***************************************************

The domain name news is supported by auDA

***************************************************


NTIA Caught Between a Congressional Rock and a Hard Place GAC by Philip Corwin
<http://internetcommerce.org/NTIA_Balancing_Act>

Six more LROs kicked out, most for ?front-running?
<http://domainincite.com/13866-six-more-lros-kicked-out-most-for-front-running>

Royal baby: Cybersquatters descend on Prince George domains
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23464598>


**********************
GOVERNANCE
**********************
IGF 2103 Cancelled
The Global Conference on Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2013, which was schedule to be held in Nusa Dua, Bali on October 22 to 25, 2013, confirmed canceled.
<http://groundreport.com/igf-2103-cancelled/>

**********************
DOMAIN NAMES
**********************
**********************
 - ICANN
**********************
.PRO Cross-Ownership Removal Request
Afilias Limited requests the removal of the cross-ownership restrictions reflected on the .PRO Registry Agreement dated 22 April 2010.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-26jul13-en.htm>

.MOBI Cross-Ownership Removal Request
Afilias Limited requests the removal of the cross-ownership restrictions reflected on the .MOBI Registry Agreement dated 10 July 2005.
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-26jul13-en.htm>

New Initial Evaluation Results Released
Total number of passing applications now 1,286 - view them here
<http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-2-26jul13-en>

Letter from Thomas C. Indelicarto, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Verisign, Inc., to Fadi Chehad?
Issue: Notice of .net Fee Change
<http://www.icann.org/en/news/correspondence/indelicarto-to-chehade-25jul13-en>

Avoiding an ICANN Monopoly on Policy by Jay Daley
With all the focus in the TLD world on the imminent arrival of more than a thousand new TLDs and the still unfinished discussions within ICANN on what policy framework those TLDs will need to follow, it is often forgotten that there are hundreds of other TLD policy frameworks that are mature, stable and well tested. These of course are the ccTLD policy frameworks that have been actively developed over 20 years.
<http://www.circleid.com/posts/20130725_avoiding_an_icann_monopoly_on_policy/>

**********************
 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
**********************
1&2 Character and 3&4 Numeric .Asia Domains Available Soon
DotAsia announced today the release of, never before registered, 1&2 character and 3&4 numeric .Asia domains. Premium domains such as 8.asia, 28.asia, and X.asia, will be available for registration based on a multi-phase release plan starting from July 30th, 2013, while 3&4 numeric domains such as 2013.asia, 888.asia, and 777.asia will be up for grabs through auctions starting August 2013.
<http://www.dot.asia/12-character-and-34-numeric-asia-domains-available-soon/>

at: jubilee-prices in August
In August 2013 nic.at celebrates it's 15th anniversary. To mark the jubilee, we offer special jubilee prices from 1-31 of August: We cancel the delegation fee of 36 Euro for a new domain registration!
<http://www.nic.at/en/uebernic/current_issues/nicat_news/news_view/article/81/jubilaeumspreise-im-august/>

Estonian Internet Foundation?s re-delegation application approved
At the ICANN47 in Durban, South Africa the ICANN Board of Directors approved the re-delegation application of the Estonian Internet Foundation. 
<http://www.internet.ee/en/news/estonian-internet-foundations-re-delegation-application-approved/>

Verisign announces another .net price hike
The wholesale registry fee for .net domain names just increased from $5.11 to $5.62 on July 1.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/25/verisign-announces-another-net-price-hike/>

Afilias Requests Removal Of .PRO And .MOBI Cross-Ownership Restrictions
Afilias has made a request to ICANN to remove the cross-ownership restrictions written into the .pro and .mobi registry agreements.
<http://www.domainpulse.com/2013/07/27/afilias-removal-cross-ownership-restrictions/>

