Blog: ccTLDs

Mathieu Weill, CEO of AFNIC, which runs the French ccTLD .FR, said in an interview with David Goldstein that a new law will allow — perhaps compel — AFNIC to offer registrations for at least the following ccTLDs:

• .GF (French Guyana)
• .MQ (Martinique)
• .GP (Guadaloupe)
• .RE (Reunion) was also mentioned, but it is already registering names.

These TLDs have been silent for years, after a brief floresence in the late 1990s was extinguished when the French (I’m still unclear whether it was AFNIC or the French government) repossessed them and shut them down. I have been critical of AFNIC in the past, so it’s very encouraging to see these TLDs activated.

The French control several other inactive ccTLDs:

• .PF (French Polynesia, has a tiny amount of registrations, not open to the public)
• .PM (St. Pierre and Miquelon, used to accept registrations, was taken over by AFNIC under still-unexplained circumstances, closed to registrations)
• .TF (French Southern Territories, used to accept registrations, redelegated by ICANN, now held directly by AFNIC, closed to registrations)
• .WF (Wallis and Futuna, never activated, held directly by AFNIC)
• .YT (Mayotte, never activated, held directly by AFNIC)

M. Weill hinted that these too would be open for registration soon (emphasis is mine):

David Goldstein: Recently AFNIC announced there will be a new legal framework for all French ccTLDs, not just .FR but also .RE, .GP, .MQ, and .GF. What impact will this have and why did it come about?

Mathieu Weill: The new legal framework will be in force on July 1st. The main consequences will be that AFNIC has to review all its current disputes resolution policies. The new law also impacts the other ccTLDs for French territories. We are pleased that this law finally grants us authorisation to launch registrations under these ccTLDs before the end of 2011. We are looking forward to it.

He also said that .FR and other ccTLDs will benefit from the introduction of new gTLDs:

David Goldstein: The new gTLDs, whenever they come about, threaten to change the domain name landscape significantly – how do you think this will affect .FR?

Mathieu Weill: Well, there are three ways to consider this evolution. First, all the domain name market could benefit from it. For instance, we saw .FR registration increase significantly thanks to .EU opening. That’s because people are getting more and more aware of the importance of domain names.

Secondly, there is a risk that hundreds of new TLDs could also create some confusion in users minds and incite them to rally to the TLDs they know best: the main gTLDs and their national ccTLDs. .FR would also benefit from such a phenomenon.

Thirdly, we do not buy the argument telling that new TLDs will replace the current ones. They are new communication channels or opportunities, but users would better think about naming strategies combining several TLDs than relying on just one TLD.

Overall, we hope that new TLD applicants will bring innovative ideas to our field, and that the outcome of the process will be additional added value services to the end user.

Congratulations to AFNIC for this step forward, and thanks to David Goldstein for a good interview. I welcome any corrections or clarifications.

Wales, a small Celtic country that has proudly withstood the depredations of Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and tourists, which has given the world everything from an enduring mythology to the world’s longest single-world domain name, has been informed that they will not be allowed to proceed with .CYM (short for the Welsh name for Wales, Cymru) because that three-letter code is already claimed by the Cayman Islands.

Actually, that’s not quite correct. .CYM is the three-letter International Standards Organization (ISO) code for the Cayman Islands — it’s unclear if the Cayman Islands requested it or even knows very much about about it. The ISO puts out a list of three-letter country and territory codes, as well as the more two-letter codes that are used to designate country-code domain. The two-letter code for the Cayman Islands is .KY; Wales doesn’t have a two-letter country-code top-level domain, which is why they are campaigning for a new three-letter gTLD.

This is a great example of red tape getting in the way of doing the right thing. The Cayman Islands has small use (if any) of their three-letter code, and no use that couldn’t be equally well served by a different code. Three-letter codes are reserved and changed all the time — the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), or the relevant sovereign power (in this case, the U.K.).

Why is this happening? It’s certainly not what’s been advertised by the leaders of the groups who could do something about it.

In his opening address at the ICANN meeting in Brussels in June 2010, CEO Rod Beckstrom called for increased international co-operation between ICANN and other global organizations.

In the address opening the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, in September 2010, Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Digital Agenda, in a speech entitled Moving from reflection to action on Internet governance, said “we need more concrete progress towards enhanced cooperation.”

