Domain names in Indian languages soon

NEW DELHI: India is all set to join the global bandwagon of local language domain names. Soon you will be able to own domain names in Hindi, Tamil, Sanskrit, Bengali, Punjabi and some other Indian languages.

For trademark owners, the initial registration (called the sunrise period) is expected to open in January 2008. Registration for individual owners, that is, land rush, will begin around March, 2008.

Called IDNs (Internationalised Domain Names), these are popular in Europe (Russia, Germany) and Asia (Singapore, China, Japan, Korea). In some of these countries, IDNs registrations per month surpass those in English.

“It will be one of the most complex roll outs of IDNs in the world. Other countries have only one or two languages but we have about 22 languages in 11 scripts. We plan to offer IDNs in five to six languages in the first phase which will begin next year,” said National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) additional CEO Rajesh Aggarwal. NIXI had earlier launched the .in domain which crossed 3 lakh registrations on Friday.

The IDNs, on the other hand, are in the test phase right now. The guidelines for roll out are being framed by the NIXI along with IT ministry, C-DAC and Internet Service Providers Association of India.

“The same letter may exist both in Tamil and Hindi. Also, within a language it can be represented visually through different set of Unicode characters. We are trying to make the IDNs phishing and spoofing proof,” Aggarwal added.

Currently, any letter in a Devanagiri, Gurmukhi or any other regional script font can be created visually using different codes.

Simply put, if Ram.com is created using one script, the same can be created visually by using a different set of codes. It may lead to a rise in phishing or spoofing of identities.

But NIXI is drafting a counter policy on the same. “To counter this, we will block alternate identities of the same name, which can be created by different codes, except the original identity for every user. We will have a scientific formula on how the visual representation of each character in the domain name will be made. Also, we will have a simple dispute resolution policy,” he adds.

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Someone might be stealing your domain name searches, says ICANN

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) of ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has launched a probe into the practice of what it calls domain name front running.

This is where a person checks if a desired domain name is available to register, then finds that it has been taken when they return shortly afterwards to register the name.

ICANN said that there are widespread suspicions that checks for availability are being monitored and the information used to register desired addresses in order to sell them back to the user at a profit.

"When the domain name of interest for which an availability check is made is registered shortly after such a check, the individuals making the availability check may reasonably assume that the organization operating the web site or service they used to determine the availability of the name pre-emptively registered the name," said the report by the SSAC.

It said that through there was not yet firm evidence of how or even if the practice was widespread, it had received complaints.

"Registrants have filed complaints with ICANN, registrars, and with intellectual property attorneys that suggest domain name front running incidents may have occurred," it said. "SSAC does not yet have any hard data to draw conclusions regarding the frequency (if any) of the occurrence of domain name front running."

The name 'front running' comes from the world of finance and refers to stock brokers buying or selling stock in a company after being instructed to take action by a client that will affect the price of shares. That name originally came from the wild west and referred to the purchase of soon-to-be-valuable land when acting on insider information.

People who want to buy a domain name usually check its availability first on websites such as whois.net, or through registrar companies. It is at that point that unscrupulous operators may be registering names in order to profit from the demand for them.

The security committee has listed a number of plausible methods that could be in operation stealing domain ideas. It said that there could be software installed on users' computers which relays domain queries secretly back to an operator, who then exploits that information.

Alternatively, it said that any website could host a whois application and abuse the information gathered.

The SACC report also said that companies operating DNS systems or even registrars and registries themselves could be abusing the query information they receive, or could have staff who do so.

The report said that it is unclear which, if any, of these methods are being used. It said that there could be other explanations for users' finding that checked domains were suddenly registered.

"Alternative explanations have also been suggested. Apparent instances of domain name front running may be mere coincidence or a consequence of domain name tasting," said the report. "In any given month, over a million domain names can be tested for their potential to be profitable for monetization, and there is a reasonable chance that some of these names may coincide with names that have been subject to some form of a domain name availability check during that month."

The report calls for information about and evidence of domain front running from users and companies, and suggests that the internet community formulate a policy of acceptable practices in relation to domain registration to avoid tarnishing the internet and domain industry's reputations.