**********************
 - NEW TLDS
**********************
NTIA Caught Between a Congressional Rock and a Hard Place GAC by Philip Corwin
On July 18th the Senate Appropriations Committee issued Report 113?78 on S. 1329, the ?DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE AND JUSTICE, AND SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2014?. The Report contains language that is harshly critical of the role played by the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) within ICANN?s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), and would require NTIA to report back within thirty days after enactment of this spending measure on ICANN?s compliance with the Affirmation of Commitments and whether the new gTLD program is proceeding in a manner consistent with cybersecurity concerns.
<http://internetcommerce.org/NTIA_Balancing_Act>

Six more LROs kicked out, most for ?front-running?
The World Intellectual Property Organization is chewing through its caseload of LROs at a regular pace now, made all the more easier by the fact that a body of precedent is being accumulated.
<http://domainincite.com/13866-six-more-lros-kicked-out-most-for-front-running>

104 new gTLD passes, one failure, three withdrawals
With apologies to regular readers for the lateness of this post, which can be blamed on illness, here are the latest new gTLD application evaluation results.
<http://domainincite.com/13867-104-new-gtld-passes-one-failure-three-withdrawals>

New internet addresses - .patience
WHO has the rights to the name ?Amazon?? The e-commerce giant of the same name or the countries through which the world?s second longest river flows? ICANN, which oversees the internet?s address system, will have to answer this tricky question: the company wants to register internet addresses ending in .amazon, but several countries in South America, including Brazil and Peru, object. And they have the support of the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), the group that represents governments within ICANN, which came out against .amazon at a recent meeting of the organisation in Durban.
<http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/07/new-internet-addresses-0>

.Song and .YellowPages new TLD objections denied
World Intellectual Property Organization panelists have denied two more Legal Rights Objections to new TLD applications.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/25/song-and-yellowpages-new-tld-objections-denied/>

Demand Media successfully defends .CAM TLD against objection
Demand Media subsidiary United TLD Holdco Ltd has defended itself against a legal rights objection over its .cam TLD application.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/25/demand-media-successfully-defends-cam-tld-against-objection/>

Trademark frontrunner TLDDOT GmbH loses .GMBH objection
TLDDOT GmbH, an applicant for the .gmbh domain name that has tried to ?frontrun? the new TLD process with trademarks, has lost a legal rights objection against competing applicant InterNetWire Web-Development GmbH.
<http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/25/trademark-frontrunner-tlddot-gmbh-loses-gmbh-objection/>

Geographic gTLD Applications Taking A Battering
Objections to a number of applications for regional gTLDs have meant that a few have seemingly bitten the dust.
<http://goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=20749>
<http://www.domainpulse.com/2013/07/25/geographic-gtld-applications/>
<http://www.domainnews.com/en/geographic-gtld-applications-taking-a-battering.html>

What?s the market size for a top level domain?
A few weeks ago Dan Warner posted an analysis of sports related TLD applications. He compared the strings applied for (e.g. .baseball, .football) to how many of the 100 million + .com domains already registered include that term (e.g. BaseballFan.com and FootballGames.com).
<http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/26/whats-the-market-size-for-a-top-level-domain/>

Lessons from the 100 oldest domain names
If we believe the internet chatter, we could be just a few weeks away from the launch of the gTLD program, with ICANN almost ready to press the big red reset button on the internet. Once that happens we expect to see the online equivalent of the Gold Rush. But for those of us old enough (shamefully I am raising my hand at this point), we have been here before.
<http://www.netnames.com/blog/2013/07/lessons-from-the-100-oldest-domain-names/>

What?s in a domain name?
Protecting IP on the web is about to get even trickier, but luckily a new system is available to help
<http://www.thelawyer.com/old-news-and-analysis/opinion/whats-in-a-domain-name/3007698.article>

Tucows Follows Uniregistry & Withdraws Two gTLD Applications .Media & .Marketing Leaving Donuts The Only Applicant
Three more new gTLD applications were withdrawn with ICANN today and two are very interesting.
<http://www.thedomains.com/2013/07/25/tucows-follows-uniregistry-withdraws-two-gtld-applications-media-marketing-leaving-donuts-the-only-applicant/>

