Domain Pulse 2012: Registrars, Resellers Reluctant to Support DNSSEC, New gTLDs
The Domain Pulse evening event at Hamburg’s Fish Auction Hall that brought to a close the first day of the conference meant there were quite a few stragglers at day two’s commencement. But by the afternoon everyone had arrived in time to hear an update on this year’s Registrar Atlas Survey, presented by Thomas Rickert.
The Registrar Atlas surveys registrars and resellers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and in 2012 takes in The Netherlands, and has some surprising preliminary findings relating to DNSSEC adoption and new generic Top Level Domains.
One of the worrying findings to date is a surprising reluctance for the registrars and resellers to offer Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC). In Germany, 17 per cent of respondents offered DNSSEC in 2011 and 44 per cent said they expected to offer it within the next 12 months while 28 per cent were not planning to.
But in 2012, unexpectedly these numbers had declined. Of those that have responded, the number offering DNSSEC had declined to 12 per cent, 25 per cent said they expected to offer it in the next 12 months while 25 per cent have not planned to.
The trend, Rickert explained, is significant. And if the results are confirmed in the final results it would show momentum to adopt DNSSEC has stalled, and is even going backwards. So a question has to be asked is can momentum be created to start moving forward.
While the German results are of concern, worryingly 41 per cent of respondents in Austria do not even plan to implement DNSSEC.
DNSSEC is critical, giving internet users, both providers of services and end-users, much more secure transactions and interactions online. And it allows users to be certain that data has not been modified in transit.
Part of the failure Rickert believes is that the industry, particularly registrars and registries, have not created a demand for DNSSEC. And while many internet users are concerned about the security of their data online, they are unaware of DNSSEC and its role.
But DNSSEC is not the only area where registrars are showing a lack of interest in promoting new services. Preliminary results for the Registrar Atlas also show that registrars are going to be reluctant to promote new gTLDs.
Of the respondents replying to the survey, just over one in five (22%) of German registrars and resellers planned to offer registration services promoting new gTLDs when they come online, with the first gTLDs probably offering registrations in 2013. Figures for Austria and Switzerland are too small to be significant, but the figures indicate less than one in five registrars and resellers in those countries are preparing to offer registrations in new gTLDs.
For new gTLD registries, it appears it could be challenging to get shelf space in registrars and it cannot be expected that registrars will be proactive in seeking out new gTLDs to sell their domain names.
However as noted, the Registrar Atlas is far from complete and registrars and resellers, not just in Germany, but also Austria, Switzerland and for the first time in 2012 The Netherlands are encouraged to complete the wide-ranging survey that covers much more than DNSSEC and new gTLDs.
The survey is conducted by the German internet association eco in conjunction with nic.at (Austria), SWITCH (Switzerland) and SIDN (Netherlands).
To complete the survey, registrars and resellers should go to eco-umfrage.de and click on the appropriate link.
Nominet confirmed for .wales gTLD bid
In another piece of dog-bites-man new gTLD news, .uk registry Nominet has announced that it has been picked by the Welsh government to apply for and run .wales and .cymru.
Wales is a country, and it has a certain degree of political independence from the rest of the UK, but it does not qualify for its own country-code top-level domain.
Nominet said:
We will now begin preparing a formal application to ICANN to establish both .cymru and .wales in the interests of Welsh businesses and consumers. Survey results and stakeholder engagement indicate this pair of TLDs will be the most suitable combination to meet the needs of the whole Welsh community.
It’s Nominet’s first announced new gTLD client win. I think it’s got a pretty good chance of winning the .london bid also.
There was a bit of outrage last year from an organization called dotCYM, which campaigned for .cym and then .cymru for a few years, when it appeared that the Welsh government favored .wales.
Cymru is “Wales” in Welsh.
My guess is that .cymru will be launched mainly with local businesses and individuals in mind, while .wales will be used for marketing the country elsewhere in the world.
Top Level Domain Holdings to submit its “second batch” of application for 20 new gTLD Srtings
Top Level Domain Holdings announced recently that it will soon acquire the second batch of 20 application slots for new gTLDs .The total applications slots acquired by Top Level Domain Holdings ,on behalf of itself and clients of Minds + Machines will amount to 40 . On January 12,2012,the company announced that they have filed their first 20 applications to manage new TLDs.
“We are delighted with the progress the Company is making and the quality of the applications on which we are working. The criteria ICANN has set are demanding and we therefore have to ensure we only support the most likely to be successful,” said Peter Dengate Thrush,Chairman fo Top Level Domain Holdings .
Top Level Domain Holdings also said that “Under ICANN’s rules, applicants for new gTLDs must first purchase an application slot, or placeholder, for each application for US$5,000 each which will then be deducted from the US$185,000 gTLD application fee. “
ICANN: CEO Search Update
The CEO Search Committee has been actively working to identify top candidates for ICANN’s CEO/President position, to commence 1 July 2012.
The window for candidate applications closed on Friday, 17 February. Our partner in the search process, Odgers Berndtson, has collected well over 100 candidates for the position. Candidates have come from community referrals, our ad in the Economist, and the firm’s outreach efforts. Odgers Berndtson interviewed and submitted 27 promising candidates to the committee, and the committee has chosen and interviewed 16 of them by teleconference.
