icann

New ICANN policy stops domain tasting

ICANN has won a major battle over the abusive tactic of domain tasting, said the organization in a report released Wednesday.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is responsible for managing and doling out Internet domain names.

It's not an easy job. And making it harder was a scheme used by some registrars known as domain tasting. Someone would buy up lots of domain names, try them out, and then get rid of the unprofitable ones, all without losing any money. As long as the registrar dumped the domains within the five-day grace period, known as the … Read more

ICANN names new CEO

Former U.S. cybersecurity official Rod Beckstrom has been named the new CEO and president of ICANN.

His appointment was announced at the annual meeting Friday in Australia of ICANN, which stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

A global nonprofit, ICANN is responsible for assigning and managing Internet domain names and IP addresses, among other tasks.

"Rod Beckstrom has exactly the sort of strong personal and technical background that ICANN needs," ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush said in announcing the decision.

Beckstrom, who received his MBA from Stanford University, has served on the boards … Read more

Al Gore backs environmental top-level domain

As the organization responsible for overseeing Internet domains prepares to expand the number of top-level domains available, Al Gore is advocating for a special domain to promote environmental awareness.

Two Internet entrepreneurs have formed Dot Eco LLC for the purpose of securing the .eco domain through the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' new gTLD application process.

The group announced Thursday at ICANN's Mexico City meeting that it has entered into an "integrated partnership" with Gore and his philanthropic organization, the Alliance for Climate Protection.

"We fully support Dot Eco LLC in its efforts to … Read more

CEO of Internet oversight group to step down

The president and CEO of ICANN, the nonprofit responsible for the Internet's domain name system, announced on Monday he will be stepping down from his position at the end of 2009.

Paul Twomey, president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, made the announcement at the organization's 34th International Public Meeting in Mexico City.

"While I am deeply and personally committed to ICANN and its success, I think this is the right time for me to move on to another leadership position in the private or international sectors," he said, according to … Read more

Coming in 2009: Yourname@somewhere.中国

The era of online domination by the Roman alphabet will come one step closer to its end next year when a new top-level domain for China, .中国, is deployed. Xinhua reports that ICANN expects the domain, which uses the two-character modern Chinese word for "China," will be ready in 2009.

The report also notes that people will be able to use Chinese characters for their mailbox name (the part before the @ sign) as well.

In the future, Internet users (will be able to) use their native languages as mailbox names to send and receive e-mail, which means (the) English-dominant (… Read more

Turkish criminal hackers hijack ICANN sites

On Thursday, the domains used by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, and IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, were hijacked. A Turkish hacking group known as NetDevilz claimed =responsibility. There is no word on how the hijack was accomplished.

The group successfully redirected ICANN site visitors to a page with the following message:

"You think that you control the domains but you don't! Everybody knows wrong. We control the domains including ICANN! Don't you believe us? haha :) (Lovable Turkish hackers group)"

According to SANS, changes to the ICANN site were corrected within … Read more

ICANN adopts new Web site naming rules

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers voted Thursday to relax rules for naming Web sites.

At its meeting in Paris, ICANN, a not-for-profit organization that oversees the naming scheme for Web sites, voted to accept a proposal that will allow companies to purchase new top-level domain names ending in whatever they like.

So, for example, instead of being restricted to sites ending in .com or .org., eBay could have a site that ends in .ebay, or New York City could end its Web site with .nyc.

The new naming process will begin in 2009. The first suffixes will … Read more

News.com Daily Podcast: What Symbian buy means for Microsoft, Google, and consumers

Nokia announced today that it will buy Symbian for about $410 million and form a consortium of hardware and software makers to push the development of open-source mobile software. CNET News.com reporter Tom Krazit joins me in the podcast studio to talk about what the new foundation will mean for competing operating systems and for customers.

Also, ICANN is considering a new system of domain names Thursday; Virgin Mobile targets the U.S. market with a new, flat-rate calling plan; and a judge has kicked the public out of a hearing between Facebook and ConnectU, overruling objections from three … Read more

ICANN to vote on new Internet domain names

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is getting ready to vote later this week to open up the Internet naming convention to allow more options.

On Thursday at its meeting in Paris, ICANN, the not-for-profit organization charged with overseeing the Internet's naming scheme, will vote on a proposal that would allow companies to purchase new generic top-level domains ending in almost anything they want. So instead of being limited to .com, .org or .co.uk as the last letters of their Web addresses, companies or organizations could add their company name to the end of their URL. … Read more