WIPO Rejects 13th & 14th Legal Rights Objections To New gTLD?s on .GMBH & Another The 5th On .Home
WIPO today released two more Legal Rights Objections (LRO) decisions today and for the 13th and 14th time ruled against the Objector.
<http://www.thedomains.com/2013/07/25/wipo-rejects-13th-14th-legal-rights-objections-to-new-gtlds-on-gmbh-another-the-5th-on-home/>

4 More Legal Rights Objections Denied At WIPO: 17 Objections, 17 Thrown out: .Song; .YellowPages; .Cam
Earlier today we wrote about two Legal Right Objections (LRO) that were denied at WIPO one for .GMBH and the 5th objection filed be Defender against an applicant for .Home
<http://www.thedomains.com/2013/07/25/4-more-legal-rights-objections-denied-at-wipo-17-objections-17-thrown-out-song-yellowpages-cam/>

Afternic To Provide New gTLD .Kiwi Reserve Lists Of Premium Domains
Afternic, today announced a strategic partnership with Dot Kiwi Ltd, the applicant for the new TLD .KIWI.
<http://www.thedomains.com/2013/07/25/afternic-to-provide-new-gtld-kiwi-reserve-lists-of-premium-domains/>

**********************
 - DNS SECURITY
**********************
Microsoft: 88 Percent of Citadel Botnets Down
Nearly two months after the company was part of an operation to disrupt a large number of Citadel botnets, Microsoft said that 88 percent of the botnets spawned by that malware have been taken down. Citadel is a Trojan designed specifically to steal financial information from a variety of sources using a number of techniques.
<http://threatpost.com/microsoft-88-percent-of-citadel-botnets-down/101503>

Microsoft: Almost 90 percent of Citadel botnets in the world disrupted in June [IDG]
Microsoft estimates that 88 percent of botnets running the Citadel financial malware were disrupted as a result of a takedown operation launched by the company in collaboration with the FBI and partners in technology and financial services. The operation was originally announced on June 5.
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/2045282/microsoft-almost-90-percent-of-citadel-botnets-in-the-world-disrupted-in-june.html>

Haunted by the Ghosts of ZeuS & DNSChanger
One of the challenges in malware research is separating the truly novel innovations in malcoding from new nasties that merely include nominal or superficial tweaks. This dynamic holds true for both malware researchers and purveyors, albeit for different reasons. Researchers wish to avoid being labeled alarmist in calling special attention to what appears to be an emerging threat that turns out to be old news; the bad guys just want to avoid getting scammed into paying for an old malware kit dressed up as the new next big thing.
<http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/07/haunted-by-the-ghosts-of-zeus-dnschanger/>

Australia urged to make cyber security a priority
Dr Tobias Feakin from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute argues we need a cyber security white paper within a year of the next Federal election.
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-29/australia-urged-to-make-cyber-security-a-priority/4849170>

ASPI advocates cyber alignment with US, engagement with China
A report issued by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute advocates that the Australian government release a Cyber White Paper within the next 12 months to cover security issues facing the country and Australia's strategic cyber alignment.
<http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/522165/aspi_advocates_cyber_alignment_us_engagement_china/>

**********************
 - DOMAIN DISPUTES
**********************
Vogue UDRP leaves WIPO panellists at loggerheads
Fashion magazine Vogue has failed to transfer a website in a cybersquatting case that provoked a long dissenting opinion from one panellist.
<http://www.worldipreview.com/news/vogue-udrp-leaves-wipo-panellists-at-loggerheads>

Verisign files first UDRP since 2007
Verisign, the company that runs the .com registry, has filed a UDRP against a .com domain name.
http://domainnamewire.com/2013/07/27/verisign-files-first-udrp-since-2007/>

