTLDs as a more economical option; they are often cheaper and EuroDNS regularly offer country code domains with a promotion, reducing the price even further.

Reveal Day, what’s next?

…according to Kurt Pritz, Senior VP, ICANN, “the silent period”, whilst the new gTLDs are evaluated. On Reveal Day ICANN presented the results of the first round of applications, including:

• 1930 total number of applications

• 1179 unique applications

• 1000 applicants

• Luxembourg is 3rd in terms of applications per country, after America and the Cayman Islands.

Popular, ‘everyday’ words, with duplicated applications included: .APP (13), .HOME (11), .INC (11), .ART (10), .BLOG (9), .BOOK (9)

The first meeting, following Reveal Day, was attended by experts and consultants from the industry, offering their services to applicants looking to become registries and registrars. With millions of dollars on the table, these services have become indispensable.

With the possibility of 1179 new gTLDs entering the Internet, the earliest appearing in Q1, 2013, there are inevitable changes predicted. The public’s awareness of domain names will increase, along with the need for further knowledge as to how domain names and search engines work. 

Registrars will have to be prepared to support these new gTLDs; at EuroDNS each division is ready to offer specialized consultancy services for the new registries. With experts in development, technical and sales, services streamlined and automated, EuroDNS and its sister companies are fully equipped to handle future implementations.

• eBrand Services is involved in 30+ applications, and has developed a ‘quick search’ tool to access all the information regarding the New gTLD Application Database.

• OpenRegistry has been selected to act as technical backend provider for 24 applications.

EuroDNS has published several articles in its news section discussing the ICANN process, the figures and comments on the new gTLDs. 

Digital Archery

ICANN, anticipating more than 500 applications for new gTLDs, developed a system to implement a secondary time stamp for the process of batching the applications; the system became known as Digital Archery, because applicants would all have a sporting chance of hitting the target. 

To determine which applications would be handled first, applicants were invited to click on a button, on a given day; a few days later the applicant would be required to click the same button, at the exact same time as previously. 

Whilst sounding like a fun computer game, the batching process was of the utmost importance in determining which gTLDs would be available for registration first. Applicants selected for early release would have had a distinct advantage over later releases. However, on June 23, after concerns were aired regarding the fairness of Digital Archery and complaints of unexpected results and network latency, ICANN announced, “Operation of the digital archery portion of the New Generic Top-level Domain Program has been suspended.” 

It is to be hoped that applicants who rose to the challenge, investing money on developing a software solution to play the Digital Archery game, are not too ‘out of pocket’. ICANN has yet to announce a new process for the batching of the new gTLDs.

Trademark Clearinghouse, a globally available database

The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) was designed as a central repository for trademark information, offering authentication of trademark data in the new gTLD domains. Providing services for the authentication and validation of brands, participating rights holders will be alerted if a domain name is put up for registration that matches TMCH records.  

On June 1, 2012, ICANN announced that Deloitte and IBM had been selected to administer the TMCH services; both the aforementioned parties will subcontract IPClearingHouse (aka CHIP) to promote these services. EuroDNS and eBrand Services are already accredited agents of the IPClearingHouse.

During the session with Deloitte and IBM it was announced that rights holders would be charged $150 per trademark registration, with an annual renewal fee representing a percentage of this amount. 

New gTLD registries will be charged a $10,000 fee per TLD, to connect to the TMCH database.

With this system in place, the Sunrise Periods for the new gTLDs, where trademark owners are given the opportunity to apply for their trademarks in the new gTLDs, should proceed more easily than in the past; it will also be less expensive for registrants.

Uniform Rapid Suspension system update

The URS system is similar to the UDRP, designed to address obvious cases of cybersquatting in domain names; but, URS results in suspension of the domain name for the length of its registration period, rather than transfer or cancellation. Intended as a complement to the UDRP, the URS filing fee, targeted to be $300-$500 per case, will be set by the URS provider. Trademark owners may file a complaint leading to the registrar involved immediately suspending the domain; the offending company has 14 days to dispute the complaint. An unsatisfactory answer or no response will mean the domain name is taken down.

During the session on the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS), current UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) providers expressed concern regarding successful implementation of the URS system, and doubts that the cost target could be met. With URS promoted as ‘low cost’, this situation will have to be addressed and work continued towards achieving this goal.

ICANN introduces new CEO

Fadi Chehade was announced as the new CEO of ICANN, he is a successful business man of Egyptian descent; born in Lebanon, at the age of 18 he arrived in America unable to speak a word of English. Fadi brings strong international experience and is fluent in four languages, Arabic, English, French and Italian. In his opening speech he said, “ICANN cannot become a fortress. ICANN must become an oasis, a place that people see and come to because it works, because it makes sense, because it's efficient.”

Fadi replaces outgoing president and CEO, Rod Beckstrom; he is scheduled to start officially on October 1, 2012 and his tenure will end July 1, 2015.

RAA Negotiation

EuroDNS, as a member of the Registrar Stakeholder Group (RrSG), participated in a number of sessions during the week relating to the current status of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) negotiations with ICANN. The RrSG serves as the voice of domain name registrars within the ICANN process.

The RAA is the agreement between ICANN and its accredited Registrars setting forth the terms under which Registrars operate and offer gTLD registrations to the public; the RAA is the Registrars’ “license to register”.

Discussions regarding the agreement began in November 2011; although significant progress has been made the negotiations are still not complete. Prior to the Prague meeting, ICANN posted a draft RAA, the RrSG responded with feedback and commentary. ICANN’s highest priorities are the areas of Whois verification and data retention requirements; ICANN and the RrSG have not yet reached agreement on particulars of the law enforcement recommendations. 

There were 12 recommendations, relating to the RAA, presented during a meeting between the RrSG and the Law Enforcement community. The RrSG accepted 10 of the 12 recommendations with little change; but, they have requested further discussion and feedback with regard Whois verification and data retention. 

Luxembourg based registrar, EuroDNS, will face little or no disruption from the 10 requests already accepted, as the company is already bound by the country’s law on e-commerce.

The two recommendations still under discussion and being contended by the RrSG are; 

• the performance of registrant’s data verification for all gTLDs (existing and future); and

• lengthy and invasive (illicit under European Law) retention and divulgation of EuroDNS’ customers details to ICANN.

Invasion of registrants’ privacy and the numerous uncertainties regarding the methods of implementation means the two remaining recommendations may be subject to a ‘Policy Development Process’, via which the public and all concerned parties will be able to provide their input.