And at the International Telecommunciations Union (ITU) plentipotentiary meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, in October 2010, ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré talked about “protect[ing] the all-important principle of multilateralism and cooperation among the international community in the modern world.”

In each case, applause from the crowd! Everyone, apparently, is for increased international co-operation — or maybe only up to the point where they actually have do something to make it happen.

Meanwhile, various anti-TLD lobbyists and ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC) have been wringing their hands about how the proposed gTLD process might be unfairly biased toward “insiders” who have spent some time decrypting ICANN’s byzantine structures and rules, at the expense of small and deserving applications — such as the application by Wales for .CYM.

It seems that everyone is of the same mind about international co-operation and making sure that deserving TLD applications get a fair shake. If so, here’s their chance to do the right thing. ICANN, the ITU, and the GAC should try some of that international co-operation and ask the ISO to change the Cayman Islands three-letter code — “CMI” is available, for example — and let Wales use .CYM, which is the natural abbreviation for the name of their country, in their language.

Let’s hope that this much-vaunted international co-operation doesn’t just mean an agreement to stand on the sidelines and use the “rules” as an excuse to do nothing. .CYM is a much stronger TLD than any alternative, and would do much for the stature of a valiant and vibrant country that has too often been given short shrift.

UPDATE: An astute commenter has noted that my proposal is arbitrary and unfair to the Cayman Islands, and on consideration I have to agree. The better solution would be to stop excluding new TLDs just because they happen to match an entry on the ISO 3166 three-letter list. As Jean Guillon has pointed out, at least three other known projects would be excluded: .VEN (Venice); .AND (Andalusia); and .FRA (France), although this last would be excluded for other reasons as well. Or better yet, stop using the ISO 3166 three-letter list altogether. The protections it affords to countries are debatable, and it’s certainly affecting worthy applications.

The .CO top-level domain made over $10 million in just a couple of months. What do the results of the .CO re-launch mean for new gTLDs?

Remember, .CO is the country-code TLD for Colombia. Until this summer, you could only register names under .com.co, .net.co, etc. You couldn’t register myname.co. Now anyone in the world can register a .co name, and register it directly under the top level. Remember also that as a country-code TLD, .CO was not constrained by ICANN rules, which means that they were able to (re-) launch their TLD relatively quickly. Even so, their rules and regulations closely hewed to the latest ICANN rules, especially in regard to cybersquatting.

The response to the .CO launch was tremendous. Let’s review:

• 11,000 names applied for during the Sunrise Period
• 28,000 names sold during the Landrush Period (closed July 15, 2010)
• Total paid by applicants for Sunrise and Landrush names: over $10 million
• Total .co names registered as of this writing: 440,000

What do these numbers mean for prospective new gTLDs? Obviously, they prove that there are lots of buyers out there if the value proposition is good, and that’s a very good sign. There is no indication that people have anything against new TLDs. Quite the opposite, in fact: if it’s a good one, they’ll flock to it in droves.

But .CO is somewhat of a special case. There are a few things to keep in mind:

First, although cybersquatting of brand names was dealt with aggressively by the talented .CO team, we have to assume that many of the registrations were done in hopes of getting traffic from people who forgot to add the “m” to a .com URL. No new gTLDs will be able to benefit from similar fat-fingered mistakes, because ICANN is running a “similarity test” to make sure that there aren’t such confusions. We won’t know how much typo traffic there actually is until it comes time to renew the names. Then, speculative traffic names will either be renewed (if they received typo traffic) or will be dropped (if they didn’t). So keep an eye on next July for interesting stats.

Second, the .CO team is really good, and did everything right. They hired smart veterans and spent a fair amount of time and money making sure that brand owners and registrars knew what was happening, what the rules were, how and when to apply, etc. This had the virtuous double effect of almost completely eliminating complaints about the process and also maximizing registrations. New TLD applicants, take note.

Third, .CO had the field to itself. When new gTLDs start launching, it will probably be on a rolling schedule, but nonetheless there is likely to be more than one launch at any given time.