**********************
 - MISCELLANEOUS
**********************
Verisign Reports 12 Percent Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth in Second Quarter 2013
VeriSign, Inc. ... reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2013. ... Verisign Registry Services added 1.22 million net new names during the second quarter, ending with 124.3 million active domain names in the zone for .com and .net, which represents a 4.9 percent increase over the zone at the end of the second quarter a year ago.
<http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/news-events/press-room/articles/index.xhtml?artLink=aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLm13bmV3c3Jvb20uY29tL2FydGljbGUvcnNzP2lkPTE3NDQxNTI%3D>

How Registrants Can Reduce the Threat of Domain Hijacking
Because domain names represent the online identity of individuals, businesses and other organizations, companies and organizations large and small have expressed increasing concern over reports of "domain name hijacking," in which perpetrators fraudulently transfer domain names by password theft or social engineering.
<http://blogs.verisigninc.com/blog/entry/how_registrants_can_reduce_the>

APNIC: New updates to whois includes more detail for users
APNIC is pleased to announce changes to the APNIC Whois Database to provide a more stable and reliable service to the APNIC community, and to provide new and improved features.
<http://www.apnic.net/publications/news/2013/whois-updates>

VeriSign Raises Revenue Outlook After Strong Second Quarter
VeriSign has beat analyst expectations for its second quarter earnings on Thursday, raising its revenue outlook for the year to $952 million to $962 million, from its prior forecast of $945 million to $960 million.
<http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/verisign-raises-revenue-outlook-after-strong-second-quarter>

The RIPE Academic Cooperation Initiative
The RIPE Academic Cooperation Initiative (RACI), which launched at the RIPE 66 Meeting in Dublin, will continue for the RIPE 67 Meeting in Athens from 14-18 October 2013.
<http://www.ripe.net/internet-coordination/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/the-ripe-academic-cooperation-initiative-raci>

**********************
 - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
**********************
Royal Baby George Of Cambridge Domain Names Snapped Up By Opportunistic Cyber-Squatters
Over 178 domain names relating to the Royal Baby have been snapped up by 'cyber-squatters' hoping to cash in on the new arrival.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/25/royal-baby-george-domain-names_n_3653612.html>

Royal baby: Cybersquatters descend on Prince George domains
Cybersquatters have leapt at the chance to register domain names referring to the new royal baby, Prince George.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23464598>

Buy George! Who were the winners in the royal baby domain name stakes?
This will have been a very long week for domain name speculators who have been burning the midnight oil waiting for an announcement of the new royal baby?s name. Go Daddy, a domain name registrar, saw a five-fold increase in registrations featuring the word ?prince? this week with the smart money going on towards more traditional names such as James, Louis, Alexander and George.
<http://www.netnames.com/blog/2013/07/buy-george-who-were-the-winners-in-the-royal-baby-domain-name-stakes/>

'Cybersquatters' cash in on Prince George's name as they register nearly 200 domain names connected to the royal baby
Less than 24 hours after he was officially named, so-called ?cybersquatters? are already trying to cash in on HRH Prince George of Cambridge.
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2377978/Prince-George-Alexander-Louis-Cybersquatters-cash-Prince-Georges-register-nearly-200-domain-names-connected-royal-baby.html>

**********************
INTERNET USE
**********************
Porn sites get more internet traffic in UK than social networks or shopping
Internet traffic to legal pornography sites in the UK comprised 8.5% of all "clicks" on web pages in June ? exceeding those for shopping, news, business or social networks, according to new data obtained exclusively by the Guardian.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jul/26/porn-sites-internet-traffic-uk>

**********************
SOCIAL MEDIA
**********************
Twitter to simplify the reporting of abusive tweets, after outcry over rape threats
After an outcry in Britain over rape threats on Twitter, the company said a feature designed to make it easier to report abusive tweets when using Twitter on the iPhone would be coming to other platforms. The recipient of those threats expressed approval but added that the service needs "to step up and take responsibility for what is tweeted on their site."
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57595819-93/twitter-to-simplify-the-reporting-of-abusive-tweets-after-outcry-over-rape-threats/>