EuroDNS announces a special, limited time offer on .BE domain names. With this promotion, EuroDNS customers can register new or transfer existing domain names at a promotional rate. Valid until July 31, 2012, register a .BE domain name for only €2.99. Enter the promo code PRBE12B and subscri.BE to the vi.BE.

The EuroDNS promotion offers companies, organizations and individuals, the opportunity to register a .BE domain name; it is an excellent way for local and international companies to promote their products and services in Belgium. With no restrictions, registration is open to everyone; registering a .BE domain name will strengthen and protect company’s online brand, whilst providing localized information to a Belgian audience. For a Belgian company, registering a .BE domain name demonstrates commitment and loyalty to local customers, thereby instilling trust; audience’s that trust, will applaud.

The .BE domain is under the control of DNS Belgium and currently, there are over 1,300,000 domains registered.

So you wanna.BE?

The Kingdom of Belgium is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU headquarters in its capital city, Brussels; the motto of the EU being ‘United in diversity’, promoting a more tolerant way of life. This makes it a really important country. But enough about that, what makes this country so special, so great, so brilliant, so… smurftastic, is that it is the birthplace of the Smurfs. These small blue creatures, three apples high, promote life as a cooperative; holding the belief that each Smurf has something he or she is good at, and can contribute to their society.  Called Schtroumpfs in Belgium, they were created by Pierre Culliford under the pen name Peyo.

BEhold, the EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “At EuroDNS we always try to give our customers what they want, with the best possible service. We are offering this promotion on .BE domain names, and we know that all who register this domain name extension will benefit greatly. Until July 31, all .BE domain names are available for registration and transfer for only €2.99.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS does a whole lot more than just registering domain names; we offer an increasing range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain requirements. The list currently includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our domain experts at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .BE domain at the unbeatable price of €2.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRBE12B, valid until July 31, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to our newsletter.

Montenegro is throwing a party; National Day (Statehood Day) is celebrated on July 13 and marks the anniversary of Montenegro becoming an independent state. EuroDNS is gate-crashing this party and bringing a gift, a time limited promotion on .ME domain names. Valid until July 27, register a .ME domain name for only €13.99; enter the promo code NDME12A and join .ME.

On July 13, 1878, the Congress of Berlin recognized Montenegro as the 27th independent state in the world, Statehood Day marks this momentous occasion. On June 3, 2006, Montenegro declared its independence from the state of Serbia and Montenegro; the following year ICANN delegated the .ME domain to the country, replacing the .YU domain previously shared with Serbia.

You, .ME and everyone

The potential of this domain as a generic name was soon apparent and in 2008 registration became available on a global scale. Officially the .ME is still a ccTLD but Google accepted it as an unofficial generic name and so, allows geo-targeting. Any website with a .ME domain name will benefit greatly in terms of searches and thus, enjoy more traffic. 

Making it personal with .ME, whether it’s for business or pleasure, creates a unique, highly visible website. Talk to your friends or talk to your customers, but remember to talk to .ME.

Hello world, this is .ME

Introduce yourself to the world, register a .ME domain name now, entering the promo code NDME12A; and say hello.

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS offers this popular extension to our customers with all the benefits offered by a .ME extension; express yourself, personalize your website, have fun and watch all the traffic pour in.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS not only registers international domain names; we also offer an increasing collection of solutions and services to support our customers with all their domain requirements. The list of services currently includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or contact our sales office at sales@eurodns.com, where our domain experts are on hand to help.”

To register with one of the above domains, please visit the EuroDNSwebsite. 

Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! EuroDNS offers a très fantastique promo on the .FR domain and the French Overseas Departments and Territories (DOM-TOM), all to celebrate La Fête Nationale. We won’t be storming any prisons but we are releasing six domain extensions, all at a reduced cost. Valid until July 27, register now!

To honour Bastille Day, EuroDNS is offering a promotion on the following domain extensions: .FR (France), .RE (Réunion Island), .WF (Wallis and Futuna), .PM (St Pierre and Miquelon), .TF (French Southern Territories), .YT (Mayotte). Registration for this promo is available until July 27; please see below for promo codes and prices.

All the aforementioned extensions are administered by the registry AFNIC (Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération).

Bonne fête nationale

The storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789, was the spark that kindled the French Revolution; French citizens fighting against an oppressive institution, demanding liberty, equality and fraternity for all. The world over, the French will be celebrating Bastille Day with fireworks, picnics, parades, dancing and feasts.

Liberty in Europe

December 2001, saw AFNIC relax restrictions on their domains allowing any European individual, company or organization to register a domain name. Internationalized domain names (IDN) were introduced in May 2012, allowing registrants to present the true pronunciation and meaning of their brand.

Registration information

Promo code NDFR12D .FR (France)  €5.99
Promo code NDRE12A .RE (Réunion Island)  €8.99
Promo code NDWF12A .WF (Wallis and Futuna)  €8.99
Promo code NDPM12A .PM (St Pierre and Miquelon)  €8.99
Promo code NDTF12A   .TF (French Southern Territories)  €8.99
Promo code NDYT12A .YT (Mayotte)  €8.99
 
Bonjour, salut & allô

Storm the world, register with any of the above domain extensions now, simply enter the relevant promo code and let your website speak for itself.

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS offers these extensions to our customers with all the benefits they bring; relaxed restrictions allowing any European entity to register a domain name and talk to a global audience.” 

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS not only registers international domain names; we also offer an increasing collection of solutions and services to support our customers with all their domain requirements. The list of services currently includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or contact our sales office at sales@eurodns.com, where our domain experts are on hand to help.”

To register with one of the above domains, please visit the EuroDNS website.

Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

.TEL just gets better and better, with the introduction of video and new business templates to personalize and add credibility to any .TEL website. 

Telnic, founded in 2000, is the UK based Registry Operator for the .TEL TLD. The domain was originally launched in 2009 and currently lists approximately 300,000 names on its books. 

The .TEL domain’s function is focussed on providing an area for Internet communication services. Unlike other TLDs, .TEL publishes contact data, such as phone numbers, SIP addresses, etc., directly in the DNS (Domain Name System), for all other TLDs, the DNS only holds data such as the IP address of the computer where the information is located. 

The .TEL concept enables the user to store, update and publish contact information, web links and keywords directly on the Internet under a unique domain name. Accessible from any device, registering a .TEL domain name allows businesses and individuals to take full control over how and where people reach them; owning a website that requires no building, hosting or managing. Whether it’s home, office or mobile number, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc., the domain will even map your location. It is an international domain for communications, available to anyone. 

