CentralNic secures contract for 14 new gTLDs

CentralNic has agreed to provide KSregistry GmbH with its market leading Top Level Domain registry services. The deal with KSregistry covers 14 Top-Level Domain (“TLD”) extensions currently managed by OpenRegistry, which KSregistry acquired from Group NCC in 2017.

CentralNic’s registry services division is already the global leader and is the only company to support six out of the top twenty new Top-Level Domains, including .xyz, the domain chosen for new ventures by Google (abc.xyz), Deloitte (exponentials.xyz) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (engine.xyz) among many others. CentralNic is also a leader in TLD services for governments and enterprise, managing multiple country-code and geographic TLDs as well as the TLDs of global 1000 companies such as Saudi Telecom, Etisalat, and Kuwait Finance House.

Under the terms of the deal, CentralNic will increase the number of new Top-Level Domains for which it is the Registry management platform to 65, with TLD clients spread across four continents.

“I am delighted to agree this deal with KSregistry, whose owners are among Europe’s most successful experts in the domain name industry,” said Ben Crawford, CEO at CentralNic. “CentralNic has been providing registry infrastructure services for over 20 years, and our registry platform is known for its performance, scalability and security. We are also the world leader in migrating TLDs onto our platform, having won dozens of new TLD contracts away from other backend providers, whilst never having lost a TLD client.”

“Partnering with CentralNic to deliver registry services makes perfect sense for all parties,” said Alexander Siffrin, CEO at KSregistry. “CentralNic’s registry platform is the most advanced and feature rich in the world. Coupled with KSregistry’s unmatched management and customer service means that we can provide current and future TLD registry clients with very best technology, experience and support at competitive pricing.”

KSregistry contacted its Registry Operator clients prior to signing this collaboration agreement in order to gauge their support for migration to CentralNic’s backend registry. The reaction was overwhelmingly favourable, which is why KSregistry and CentralNic were able to conclude an arrangement quickly, which also gives CentralNic the option of using KSregistry’s SKYWAY data center.

First spam from a ".vin"

Website points then to a ".fr" website.

Some new gTLD contacts...are gone

A "new gTLD contact" is a contact that you find in any new gTLD application: there is a primary and secondary contact.

I checked new gTLD applications to investigate about a question that I have: are primary or secondary contacts still in place? This question is important to me because they are the local point of contact to operate the new domain name extension.

Method used
I proceeded as follow:

1. I checked all new gTLD applications from a specific category from the Jovenet Consulting new gTLD reports;
2. I searched for either primary or secondary contact (full name and email);
3. I went to LinkedIn and checked if this contact still worked in the company (or if she is still linked to it).

In some cases, it is the Registrar or service provider in charge of operating the TLD which is used as primary and/or as secondary contact. This is a good choice when a .BRAND new gTLD doesn't want to have to take care of this. Some backend registry service providers also offer this as an option for generic TLDs, as well as other mandatory services to operate a new gTLD.

In other cases, the person's name and surname hadn't changed and had left the company or had changed position with an email still getting through to "someone". This is not so important as long as someone is in charge of reading these emails but I'd suggest to change this to the person in charge within the company.

I also found Gmails addresses used as primary contacts. That: I don't understand it. I am the first person to say that Gmail is a great and very well secured service but I'd certainly not use an email that does not match the domain of the registry's project, nor an email on which I don't have full control of.

I even  found an email using a domain names available for registration. This means that no email are going through and returning with an error. It also means that a third party registering that domain name could set up a "catch all" and receive all emails sent.

What to think about all this?

A new gTLD is a serious responsibility: like a domain name, it is not supposed to end after a website has been launched (unless maybe when your company's name is Whatever Engineering and you'd consider redirecting your ".com" to truly use your ".engineering" domain name).

Operating the emails of primary and secondary contacts have consequences : in the end, they are the same story as operating a domain name when only one person knows about the complete story. Don't forget about what can happen when it's time to pay or talk to ICANN: what if you miss that email? Same when planning to sell your TLD: this is probably where I would send my offer.

Ten Fold Engineering

Checking LinkedIn when I start my day is often something that I do first. I also do that exercise to double-check if one company which name has an ending in one of the new domain name extensions registered that new domain name.

Ten Fold Engineering belongs to these companies and has at least two domains:

1. Its ".com";
2. And its ".engineering".

Try this now:

• Hit on the ".com" above and get rid of the ".com" in the URL;
• Ad a "." right after the "d" and hit enter.

Isn't this shorter?

GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (Face-to-Face meeting) : 28 October 2017

This PDP Working Group is tasked with calling upon the community’s collective experiences from the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program to determine what, if any changes may need to be made to the existing oNew gTLD policy recommendations from 8 August 2007. Those who are interested in providing their input into new gTLD policy recommendations for subsequent procedures are encouraged to attend.

More here.

(previously wanted to post this to gtld.events : apologies)

Amazon looks for a gTLD Registry Counsel

Counsel will support the Amazon Registry Services business on a broad range of commercial contracting, licensing, technology, and regulatory matters relating to gTLD registries. Counsel will work directly with business teams, providing day-to-day advice, resolving issues that arise in existing commercial relationships and addressing pre-litigation legal disputes and inquiries. Counsel’s principal duties will include structuring, drafting and negotiating complicated technology, distribution, licensing, marketing, and other commercial agreements, including agreements with third parties in the domain name space. Counsel will also provide ongoing legal counseling in a wide range of areas relating to intellectual property, including contractual relationships, data protection, and regulatory compliance. Limited travel (domestic and international) may be required. The successful candidate must be inquisitive, enthusiastic about technology, have a sense of humor, be business minded and demonstrate sound judgment even in ambiguous situations.

Basic qualifications

• 5+ years of legal experience (with at least three years at a leading law firm or in house) as a transactional attorney, preferably with focused experience in specialized IT contracts and/or the domain name system
• Familiarity with trademark and copyright law
• A J.D. degree and membership in good standing in at least one state bar
• Limited travel (domestic and international) may be required

Preferred qualifications

• In house experience at a technology company
• Familiarity with cross-jurisdictional contracting issues is a plus
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to manage multiple projects at once, follow through and meet deadlines
• Ability to work independently while being able to contribute successfully to cross-functional teams
• Common sense, great judgment, and a good sense of humor

Apply here.