These are the factors giving .CO an edge, but this doesn’t mean that new gTLDs won’t be able to duplicate or surpass their success. Many of these considerations are double-edged swords. The fact that .CO is a misspelling of .COM also means that fewer real sites will get built, fewer names will be renewed, and cybersquatting problems will be relatively larger than in most new gTLDs. The fact that .CO spent a lot of money means that their profit margin is lower.

Every new TLD launch will have specific considerations and circumstances that will both help and hinder its growth. Several new gTLDs, especially geographical names and communities, will have natural constituencies that will fuel registrations. Others will have worldwide appeal. Many will not measure their success in registrations, but instead on service to their communities.

Overall, the .CO launch should make prospective new gTLD applicants very happy indeed. It is a great proof of the market, and it shows (once again) that intelligent branding and marketing will go a long way to making a project a success.

The Netherlands Antilles, an agglomeration of former Dutch colonies in the Caribbean, will disappear on October 10, 2010. None of the ex-colonies in question — Curaçao, St Maarten, Saba, Bonaire, and St Eustatius — have been particularly happy with the status quo. (Aruba achieved a separate status in 1986).

Sources at the International Standards Organization (ISO), which maintains the ISO-3166-1 list that determines which ccTLDs exist (or don’t), tell me that .AN (Netherlands Antilles) will be deprecated, and two new ccTLD codes will be established. Presumably, these will be for St Maarten and Curaçao (the others have taken the status of Dutch municipalities), but I wasn’t able to confirm the countries or the new ccTLD codes.

Meanwhile, ICANN is ballyhooing the signing of an “accountability framework” with Netherlands Antilles — even though it has a shelf-life of just over four months.

Can anyone guess what the new country codes will be? .SM for St Maarten and .CU for Curaçao seem obvious, but these are already taken by San Marino and Cuba.

While new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) wait for ICANN to announce an application date, country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) continue to migrate in large numbers to CoCCA, the registry software system which shares a codebase with Minds + Machines’ Espresso registry system.

Dot Masr, the Arabic-script ccTLD for Egypt, successfully deployed today on the CoCCA system. The National Telecom Regulatory Authority of Egypt (NTRA) has deployed its production domain name registry system for Egypt’s internationalized domain name country-code top-level domain (IDN ccTLD).

Egypt joins Kenya (.ke), Madagascar (.mg), Mauritius (.mu), Nigeria (.ng), Cameroon (.cm), Mozambique (.mz) , Namibia (.na), Egypt ASCII (.eg) and several other African countries in deploying the CoCCA registry system. In the second quarter of 2010 alone, six ccTLDs have migrated to CoCCA: Greenland (.gl), Guernsey (.gg), Jersey (.je), Palestine (.ps); and American Samoa (.as) will be migrating to CoCCA. By a wide margin, CoCCA is the most widely deployed top-level domain registry system in the world, supporting over 30 ccTLDs.

Engr Ndukwe Kalu, President of NIRA, the Nigerian Internet Registration Authority, died unexpectedly in Lagos last week. He was a member of CoCCA, the Council of Country Code Administrators, and was a strong supporter of CoCCA. “His humor, encouragement, suggestions and sage advice were welcomed by our organization, which had few contacts in the region,” said Garth Miller, Director of CoCCA, in an article on his passing.

Over the last 18 months he worked with CoCCA to bring the .NG registry to a stable and secure infrastructure. “We remember him for the zeal he has contributed to the activities of NIRA particularly the landmark achievement of full control of Nigeria’s domain name on May 13, 2009 leading to full local management of the registry ”, said Vice President of NIRA, Mrs. Mary Uduma. At the time, Engr Ndukwe Kalu said of the redelegation, “The attempt to obtain full control met with a lot of challenges because as a totally new entity the executive had to concentrate on putting in place the required structure and infrastructure that would sustain the .ng ccTLD.”

Local management of the .NG registry allowed NIRA to utilize the CoCCA registry platform, which is a fully automated EPP system. Enabling Anycast DNS ensured 100% uptime world wide, bringing the .NG registry up to par with other world-class registries. The .NG registry continues to thrive and is systematically opening up to international registrations. Under Ndukwe Kalu’s guidance NIRA set a goal to become one of the top 20 ccTLD registries by 2011 in order to “positively impact the Nigerian economy because with the development of the Nigerian cyberspace countless opportunities would be born for both the state and citizens.” More information about the redelegation efforts may be found at allAfrica.com.