Video@.TEL

In March, 2012, Telnic released the latest update to the .TEL domain which enables a video to be added and played within the page. This new feature is available for both the desktop and the mobile proxy.

The release from Telnic allows video records to be created for .TEL domains, via API interfaces, and displayed as embedded movies within the TelProxy page. 

• Videos will be supported from the three major video sharing sites: YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion; currently it is not possible to link or upload from any other video formats.

• Each (fully qualified) .TEL domain will only be able to show one video within the TelProxy. If multiple video records are created then the first one parsed by the TelProxy will be the one displayed.

Personalize@.TEL

July 2012 saw the service updated again with the introduction of three new business .TEL templates, which can be personalized to any organizations’ requirements. The new features are available now and can be accessed from within the users’ .TEL control panel.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

To access these exciting new templates, simply log in to the .TEL hosting partition at telhosting.eurodns.com, click on the template tab, select the required design and personalize. It couldn’t be any easier!

Do .TEL

So why have a website, with flash graphics, streaming videos and pages, and pages of text? If all you need is easily accessible contact information, for you and your customers, .TEL is the way forward. 

It’s quick, user friendly and affordable, giving you an immediate online presence without extortionate advertising costs.  Your .TEL is accessible from any device with Internet connection, including all mobile devices, it’s easy to upload images of your products and can be updated in real-time.

Customize your .TEL today!

EuroDNS, are pleased to announce the opening of the Go Live Period for .CO.NO domain names. On July 4, 2012, application requests can be made by the general public, without restriction or priority rights, on a first come, first served basis. 

EuroDNS is an ICANN accredited, leading domain name registrar, ranking in the top ten in many countries throughout the world. Constantly striving to provide their customers with the best possible services, they are now offering registration of .CO.NO domain names.

The .CO.NO domain was launched in 2010, opening the door to businesses and individuals wanting to target a Norwegian audience. Without restrictions, the .CO.NO domain is available to everyone but to protect trademark owners, a Sunrise Period was held in November 2010, allowing them to register and protect their brand before General Availability.

On July 4, 2012, at 10:00am CEST, any interested party will be able to apply to register a .CO.NO domain name. Contact EuroDNS to register a .CO.NO domain name, the team of domain experts will be happy to guide customers through the registration process. EuroDNS boasts management of all domain names in a centralized portfolio with a multilingual end user interface.

CoDNS created in 2007, deals exclusively with the .CO.NO and .CO.NL domains; CoDNS currently has offices in Amsterdam, Norway and Luxembourg.

Why .CO.NO?

Domain names registered during the opening period are active on the Internet and registrants are already welcoming an increase in international traffic and potential revenue. 

.CO.NO offers full flexibility, having no local presence requirements and no limits on how many names can be registered by individuals and companies. Studies indicate that Internet users familiar with searching for .CO.XX addresses in their own countries will follow this trend when searching in other locations around the world.

Go Live, better late than never

Following a successful Sunrise Period in 2010, registration of .CO.NO domain names suffered an unavoidable delay. After a lengthy court case CoDNS was triumphant and informed its network of worldwide registrars that the Go Live Period would now be possible. For more information regarding the CoDNS case, please read the press release. 

EuroDNS introduces you to Norway

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “The .CO.NO domain is seen as a beneficial way to enter the Norwegian market and position a brand or company as part of the international community, the Go Live Period is the opportunity for everyone to do just that.”

Daniel continued, “With the flexibility that .CO.NO brings, it is an excellent choice and we are excited to offer it to our customers. At EuroDNS we always try to give our customers the support they deserve, we offer a growing range of solutions and services which currently includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our domain experts at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register a .CO.NO domain please visit our website; for promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS on please check out the offers page.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

Firework displays, parades, barbecues, carnivals, family picnics, baseball games, the Star-Spangled Banner and a EuroDNS promotion; it must be the Fourth of July. EuroDNS celebrate Independence Day in the US with a promotion on the .US domain, enabling EuroDNS customers to register new or transfer existing domain names at a promotional rate. Valid until July 17, 2012, register a .US domain name for only €5.99. Enter the promo code PRUS12A and attain the American dream.

The .US domain enables American and international businesses, based in the US, to strengthen their identities and increase confidence in their products and services with the US audience. The EuroDNS promotion offers this hugely popular .US domain at a reduced cost; register now and reap the benefits, available until July 17.

Registration requirements

Registrants of a .US domain must be American citizens, residents, organizations or, a foreign entity with a presence in the US; the name servers should also be located in the country. If these requirements are not met, the domain can be deleted by the registry.

The .US of A

Pop art, Coca-Cola, Hollywood, Abe Lincoln, cookies, Elvis, Martin Luther King, basketball, Satchmo, Mickey Mouse, Tex-Mex, hip hop, Marilyn, Jack Kerouac, Central Park, Tennessee Williams, Madonna and the Statue of Liberty; all instantly recognizable as American. Registering a .US domain for your business puts it on the map, by adding a dot and two letters your business will become a part of this large, multi-cultural, rich country; talking directly to the people.

America is a truly multicultural nation, home to a diverse population speaking different languages, worshipping different gods; bringing traditions and culture from countries all over the world. This creates a massive, international audience; registering a .US domain name ensures online businesses talk to all nations of the world, contained in just one country.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “At EuroDNS we strive to give our customers what they want and deliver to them the best possible services, hence we offer this promotion on .US domain names. We know that all who register this domain name extension will benefit by targeting this massive audience. Until July 17, all .US domain names are available for registration and transfer for only €5.99.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS does so much more than registering domain names; we also offer a constantly evolving range of solutions and services assisting our customers with all their domain requirements. The list currently includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our domain experts at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .US domain at the unbeatable price of €5.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRUS12A, valid until July 17, 2012.Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

Almost 2000 organizations from around the world participated in ICANN’s new gTLD program and with major companies such as Google and Amazon taking part, any scepticism about the venture, must surely have been quashed. Or has it? Where were Pepsi, Coca Cola, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, surely not a lack of funds? 

While the dust is settling, some companies are breathing a sigh of relief, whilst others are preparing for battle. Many brand owners will be anxiously waiting the fall out, used to having to defend their brands; the battle has now become a war with hundreds of new possible trademark infringements.

But, for some companies, these are exciting times and the introduction of new gTLDs is seen as favourable; owning an accredited space from which to provide online services. 

Google vs. Amazon

Between them, Google and Amazon have applied for 177 gTLDs, with 23 duplicated applications there is a strong possibility that an auction will be held. ICANN has stressed that an auction is the last resort for deciding ownership of a duplicated gTLD, encouraging applicants to negotiate privately. 