The committee is now selecting a subset of this group for a second round of interviews, face to face. On the basis of this second round, it expects to choose yet another subset for presentation to the ICANN Board for intensive interviewing, followed by a decision to be made by the Board. The target for completion is mid-April.
This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-21feb12-en.htm
PrivateJet.com : Highest Domain Name Sale of All time ! PrivateJet.com sells for $30.18 million
Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC (Nations) announced recently that they have acquired the domain name PrivateJet.com from Don’t Look Media.com for $30.18 million in cash and stocks. According to the press release,this agreement was approved bu both the boards of director of Nations and Don’t Look Media Group.
You can read the press release after the jump :
“Nations Luxury Transportation, LLC (Nations) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Nations has acquired the domain name http://www.PrivateJet.com, from privately held Don’t Look Media.com, a leading intellectual property holding company, for $30.18 million in cash and stock. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Nations and Don’t Look Media Group with an official launch for the new website in April of 2012.
The acquisition will increase Nation’s worldwide visibility throughout the entire private aviation sector and will allow it to begin delivering a proprietary medium for jet charter travel and acquisition. Through the integration of its patented Jet-Connect Charter Bid System, Nations will deliver the industry’s most efficient platform for worldwide charter, aircraft acquisition and private jet sales.
By the end of 2012, it is expected that PrivateJet.com will be generating over 250,000 unique visitors per month from over 52 countries worldwide and will serve as the destination website for Private Jet Travelers, Pilots, Aviation Brokers and Consumers who prefer to live life without limitations.
“PrivateJet.com is a phenomenal asset and when integrated with our proprietary technology (which allows charter operators to compete directly for your flight), it will help us revolutionize the super luxury segment of Private Jet transportation,” said Nations CEO Kenneth Starnes. “Together both assets will create the future of real-time private travel so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world in the most efficient manner possible.”
PrivateJet.com will provide 24/7 in depth coverage of everything related to the ultra high net worth lifestyle and will entertain and fascinate thousands of private jet users all around the world with its daily editorials, breaking news and Private Jet Travel Specials. “PrivateJet.com is the one and only place you need to go to for everything private jet,” said co-founder Randall Da Costa. “By developing our proprietary social and trip bidding platforms, we have created synergy where there was none. Clients flock to our portal in droves and as a direct result of that, jet charter operators, aircraft sales personnel and other luxury goods and service providers are clamoring to be a part of it all. This is how you revolutionize a product,” Da Costa said.
“After many seven and eight figure offers for PrivateJet.com, it took the vision and experience that Kenneth Starnes brings to the table to convince myself and our board of directors to more forward with the disposition of this asset,” said Dont Look Media.com CEO Louis David. “Together, we will be able to accelerate defragmenting an industry that is ripe for new technological efficiencies, that will allow a more streamlined process for Private Jet Travel,” David said.
“Louis David has a great track record as a leader and an expert in developing, monetizing and liquefying intellectual property assets, so when we had the chance to have him remain involved with the company and its management team, we felt that his insights would be simply invaluable to Nations,” Starnes said.
Plans are already under way to create a universal media solution, which will include a Private Jet Magazine, Worldwide Lifestyle Events and a vast array of strategic partnerships, that will help PrivateJet.com be recognized as the world wide leader both online and offline.
And coming this Spring, PrivateJet.com will launch its exclusive PrivateJet.com “Carte Blanche Card” that will provide its members with a vast array of exclusive offers never seen before within the ultra luxury segment. To learn more, visit PrivateJet.com and click “Carte Blanche”.
About Nations Luxury Transportation
Nations Luxury Transportation is an aggregator of business models that service the luxury consumer. By rolling private jet charter, limousine and catering services into one unit, the group has managed to do what few others have done in the industry and that is to create a truly seamless end-to-end experience for the consumer. At a lower entry point to other jet card programs, the Nations Luxury Transportation group’s “Carbon Fiber is the New Black” concept, (an actual carbon fiber all access card to nationwide jet charter flights at cost) has completely eliminated broker fees and other superfluous surcharges for members. “The goal is to build relationships,” said Starnes, “and the way to do that is to be completely transparent.”
With PrivateJet.com being its biggest acquisition to date, Nations Luxury Transportation is poised to become the biggest player in the world of private jet charter and jet sales while simultaneously opening the door to a host of previously disconnected luxury offerings such as exclusive private destination club access with its members club.
About Don’t Look Media.com
Don’t Look Media.com is a privately held Internet Monetization company that owns and operates over 4,000 intellectual property assets throughout 47 unique verticals. These assets include domain names, technology patents, trademarks, copyrights, telephonic properties and exclusive licensing rights to many high value intellectual properties.
DontLookMedia.com specializes in leveraging assets that can be developed to create future liquidity events, which often times create perpetual revenue streams.
With multiple liquidity events already realized in both 2011 and 2012, DontLookMedia.com is poised for a record year for both new transactions and legacy deals coming to monetary fruition.”