**********************
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
**********************
Access control changes a must for future, safe Internet, Vint Cerf says
Vint Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet, is watching his baby evolve and he sees a bright future awash in a sea of data, devices and ubiquitous connectivity, but a darker side foreshadows wholesale changes needed in access controls and privacy hardened by hardware-reinforced security.
<http://www.zdnet.com/access-control-changes-a-must-for-future-safe-internet-vint-cerf-says-7000018569/>
<http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/archived_issues/ipj_16-2/ipj_16-2.pdf>

Microsoft's Bing introduces child abuse search pop-ups
Microsoft's Bing search engine has become the first to introduce pop-up warnings for people in the UK who seek out online images of child abuse.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23476089>

au: Mother of all rows: online group slams door on haters
Vicious cyber bullying by mothers towards other mothers has prompted the managers of one of the largest Facebook communities for parents to tell the mama trolls to shut up or get off.
<http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/mother-of-all-rows-online-group-slams-door-on-haters-20130728-2qsmz.html>
<http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/mother-of-all-rows-online-group-slams-door-on-haters-20130728-2qsmz.html>

**********************
ONLINE CRIME & LEGAL
**********************
Cybercriminals Increasingly Use the Tor Network to Control Their Botnets, Researchers Say
Malware writers are increasingly considering the Tor anonymity network as an option for hiding the real location of their command-and-control (C&C) servers, according to researchers from security firm ESET.
<http://www.cio.com/article/736974/Cybercriminals_Increasingly_Use_the_Tor_Network_to_Control_Their_Botnets_Researchers_Say>
<http://www.computerworld.co.nz/article/522027/cybercriminals_increasingly_use_tor_network_control_their_botnets_researchers_say/>

Global cybercrime costs billions, new estimates suggest [Techworld]
Cybercrime and espionage could be costing the world between $70 billion and $400 billion a year from a total global economy of $70 trillion, a new estimate by the Center for Stategic and International Studies (CSIS) has calculated.
<http://www.pcworld.com/article/2045388/global-cybercrime-costs-billions-new-estimates-suggest.html>

**************************
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC POLICY
**************************
Summary Report of the ITU-T World Conference on International Telecommunications by Robert Pepper and Chip Sharp, Cisco Systems
>From 3?14 December, 2012, 151 Member States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) met in Dubai at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) to revise the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITRs), a treaty-level document establishing policies governing international telecommunications services. During the 2-week conference the delegates debated several proposed changes on topics such as international mobile roaming, numbering, naming, addressing, fraud, the Internet, Quality of Service (QoS), etc. In the end, a revised version of the treaty was finalized [2], but only 89 of the 151 Member States attending signed it.
<http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/ac147/archived_issues/ipj_16-1/161_wcit.html>

Coalition launches alternative to secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership
The Fair Deal Coalition has launched a new initiative that will give internet users a platform to discuss what copyright should look like under the TPP. The Coalition?s tool ?Your Digital Future? invites organisations from all sectors and countries to discuss what kind of copyright law the TPP countries need in order to encourage creativity, participation, and innovation.
<http://www.apc.org/en/node/18253/>

**********************
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
**********************
Hawaiki Cable eyes Whangarei landing site
A company hoping to build a US$350 million submarine internet cable out of New Zealand is eying up Whangarei as its landing site. Auckland-based Hawaiki Cable is planning to build an internet link between New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the US west coast and said today that the system could be operating within two years.
<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10904932>
------
David Goldstein

 email: david at goldsteinreport.com

 web:   http://goldsteinreport.com/
            http://davidgoldstein.tel/
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9663 3430 - office/home

"Every time you use fossil fuels, you're adding to the problem. Every time you forgo fossil fuels, you're being part of the solution" - Dr Tim Flannery