If the new gTLDs are successful will this give the new domain owners too much influence over the Web? If Amazon wins the right to own .BOOK they will have total control over who is allowed to use this domain. Should this wholly generic domain be owned by a book seller? Will they remain impartial and allow competitors to register a domain name? If Google win .BOOK, will they allow Amazon to register? And, if the competition is not there will users pay the price? So many questions…

Teaching old dogs new tricks?

These new gTLDs are not revolutionary, with the previous introduction of .MUSEUM, .NAME, .COOP, .AERO, .JOBS, .TRAVEL, .CO and .MOBI. Regrettably, these early TLDs did not prove hugely successful; .MUSEUM, created in 2001, shows approximately 500 registered domain names, whilst the big names felt safer keeping their original domains: louvre.fr, tate.org.uk, guggenheim.org. So what’s different this time? 

Users may be so overwhelmed with the new choices that they stick with what they know and trust; millions of people will have to be encouraged and nurtured, their trust will have to be won. 

WHATdotWHERE

The ICANN list of applied-for new gTLDs indicates 86 geographic names, 50 of which are cities, with only .MED having multiple applicants.

Xavier Buck, EuroDNS Chairman says, “I don’t believe in the generic TLDs, look at the history of .TRAVEL, .JOBS, etc. I believe in the mind of the people, and their surfing pattern is WHATdotWHERE. WHERE.COM is for global, and ccTLDs for local, now they will have the city TLDs.” He went on to say, “If you search for hotel Berlin or hotel London, Google will favour hotel.london and hotel.berlin; Google is becoming more local and always considers the IP address, domain extension and language of a site, to provide pages that are geographically relevant.”

Xavier Buck gave an interview to DomainSherpa, ‘Candid Advice for all New gTLDs’, please read for more information on how Xavier became the ‘king of ccTLDs’.

Brand new

There are 725 applications for brand names, but as previously stated, there are some big names missing, we can only wonder why. The companies that did apply for their brand did not restrict themselves to merely their brand name; L’Oreal included .SKIN, .SALON, .BEAUTY, and .HAIR in their applications. Xavier, who was in consultation with some of the brand name applicants, is of the opinion that 90% do not yet know what they are going to do with the TLDs they now own.

Survival of the fittest

With the first of the new gTLDs scheduled to hit the Internet next year, the public’s general awareness of domain names is inevitably going to increase; along with this will be a need for further knowledge as to how domain names and search engines work. Those owners possessing numerous new TLDs will survive comfortably, but those only holding one or two are going to struggle to make enough money to sustain their registry with the fees, cost of marketing, and the inevitable competition. The larger, new registries will eventually swallow up the smaller; to avoid this it would be advisable for the small registries to form partnerships, creating a force to be reckoned with.

Items of interest

The Kerry Trading Company in Hong Kong sent six applications for new TLDs including one for .KERRYLOGISITICS. Oops, a spelling mistake; with no provisions for this type of occurrence mentioned in the ICANN guidebook, the applicant may have lost a significant amount of money. Another, application is for .DOTAFRICA, let’s hope it was intentional, but I think not.

Holy See (Vatican City) has submitted four applications for .CATHOLIC (Latin, Russian, Arabic, Chinese), they are not for individuals to register; restricted to diocese, religious communities and other specified institutions. These restrictions eliminate any possible return on the huge investment of over $740,000, terrible news for an institution with falling numbers and lack of funds!

Whilst most of the TLDs offer no surprise there are several that ‘raise an eyebrow’, such as .SUCKS, .WTF, .GOO, .FOO, .OFF, .OOO, and so on. Yes, they are amusing, but what a price to pay for fun names. 

EuroDNS offers support

EuroDNS intends having all the new gTLDs in its portfolio and offers specialized consultancy services for the new registries; they will need a registrar and EuroDNS is perfectly placed to fulfil this role. Xavier said, “We have a strong team of experts in development, technical and sales; with everything already streamlined and automated we are well positioned to handle several implementations a week.” 

For more information, customers can visit www.eurodns.com or speak to a sales representative at sales@eurodns.com.

EuroDNS offers its customers the opportunity to register .ME domain names, a hugely popular extension. .ME is the ccTLD (country code top level domain) for Montenegro, assigned to the country in 2006 when it became an independent nation. Valid until July 31, register a .ME domain name for only €14.99, enter the promo code NLME12C and join .ME for some fun.

The government of Montenegro quickly recognized the potential of the extension as a generic name and registration became available worldwide in 2008. Although, officially a ccTLD, Google allows geo-targeting of .ME domain names as it does with TLDs such as .COM. This has a very positive impact in terms of searches for websites utilizing this domain.

In August 2008, 100,000 .ME domain names were already registered, beating its rivals .ASIA and .MOBI, both launched prior to .ME. By 2010, over 320,000 domain names had been registered.

Personally, I see you and .ME working well together

The .ME extension is used by individuals and businesses alike, it’s fun and easy to personalize, and has already been adopted by big brand names such as Facebook fb.me, WordPress wp.me, and Time magazine ti.me.

To create a truly unique and personal website address, combine your name with the extension, include in your email address and you need never worry about visibility. Ideal on social networks for promoting individualism and one’s own personal brand, yes, it’s all about .ME.

Everyone needs a call to action so justcall.me, and I’ll be there.

Register .ME now

Introduce yourself to the world, register a .ME domain name now, entering the promo code NLME12C; you’ll be so glad you did.

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS offers this unique extension to our customers with all the benefits offered by a .ME extension; be yourself, personalize your website, have fun and welcome all the traffic you will draw.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS not only registers international domain names; we also offer a wide range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain questions and requirements. The list of services is constantly evolving, responding to the latest needs of our customers; it currently includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or contact our sales office at sales@eurodns.com, where our domain experts are on hand to help.”

To register or transfer an existing .ME domain name, please visit the EuroDNS website.

Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

About EuroDNS

EuroDNS is a Domain name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

AT all costs, don’t miss this EuroDNS promotion! Benefit from this stunning, limited time offer on the .AT domain name extension. Valid until July 31, 2012, register .AT domain names for only €7.99. Enter the promo code NLAT12D and ATtract a far larger audience.

The latest EuroDNS promotion offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to register with this extremely popular domain, .AT, bringing them closer to the Austrian people, whilst still allowing communication with the rest of the world. 