Our thoughts and best wishes are with his family and colleagues.

This summer the number of registrars on the Espresso CC platform, jointly developed by CoCCA Registry Services and Minds + Machines, has steadily grown with the migration of several ccTLDs onto the platform.

Recent grants from Minds + Machines have enabled the development of several gTLD desired features including: one-step EPP server, WHOIS server and key retrieval configuration; transfer activity reporting; one-click database back up; banded volume discount settings, and many other easy-to-use features for TLD operators.

The Espresso system is EPP-compliant; supports IPV6, ENUM, DNSSEC; allows shadowed domains to combat botnet attacks such as Conficker; enables IDNs (internationalized domain names); and supports and multiple language files (15 so far) allowing registrars to manage their accounts in their native language.

Minds + Machines, as CoCCA’s partner, is offering a fully ICANN-compliant version of Espresso for new generic top-level domains in 2010. CoCCA (the Council of Country Code Administrators) is a member-owned organization that provides services to ccTLD operators. CoCCA began as a cooperative of three ccTLD operators, .CX (Christmas Island), .GS (South Georgia), and .NF (Norfolk Island) on a quest to build a better registry platform and to share resources as a way of achieving economies of scale. The more members, the less each has to contribute toward development, attorney fees, and infrastructure. In four years CoCCA has grown 700% , with twenty-one members now sharing resources using world-class EPP technology.

On behalf of its members, CoCCA accredits registrars that agree to follow best-practice recommendations in the registry-registrar-registrant business model. We warmly welcome the most recently approved registrars, who are now able to offer to their customers registrations in CoCCA member TLDs.

Here are the newly-accredited registrars, in alphabetical order. Welcome!

• 3w Media GmbH
  
  




• Bizcn.com, Inc.
  
  




• Blacknight Internet Solutions
  







• BRS Media, Inc.
  







• cctldnames
  







• Communigal
  







• Cybernaptics Ltd.







• DomainClub.com
  
  







• DomainersChoice
  







• Domain Monster
  







• Domain The Net Technologies
  







• Domaine.fr
  







• Enom
  







• Entorno Digital S.A.
  









• Gandi SAS
  







• Larsen Data
  







• Maridan Internet
  







• Moniker
  
  







• Networking4all
  







• Niceweb.eu
  







• NovaGroup
  







• Oxwell
  







• Register.eu
  







• Reg.Net.ua
  







• Todaynic.com, Inc.
  







• Web Solutions ApS
  







• Webworkers Internet Consultants
  







• Xin Net Technology
  

We are very pleased to announce that BRS Media, Inc. has chosen Espresso CC as its new top-level domain registry platform .FM. All existing .FM names were migrated over the weekend and are functioning normally in their new home.

Welcome dotFM!

Here’s the text of the press release:

dotFM Chooses Espresso Registry Platform for .FM Top-Level Domain

JOINS 14 COUNTRIES NOW USING THE ESPRESSO PLATFORM TO BE USED BY MINDS + MACHINES FOR NEW WEB ADDRESSES

NEW YORK, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ — Effective today, BRS Media Inc., operator of dotFM, will use Espresso CC as the registry platform for the .FM top-level domain, home of last.fm and other prominent web addresses. Migration of all existing domain names to the new platform was completed in 48 hours over the last few days. .FM will utilize UltraDNS for domain name resolution.

.FM is the latest of 14 country-code domains to choose the Espresso CC registry platform to manage its top-level domain and to endorse the powerful Espresso platform – which Minds + Machines will use for the new top-level domains expected to launch next year.

Espresso CC, developed as a co-operative effort between CoCCA and Minds + Machines, is a next-generation registry services platform for country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Its rich feature set – combined with its long-established reputation for stability, ease of use and attractive pricing – has attracted growing interest and to date has been adopted by 14 ccTLDs. Its cousin Espresso, which is fully ICANN-compliant, will be used by Minds + Machines for the new generic top-level domains to be issued by ICANN early in 2010.

“After comparing several registry systems along with soliciting input from major registrars, we are pleased to have upgraded to the Espresso CC Registry Platform,” said George T Bundy, Chairman and CEO of BRS Media Inc. “With its impressive management features, field-tested stability, and fully integrated EPP compliance, the Espresso CC is the benchmark for the exciting future of dotFM.”