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Internet domain name "insider trading" investigated

The Internet's main oversight agency is looking into allegations that insider information is being used to purchase the domain names before they're registered by an individual or business.


The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers says they will be investigating suspicions that someone who has access to domain name search requests has been using the query information to gauge interest in those addresses and profit from it.


ICANN's Security and Stability Advisory Committee, "observes that there does not appear to be a strong set of standards and practices to conclude whether monitoring availability checks is an acceptable or unacceptable practice"

So far, no one has been accused or charged with "domain name front running" but the agency said it wants to prevent "perception from evolving to accepted wisdom."

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Dot.Asia domain names!

"Asia has developed into a global force on the international commercial, political and cultural network. The .Asia domain aspires to embrace this dynamism in the Asia Century to become a nucleus, intersection and breeding ground for Internet activity and development in the region." (The DotAsia Organization)

In December of 2006, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) approved the creation of a new Top Level Generic Domain, ".Asia". DotAsia organization (www.dotasia.org) is responsible for .Asia domains.

On October 9, 2007, Sunrise Registration of the ".Asia" domain began and Sunrise 2 will start on November 13. .Asia domains will come alive and be a functional domain in March 2008.

Although the introduction of .Asia domains highlights the commercial, political and cultural features of Asia region, .Asia domain, according to ICANN's definition of the Asia/Asia-Pacific region, has no political or geographical meaning.

Also, all Middle East countries that are similar and could have a specific IDN (multilingual) domain name have been included in .Asia, too.

.Asia comes after the surge in IDN registrations in Asia, and I expected an IDN domain registry. Unfortunately, .Asia domain names are pure ASCII and an IDN domain registry for .Asia is a second thought and planned for the future.

It is not clear what companies will think of .Asia domain names. There are already lots of country code-generic domains in Asia and most companies and business units active in the region prefer to use the country code than the .Asia domain.

There are different languages and cultures in Asia and IDN domain names like .jp or .cn are stronger as people know what language and script they can expect to end up in. The potential customers of .Asia domains are Governments, trademark/servicemark holders, and some companies which have a branch for the Asia region.

The success of .Asia domains in their current form is not predictable, but if it's going to be anything like .EU or .Travel or .Jobs, then its future is not so bright! Landrush (scheduled for February 2008) is when registration of the .Asia domain is open to the public and I am sure there will be a landrush of people registering .Asia domains.

A pioneer domain program will allow people with genuinely good business plans and ideas to avoid the stress of a landrush when attempting to register a premium .Asia domain such as "book.asia", "music.asia" and similar quality names. The program allows people to submit their ideas, business plan, executive plan and marketing strategy for a specific .Asia domain. The best proposal wins the right to operate the best .Asia domains. You can read more about this program at pioneers.domains.asia!

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How Domain Names Play a Role in SEO & SEM

How Domain Names Play a Role in SEO & SEM

By: Aaron Wall
2007-10-29


Many marketing and advertising costs are recurring. Re-registering domain names is a minimal cost, but many domains (especially .com names) get type in traffic...
worth thousands of dollars a year. Many marketing and advertising costs are recurring. Re-registering domain names is a minimal cost, but many domains (especially .com names) get type in traffic worth thousands of dollars a year. Some get type in traffic worth thousands per day. And this traffic stream is defensible from search engine algorithmic swings.

In addition to the defensibility issue, there is a large synergy between great domain names and SEO. Domain names containing your keywords as part of the name make it easier to get your keywords in the anchor text when people reference your company by its official name. This is true even if the domain has hyphens and/or additional words. But domains with hyphens in them are harder to market than domains without hyphens.

Exact match domains make people more likely to give you targeted anchor text when they mention your website. In some cases a strong domain name also makes a site appear more trustworthy and linkworthy.

Exact match domains are given an algorithmic relevancy boost in Google, even if a domain name shows little other criteria that prove it trustworthy.

Exact match domains make it easier to get Google Sitelinks to expand your listing and block out competing sites.

Exact match domains are easier to profit from search engine arbitrage.