AT work, AT play

Registering a .AT domain name will increase the visibility of any website, leading to a significant growth in traffic; registration is simple and there are no restrictions on who may apply.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “We are offering this excellent promotion on .AT domain names for the benefit of our customers, available for only €7.99 until the end of July. Earlier this year EuroDNS announced an additional standard for .AT domain names; the launch of DNSSEC security standard which enhances the safety and security of .AT extensions.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS not only registers domain names; we also offer a range of solutions and services to support our customers with all their domain needs. The list currently includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .AT domain at the unbeatable price of €7.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: NLAT12D, valid until July 31.

Please review the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to our newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

To be ranked in a local SERP (search engine results page), the search engine, whether it’s Google, Bing, etc., has to be able to recognize the location of your website; the simplest and most obvious way is too look at the domain name extension.

Generic TLDs, which include .COM, .ORG, .NET, etc., are the choices working most successfully when a business wants to be ranked internationally; although choosing a ccTLD may limit chances of ranking highly in other countries it will ensure sites rank higher for the country relating to the chosen ccTLD. In fact, the ccTLD version will possibly rank above the same website with a .COM extension in the local version of Google. 

And let’s not forget, competition will be less as the target market is reduced, no international competitors.

Walk the walk, talk the talk

The Google search engine will initially consider the domain extension of a site, as its aim is to always provide pages that are geographically relevant to the audience, so it will steer .FR pages towards French users. Other areas it will investigate, if the ccTLD is considered generic, i.e. .ME, .TV, is the content language, contact address and telephone number. To determine the target of a website with a gTLD Google will also use the IP address; with this in mind, if you are focussing on a German audience with a .COM address it would be wise to contact your hosting provider with regard provision of an IP address that corresponds to the country being targeted.

It is important to remember that if you are offering your site in a local language you employ a native speaker for translation; this is not the time to save money by using an online translation tool. All pages, titles, and meta descriptions and meta tags will need to be in the language of the country you are targeting to benefit fully from the country-specific search engines. Keywords in the relevant language are essential for ranking, and although there are several countries with English as their first language, there are still many differences, for instance the US would talk about freeways, sidewalks and pants, whilst in the UK it would be motorways, pavements and trousers.

Users do read URLs to determine where a website is located so it is vital when purchasing your ccTLDs to take the language differences into account; it would be pointless owning football.de and filling the website with content in German, why? Because in Germany they play fussbull, or more accurately Fußball, equally football.us would fail as the Americans play soccer.

Credibility

Despite .COM being king, users are still inclined and feel more confident engaging with a website local to their country; in certain situations this makes perfect sense, why live in Germany and look to buy a car from a .COM website.

Registering a ccTLD requires applying to local authorities, there are restrictions applied and by going through this process it proves a certain commitment and loyalty to the country.

Google dominates the world of search engines, providing search results targeted for specific countries; but never assume that all countries are dominated by Google. The Czech Republic uses Senzam, China uses Baidu, Japan favours Yahoo, Russia uses Yandex, suggesting that ccTLDs are definitely preferable in countries that don’t favour Google.

Link building

If you own numerous ccTLDs you will need a separate link building strategy for each of the country-specific sites you maintain. For websites with ccTLDs it is much easier to acquire links from other local businesses; it is also the case that many country directories will only accept submissions from local sites. Ensure your links come from the correct country; your visitors will have more time and respect for your site if your links are local, rather than numerous links from the US.

Having numerous ccTLD sites may require more effort, but the benefits will certainly
outweigh this.

Site architecture

When building a website there are three options for targeting multiple countries:

• Sites created on separate ccTLDs – displaying different content according to language, currency and preferences of the audience. Hosted in the relevant country so search results display it quickly. This option is ideal for SEO purposes but is expensive, with set-up and on-going maintenance costs.

• Create country-specific subdomains of the main domain – Wikipedia is a good example of this method with subdomains, en.wikipedia.com, fr.wikipedia.com, etc., the drawback is any trust value is divided, thus reduced per subdomain compared to separate ccTLDs. Your TLD will be in competition with ccTLDs in local SERPs but, this is a cost-effective option with only one site to develop and maintain. Hosting each site in the relevant country, with the correct IP address, will improve search engine ranking.

• Create country-specific subdirectories of the main domain, e.g. name.com/uk – all content is your TLD with subdirectories targeting different countries/languages. Unfortunately, this is by no means a SEO friendly option, users are more likely to land, spend time and purchase from a domain with their country extension, i.e. .FR, .DE, .CO.UK. This is the cheapest option to maintain and possibly the only choice for smaller businesses.

All three bring their own advantages and disadvantages, and each represents a different level of investment; any decision made will depend on budget and available IT resources. In my opinion, big brands with deep pockets would benefit substantially from using the ccTLD relevant to the country they want to target, increasing trust, respect and loyalty with each particular audience.

A warning to hackers

Domain hacks is a popular reason for choosing ccTLDs, combining the domain name with certain ccTLDs to spell out the full name of the website, i.e. goo.gl, fold.it, youtu.be. The obvious choices are .AL, .AS, .CO, .IN, .IS, .IT, .ME, .US, but remember; Google only considers three of these as generic, .ME, .CO, and .AS. Generic TLDs have the Geo Targeting feature enabled in Google Webmaster so a site is able to target a specific country, i.e. a .DE website cannot target France.

But be careful, if your brand name is part of your SEO, for instance, ‘superprofit’, choosing the .IT extension and calling yourself superprof.it, is going to fail; you will be ranked as ‘superprof’ located in Italy.

And finally…

SEOmoz is a US based organization providing SEO software and what SEOmoz doesn’t know about SEO, isn’t worth knowing. With this in mind, you may be interested to watch this informative video concentrating on SEO and ccTLDs. Despite being over a year old, it is still highly relevant and full of useful advice.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg partied at the weekend celebrating the Grand Duke’s official birthday on National Day. EuroDNS would like to take this opportunity to wish the Grand Duke a very happy birthday; to mark this auspicious occasion we offer our customers an irresistible promotion. Valid until July 9, register a .LU domain name for only €16.99. Enter the promo code NDLU12A and join the party.

Luxembourg boasts a strong, high income economy with low inflation and low unemployment, making it the second richest country in the world. The IP law makes it a lucrative place in the European Union to create an entity for holding, developing and operating any intellectual property covered by the law. All individuals or companies dwelling in or carrying on activities can benefit from this regime, accordingly 80% of the net income and capital gains generated by, or issued from, copyrights on software, patents, trademarks (including service marks and domain names), designs, patterns and models, acquired or instituted after December 31, 2007, shall be exempt from tax, while only 20% shall be taxed at the ordinary combined (income tax and municipal business tax) rates.