“We’re thrilled to see dotFM join the growing list of top-level domains that have chosen to rely on Espresso, and we look forward to providing this terrific platform to the new web addresses from ICANN that are creating so much excitement,” said Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines. “George Bundy is an Internet pioneer with long experience and his choice of Espresso is a huge vote of confidence that we’re very proud of.”

In addition to highly popular top-level domains such as dotFM, Minds + Machines provides capacity-building grants through CoCCA to emerging country-code registries – providing equipment, training and ongoing guidance as well as free implementation of the Espresso CC platform.

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will early next year begin accepting applications for top-level domains named after cities, companies, brands and entrepreneurial ventures. Minds + Machines has previously announced partnerships to provide registry services using the Espresso platform for proposed new web addresses including .eco (www.supportdoteco.com), .nyc (www.dotnyc.net), .roma (http://www.ildominiodiroma.it/index_eng.html) and .radio (http://www.dotradio.info)

ABOUT MINDS + MACHINES http://www.mindsandmachines.com

Minds + Machines works internationally with companies, cities, not-for-profits and entrepreneurs to secure and operate new web addresses, known as top-level domains (TLDs). Minds + Machines provides the comprehensive application preparation services necessary to acquire a new TLD, as well as a robust, scalable registry hardware and software platform used by over a dozen TLDs worldwide today. Minds + Machines is known for its customer-friendly approach that is specifically designed to make the process of acquiring and operating new TLDs more accessible, more reliable and less expensive. Minds + Machines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Top Level Domains Holdings, Ltd. (AIM: TLDH.L)

ABOUT BRS MEDIA http://www.brsmedia.fm

Based in the South of Market district (SoMa) of San Francisco CA, BRS Media (www.brsmedia.fm) is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters, the International Webcasting Association and the Webcaster Alliance. Listed as one of the fastest growing privately held companies by the SF Business Times and Inc. Magazine, its portfolio of Online properties includes: dotFM & dotAM, domain registrar of premium multimedia .FM and .AM domains; dotRadio, the new .RADIO top level domain for the On Air and Online Community; iDotz.Net domain registrar of all gTLD domains (.com, .net, .org), as well as, boutique domains (.tv .la, .im, .vc & .mn); @Radio.FM & @Radio.AM, free Web based email services and the ever-popular Web-Radio, the leading portal for “tuning in” Radio on the Internet. dotFM, dotAM and dotRadio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of BRS Media, Inc.

Over the last few months we’ve been assisting CoCCA founder Garth Miller to help developing-nation country-code top-level domains upgrade their knowledge and infrastructure through the Minds + Machines Capacity Building and Grant Program. This program has so far funded regional workshops in southern Africa and the airfares to attend them, along with knowledge-transfer programs between regional ccTLDs. In addition, as we continue to improve the Espresso registry platform, we have introduced Espresso CC for country-code top-level domains, a high-quality EPP registry services platform for ccTLDs.

Today we’re happy to announce that Madagascar (.MG) has upgraded to the Espresso CC (country-code) registry platform.

To quote from the news page at CoCCA:

The Madagascar Network Information Center ( NIC-MG ) has completed their migration to the Espresso CC EPP registry platform…. NIC-MG has deployed a state of the art registry system, deployed a Whois server and is in the process of requesting ICANN update the the .mg ROOT-SERVER records to include anycast technology for maximum redundancy.

NIC-MG registry system will soon have off-site fail-over and escrow. DNSSEC is being studied with a view to deploy in the first quarter of 2010.

The changes in the technology being utilized by NIC-MG will be accompanied by a review of policy and procedures to address abuse of intellectual property rights, cyber-crime and protection of the public interest. The new system will allow local 24/7 registration and updates through various registrars, local ISP’s and other technology companies.

The complete manual for Espresso, our registry platform, is now available online. The online manual features each and every screen that a new top-level domain registry operator will use in day-to-day administration, along with helpful explanatory appendices and diagrams. As Espresso evolves and improves, the manual will be updated as well.

Please, have a look at the Espresso manual. Comments and questions welcome.