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INTERNET LAW - DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION IN GERMANY

The registry for the .de domain is administered by DENIC in Germany. The Domain Name Contract with DENIC can be concluded once the registration guidelines and general terms and condition laid down by DENIC are fulfilled. The contents of these provisions describe the rights and obligations of the Registry and the Registrant with respect to registration and all issues in relation to Domain Name. There is no restriction on the number of domain names that a single entity or person can register. This article answers the following questions: What characters are permitted for domain name registration under .de in Germany? What duties lie on the Domain Holder at the time of registration? What conditions lead to termination of the domain Contract by the DENIC? What is a DISPUTE entry? What material must be stipulated in an application to dispute entry?
DENIC was established in December 1996 and founded by German Internet Providers. Both German and non-German residents or institutions may register a site using the .de domain name. However, if the registrant is not located in Germany, an administrative contact person must be appointed who is a resident in Germany and must serve as the registrant’s representative for receiving the service of official documents pertaining to the domain name. Parties may register for a domain name either through a Registrar or directly through DENIC.

Before applying for domain name a search by WHOIS Database can be carried out for the availability. The .de domain names are registered for a period of 1 to 10 years subject to renewal and the payment of term fees. German domain name registration is available on a first come first served principle. Also, a registrant may divide its domain name into sub domains. However, such sub-domains are not registered by DENIC, but have to be set up by domain holder or his/her provider.


DENIC registries do not use The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) established by ICANN for settling disputes about domain names.





What characters are permitted for domain name registration under .de in Germany?

The character permitted for .de domain name registration are character 0-9, the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, hyphens, and other letters listed in the Annex of the DENIC Domain Guidelines. However, such non-numeric or non-letter characters cannot appear as first or last characters of the domain name, nor is it possible for both third and fourth places to be hyphens at the same time. No distinction is made between capital and small letters. The minimum length of a .de domain is three characters and the maximum length is 63 characters. If the domain includes letters from the Annex, the maximum length is determined by its ACE version in accordance with RFC3490 (Request for Comments).


What duties lie on the Domain Holder at the time of registration?

According to the DENIC terms and conditions, the domain name holder must have the following obligations at the time of registering:

• The Domain Holder must give an assurance that the data or information pertaining to holder contained in application for registering the domain is accurate and that the registrant is entitled to register and/or use the domain.

• The registration and use of the domain name does not infringe any person rights nor break any law.


• If the domain name holder is not resident of Germany, in such case the Administrative Contact shall be appointed by Domain holder which is authorized representative for receiving the service of official or court documents.


The Domain holder must ensure that all the necessary technical conditions for the domain’s connectivity are fulfilled. These duties include but are not limited to carrying out a WHOIS query immediately after registration, checking the data published in Survey and informing DENIC immediately of any required corrections to the data as published as well as any subsequent modifications of such data.



What conditions lead to termination of the domain Contract by the DENIC?

Under DENIC terms and conditions, the DENIC has the right to terminate the Domain Contract on substantial grounds without giving any notice beforehand to the holder if,
1. Data communicated by DENIC or the Administrative Contact submitted to the domain holder is incorrect or irrelevant;

2. A Domain Holder, that has abandoned its domicile in Germany or is a non-German resident fails to appoint an Administrative Contract domiciled in Germany even after receiving a formal warning with deadline for compliance;

3. The domain itself includes a manifest illegal statement;

4. The Domain holder has persistently breached substantial duties after receiving a formal warning for compliance;

5. When the registration is confirmed and the Domain holder does not create the necessary technical conditions for the domain's connectivity with a period of four weeks, the Domain Contract is automatically terminated;

6. In a final judgment on the case, it has been determined that the registration of the domain for the Domain holder has infringed the rights of others.



What is a DISPUTE entry?

According to DENIC guidelines, DENIC may place a Dispute Entry on the domain if a third party presents a case to show their right to the domain and taken steps to enforce this right against the Domain Holder. The Dispute Entry remains in effect for one year, but can be extended by DENIC, provided that the holder submits evidence that dispute has not been resolved.


What material must be stipulated in an application to dispute entry?

The application must be placed on a signed application form which confirms that the applicant has already started the process of resolving the dispute with the domain holder or that he intend to do so in the near future. The application must enclose documentary evidence showing the reasonable grounds for claim.

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