How can you resist .LU?

By registering a .LU domain name your online business will be well protected, benefiting from a distinct web address. Build a sense of loyalty and trust by talking directly with the Luxembourg population.

In 2010 the new online platform my.lu was launched for 24-hour online domain name registration and management. .LU accepts Internationalised domain names (IDN); the administrative contact no longer needs to be resident in Luxembourg. 

Small is beautiful

Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is in the heart of Western Europe. With a population of just over half a million, it is now the world’s only remaining sovereign grand duchy. Often called the banking capital of the world, housing over 150 banks and 100 insurance companies; Luxembourg’s financial activities have grown to include the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, the European Investment Bank, and the Luxembourg Central Bank.  Due to an excellent infrastructure, several companies that operate on the Internet have moved their headquarters to Luxembourg, such as Amazon, eBay, iTunes, PayPal, and Skype. 

A melange of different cultures, Luxembourg offers beautiful architecture and dramatic landscapes. It has been voted European Capital of Culture twice and has more Michelin-starred restaurants per head than anywhere else in the world.

EuroDNS invites you to register .LU

EuroDNS want you to be a part of the celebrations by registering a .LU domain name, enter the promo code NDLU12A, this is a party you don’t want to miss.   

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “We offer this .LU extension to our customers; benefiting businesses with its high levels of trust, confidence and resilience.”

Daniel continued, “I would like to remind our customers that EuroDNS does not only register domain names; we also offer a constantly expanding range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain requirements. The list, currently, includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .LU domain name, please visit the EuroDNS website. Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

The Public Interest Registry (PIR), the administrator of the .ORG domain, has announced that effective July 1, 2012; the fee for registering a .ORG domain name will be increased. With customers’ interests at heart, EuroDNS announces this opportune, limited time offer on .ORG domain names. This promotion enables EuroDNS customers to register new, transfer or renew existing domain names before the price increase and, at a promotional rate. Valid until July 3, 2012, register a .ORG domain name for only €8.99. Enter the promo code PRORG12A and benefit from this special deal, available until July 3.

By registering, renewing or transferring a .ORG domain name now, customers will not only benefit from the EuroDNS promotion but also avoid the price increase. EuroDNS are delighted to offer this timely promotion to register .ORG domain names before July 3 at a reduced rate, and remind customers that it is possible to renew for multiple years, hence saving further time and money.

.ORG, the voice of the people

The .ORG gTLD is one of the original top-level domains (TLDs), created in 1984 along with .COM, .EDU, .MIL and .NET. There are no restrictions to registration but .ORG is recognized as the domain for non-profit organizations, non-governmental or public interest campaigns; organizations with an altruistic objective; it is also recommended for individuals wanting to promote an interest or cause, from knitting clubs to charity sports events, hospitals to schools. The domain is recognized throughout the world, engendering trust with visitors.

The .ORG domain allows for IDN (internationalized domain names); in 2009 the PIR announced that the .ORG domain was the first gTLD to implement DNSSEC (domain name system security extentions), allowing the verification of authenticity and integrity of DNS data.

In 2011 the PIR announced over 9.5m registered .ORG domain names, making it, at that time, the third largest gTLD in the world.

Inspire trust in your audience

Whether trying to raise funds, highlight humanitarian issues, provide unbiased comment, or just spread the word, .ORG is the domain of choice. Large or small organizations and individuals are recognized as trusted entities.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “At EuroDNS we strive to deliver the best possible service to our customers, hence we offer this timely promotion on .ORG domain names. We know that all who adopt this domain name extension will benefit from more traffic to their site, assisting with their cause, raising funds for their charity. Until July 3, all .ORG domain names are available for registration and transfer for only €8.99.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS does so much more than registering domain names; we also offer a constantly increasing range of solutions and services assisting our customers with all their domain requirements. The list currently includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .ORG domain at the unbeatable price of €8.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRORG12A, valid until July 3, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and the latest news from the domain industry, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

The first company to lose a cybersquatting case for an XXX domain name is a UK company named BGL Group. The Group, more widely recognized as comparethemarket.com, heard in May that their claim had been rejected; meaning the owner of comparethemarket.xxx may now use the domain name in any way they choose.

The BGL Group is a personal-lines insurance broker founded in 1992; in 2005 it created the brand ‘comparethemarket’ and launched the website comparethemarket.com, a price comparison website allowing users to compare quotes from online insurance companies. BGL also registered comparethemarket.co.uk, operating the sites simultaneously. In 2007 it registered comparethemeerkat.com to support its marketing campaign featuring a Russian meerkat, the idea being that the meerkat is frustrated as people are constantly visiting his website looking for quotes on car insurance. 

Apparently, ‘meerkat’ sounds similar to ‘market’ when spoken with a Russian accent! 

BGL loses the right to have .XXX

On December 7, 2011, the second day of the ‘general availability’ period, comparethemarket.xxx was registered by UK resident, Jon Watkins; December 20, 2011, BGL Group became aware of the registered domain name. 

BGL filed a UDRP (Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy) complaint with the Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) in April 2012, claiming that the registration was “a clear attempt to take unfair advantage of the reputation which has been developed by BGL.” BGL must have felt confident that their case was strong; they had registered the trademark for the term ‘comparethemarket’ prior to the domain name registration and had been marketing with the phrase for six years. 

As the complainant, BGL was required to demonstrate that the domain name was registered in ‘bad faith’, surely, an open and shut case? In May 2012, BGL received the verdict, their claim had been rejected.

The panel from the Czech Arbitration Court wrote, “Claimant fails to prove bad faith registration or use of the domain. Complainant states that the domain is “completely inactive”. Complainant does not show that Respondent tried to sell the domain to Complainant, has registered other infringing names, or otherwise has tried to profit from the domain or cause any other harm to complainant. Respondent is not shown to have had prior UDRP cases in which he has been an unsuccessful Defendant. Clearly, “compare the market” could relate to myriad different types of markets and myriad different comparisons within each one, as demonstrated by a simple web search.”

This is a stark warning to trademark owners, the decision indicating that hard evidence is required to prove a ‘bad faith’ registration, such as offers for sale to the trademark owner, or linking the domain to competitors; creating and owning a trademark for six years, is obviously not enough.

For more information regarding the court decision, please read the case notes.

The jury is still out

Will the BGL Group launch an appeal? Their first argument may highlight the fact that previous inactive websites, involved in similar disputes, have been accepted as examples of bad faith. 

Having faith in a system does not insure you are going to win a bad faith case.

They’re here!

London, UK, June 13, 12.00pm - ICANN held a press conference yesterday during which they revealed which companies, organizations, geographical regions, etc., had applied for new gTLDs, and what those domains are to be. The press conference was hosted by ICANN’s Rod Beckstrom, CEO and Kurt Pritz, Senior VP, and was followed by a forum and discussion session.

There have been various opinions online, predictions of what’s to come and how it may benefit users of the Internet; the initial announcement of new gTLDs brought panic to some, relief and excitement to others. Having received over 1900 applications, a great many people have been holding their breath in anticipation of this day; it proved to be very exciting and hugely informative.

What we can expect

Although there have been many applications for dot brands, it is unlikely that there will be any squabbling over names; the interest will be in those brands that ignored this opportunity, and those that applied purely with the intention of shelving the TLD.

The fiercest competition will be for the popular, ‘everyday’ words, such as .INSURANCE, .SHOP, .BANK; these TLDs will have brought duplicated applications and we can expect altercations, maybe even bloodshed. Applications for city TLDs should prove to be an easy situation due to the very uniqueness of the names.

Early indications from ICANN showed that there were a total of 1930 applications with a division of 1846 for standard TLDs and 84 designated as community based; 66 of the total are reported as geographic names with applications from 60 countries. 

Anticipating possible contention, it was also the opening of the 60 day Comment Period and the formal Objection Period, seven months during which anyone may file an objection based on legal grounds, public interest or community standing.

But enough conjecture, here are details of the list as revealed by ICANN:

A powerful change is coming

The press conference commenced with Rod Beckstrom, CEO, ICANN and Kurt Pritz Senior VP, ICANN, announcing it as an historic day for the Internet, with things about to change forever. 

At first glance, the list is broken down as:

Geographic breakdown 

• 911 North America
• 675 Europe
• 303 Asia Pacific (surprisingly low considering the possibility for IDN, and China boasting the largest use of the Internet)
• 24 Latin America and the Caribbean
• 17 Africa

IDN (internationalized domain names) was represented with 116 applications.

There were 231 duplications involving 751 applications, including: x13 .APP, x10 .ART, x11 .INC. When asked how these string contentions would be resolved the ICANN panel stressed three possible approaches involving the parties working together and settling themselves, preference being shown to community based applications, and finally if still undecided, the TLDs will go to auction.

There is an Applicants’ Support Program for ‘needy’ applicants looking for financial support with their applications; currently there are three registered for the program.

No surprise is the numerous applications from the ‘big name’ companies, Charleston Road Registry Inc’s (allegedly Google, but the panel was unwilling to confirm) put forward 101 applications, Amazon, 77. 

There are possible provocative applications, .SUCKS, .SEX, .SEXY, .PORN, but ICANN claimed to be expecting challenges and are fully prepared.

The full list of applications for new gTLDs can be viewed online, with full details of all the gTLDs and details of the applicants. 

ICANN comments

The panel emphasized that these are still just applications and not yet approved, after rigorous evaluation some may be rejected and never see the light of day. Of the successful, the panel suggested that a total of 1000 could enter the Internet, with the first appearing Q1, 2013. 

The possibility of another round of gTLDs is to be expected and will be discussed at ICANN 44, Prague, taking place in a couple of weeks.

ICANN was ready for all comments thrown at them whether positive or negative and stated several times, “compared to where we are today, it looks good.” Is it so bad now? We will have to wait and see.

Want some more?

If you would like more information regarding the new gTLD scenario, EuroDNS have further information in their news section, you can also subscribe to the monthly newsletter for updates as they happen.

June 13, 2012, five months after the opening of the TLD Application System (TAS), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is revealing the list of applied-for new gTLDs, along with the names of the applicants. The day is rather cleverly named, Reveal Day. 

On January 12, 2012 ICANN began accepting applications for new generic TLDs, the process being completed on May 30, after suffering from delays due to technical problems. With over 1900 applications, there are several big name companies with multiple applications, one of the most notable being Google. Aiming to promote their brand name and business, the company has, allegedly, made 50 applications that include .GOOGLE, .DOC, and .LOL. 

Reveal Day, June 13, ICANN will publicly post all new TLD character strings and the applicants behind.

Application Comment period begins June 13 and lasts for 60 days. Applicants and members of the public are invited to submit comments on any of the applications. For this process, and to remain unbiased, ICANN has hired an Independent Objector to review the comments. ICANN states, “Professor Alain Pellet has agreed to serve as the Independent Objector for the New Generic Top-level domain program. The Independent Objector will act solely in the interests of the public who use the global Internet. He is a highly regarded professor and practitioner of law and has represented governments as Counsel and Advocate in the International Court of Justice in many significant and well-known cases.” 

Objection period kicks off on June 13 and runs for seven months, during which objections may be filed by anyone who feels they have justification, based on legal grounds, public interest, or community standing.

Batching process is running from June 8 to June 28, 2012. ICANN’s decision “to open the domain name space to competition and choice” invited an unlimited number of applications; realizing that evaluating such a quantity could be considerable, a decision was made to implement a batching process. 

July 11, ICANN will announce the results of the batching process.

Initial Evaluation begins July 12, and concentrates on String and Applicant reviews. String reviews judged whether the applied for TLD is too similar to another, meets technical requirements, and whether it is a geographical name. Applicant reviews investigate whether the appropriate technical, operational and financial criteria has been met by the applicant to successfully run a registry,

Additional Program Phases run through December/January 2013. Applications passing the initial valuation without objection will, eventually, go live as a TLD, but some may be delayed. Multiple applicants for a single TLD could, if deemed equally worthy, go to auction; a process that could be very expensive for the winning bidder; there is also a dispute process in place to handle any legal issues such as trademark infringement.

Trademark Clearinghouse

June 1, 2012, ICANN announced that it will be working with Deloitte and IBM on implementation of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), which will be offering full support for protection of trademark rights in the new gTLD domains.

The TMCH will be a globally available database, providing services for the authentication and validation of brands. Deloitte will provide control and data validation, whilst IBM will give technical database administration services. ICANN said, “Both providers are highly qualified, with significant experience, technical capacity, and proven ability to manage and support processes.” ICANN wanted service providers with, “a demonstrated understanding of the issues concerning global intellectual property rights and the Internet, global capacity to authenticate and validate trademark information, and experience designing, building, and operating secure transaction processing systems with 24/7/365 availability.”

Applicants gaining approval to run a registry will be required to implement a rights protection model, supported by the TMCH; during a TLD’s start-up period when a domain name is registered that matches Clearinghouse records, participating rights holders will be alerted. Whilst ICANN are still finalizing fees for access to the Clearinghouse database, the preliminary cost model – June 1, 2012, estimates, “a set-up fee of $7,000 - $10,000 will be due per TLD registry.” 

There is a bundled, low fee for authentication and validation services for Rightsholders, expected to be under $150 per submission for a ‘straightforward submission’; additional services due to errors in the original submission, or any appeals will increase the cost.

If all goes to plan, the first of the new gTLDs should start to appear online at the beginning of 2013… if all goes to plan.

EuroDNS, a member of DCL Group, is proud to announce its participation at the ICT Spring Europe 2012, taking place in Luxembourg, June 19-20. 

ICT Spring Europe 2012 covers innovation in cloud computing, digital distribution, mobility, social networks and media, disruptive technologies, highlighting trust in security. The event is focussed on business technology, and all the latest trends and solutions on the market. It is an invaluable meeting of minds offering the opportunity to network, find new partners and generate leads.

DCL Group

Headquartered in Luxembourg, DCL Group is a leading Internet and e-commerce company, which includes the globally recognized EuroDNS, Datacenter Luxembourg, LuxCloud and voipGATE. Xavier Buck, Founder of DCL Group, Chairman of EuroDNS, said, “An excellent opportunity to network and exchange views with some of the most talented international specialists, DCL Group is pleased to support ICT Spring for the third consecutive year.” Xavier continued, “The event is the place to discover the latest ICT innovations; as such the four companies from DCL Group will be present to showcase the best solutions available with regard to domain name registration, datacentre, voice over IP and cloud services.”

Please visit DCL Group at ICT Spring, where we are a Platinum Sponsor; booth D 02 in the ‘E-motion Village’. Don’t miss the chance to meet our highly experienced teams, learning about our latest innovations, new products and services offered.

ICT Spring, latest news

ICT Spring Europe 2012 has announced 38 speakers with a promise of more to come; the list includes top influencers such as Randi Zuckerberg, former Head of Marketing at Facebook and Current Founder and CEO of R to Z Media, Hiroshi Mikitani, Founder and CEO of Rakuten.

Prior to Randi Zuckerberg’s speech on Wednesday, June 20, DCL Group’s very own CEO and Founder, Chairman of EuroDNS, Xavier Buck, will be opening the day with his presentation, “1900 New TLDs - The Inside Story”, an expert’s perspective.

The introduction of an unlimited number of new gTLDs, has many implications for users and international organizations. Whilst the rewards may be huge, the responsibilities are not to be ignored. Businesses owning an entire TLD space, with an unlimited choice of domain names, will be able to communicate their brand without limit. Owning a TLD ensures complete control over policies, who is registering what name, for what end-use, and the fee for registering.

The number of applications has been vast, new gTLDs accepted will be significantly less; each domain name must be unique so, if there are any names duplicated or confusingly similar, the String Contention procedure will be enforced. Statistics will be discussed with regard the breakdown of new gTLD types, whether they are generic, brand names or geographic.

So, whether companies are intending to utilize these new gTLDs, or opt to ‘shelve’ them to protect against cybersquatters, there are bound to be many significant changes to the way we are all working and particularly the way search engines will handle and index all these new extensions.

Xavier will discuss the above, from an expert’s perspective.

DCL Group

Datacenter Luxembourg

Datacenter Luxembourg was founded in 2000. The services comprise a datacenter Infrastructure, International Internet & Telco Connectivity, Managed e-Commerce and Housing Services. Server virtualization and scalable storage can be added to this list as added value services, providing businesses with more flexibility, stability and economies of scale. Datacenter Luxembourg operates out of distinct geographical facilities connected to a looped backbone. Added to that are quality bandwidth and IP through its own international looped backbone and third party ones.

EuroDNS

Created in 2002, EuroDNS is a leading domain name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders.

LuxCloud

Founded in 2010, LuxCloud is a market leading provider of cloud computing services, allowing companies to quickly launch and profitably deliver the cloud services demanded by small and medium sized businesses. LuxCloud offers customizable own branded solutions enabling resellers, telecoms, system integrators and service providers to sell online any and all of the services and applications available on the platform. The range of applications includes Web and Application Hosting, Messaging & Collaboration, Business Processes and Infrastructure packages.

voipGATE

Founded in 2004, voipGATE operates locally and worldwide as a leading operator in Voice over IP, by offering telecommunication services and local phone numbers in more than 60 countries, allowing customers to establish a virtual presence in their key markets. voipGATE has strong partnerships with key PBX and mobile device vendors to ensure and offer its customers both flexibility and ease of use.

DCL Group looks forward to welcoming you to Luxembourg, and meeting you at ICT Spring Europe 2012.

The CCTLD (Coordination Centre for TLD), administrators of the .RU domain name extension, have announced that registration is over 3.8 million names. With this in mind, and the fact that they are celebrating Russia Day, EuroDNS would like to offer a special, limited time promotion on .RU domain names. Valid until June 24, register a .RU domain name for only €9.99. Enter the promo code NDRU12A and celebrate these two memorable occasions.

.RU is the 6th domain in the global ranking of ccTLDs in the world and approximately 1500 new domain names are registered per day; with such incredible growth, this is a country that businesses and individuals cannot afford to ignore. The Russian Federation has one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and by joining the World Trade Organization in 2011, it is predicted that this growth will continue year by year. The .RU domain name extension will protect online businesses, offering a unique, memorable web address; talking directly with the Russian people to create a sense of loyalty and trust. 

Russia Day

Since 1992 the Russian Federation has celebrated Russia Day, the date the country adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, reflecting a whole new way of life. Track and field events take place on the streets outside the Kremlin, whilst inside the president awards medals for achievements in science and culture. 

.RU going to join the party?

EuroDNS want to invite you to be a part of these exciting times by registering a .RU domain name, enter the promo code NDRU12A, enjoy.   

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “We offer this .RU extension, one of the biggest TLDs worldwide, to our customers; benefiting businesses with its high levels of trust, confidence and resilience.”

Daniel continued, “I would like to remind our customers that EuroDNS does not only register domain names; we also offer a constantly evolving range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain requirements. The list, currently, includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .RU domain name, please visit the EuroDNS website. Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.

To receive updates of new promo codes, exciting deals on domain extensions and informative articles, please subscribe to the EuroDNS newsletter.

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