The Trademark Sunrise Period for .ML & .CF (the new ccTLDs for Mali and the Central African Republic, respectively) opened on May 1, 2013. This period is specifically for trademark holders to pre-register .ML and/or .CF domains that are the exact match (or closely similar) to the existing corresponding trademark(s). If you conduct business in Mali and/or the Central African Republic, are planning to in the future, or want to protect your brand(s) globally, registering country code domains is the best way to optimize your naming strategy.

Registration Launch Periods:

• Phase 1—Trademark Sunrise :: Open May 1, 2013 through May 31, 2013
• Phase 2—Landrush :: Open June 1, 2013 through June 14, 2013
• Phase 3—General Availability :: Open July 15, 2013

If you have any questions about any of the Launch Phases for .ML and/or .CF, or would like to check the availability of a domain name, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact Safenames in the UK +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1.703.574.5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The .XXX registry has significantly reduced the cost of domain name registrations for the month of May, 2013. Although the .XXX extension is primarily targeted at businesses and individuals within the adult entertainment industry, .XXX impacts most mainstream brands with an online presence. Whether you’re an organization in the adult industry and plan to use .XXX, or an organization outside of the sponsoring industry wanting to protect your site/intellectual property from .XXX (in which case no trademark is required), this price reduction makes it a great time to get the .XXX domain(s) you were unable to get during Trademark Sunrise.

If you have any questions about registering .XXX domain names, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact us in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Certificate Authority/Browser Forum (CAB Forum) has mandated that Certificate Authorities discontinue supporting 1024-bit key length certificates for both SSL and code signing. Starting January 1, 2014, all existing 1024-bit key certificates will be discontinued industry-wide. If you have a 1024-bit key certificate(s) it is important that you replace it before December 31, 2013 with security strengths of hash and encryption approved by the NIST Special Publication 800-131A (at least a 2048-bit key certificate(s), as they will no longer work, which may compromise the security of your site.

If you have any questions about SSL certificates, contact Safenames in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

From ICANN

Marking another milestone in the implementation of the community-developed New gTLD Program, ICANN today announced the selection of three geographically diverse emergency back-end registry operators, or EBEROs. The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Neustar, Inc. and Nominet were selected to guarantee domain names within a new gTLD continue to resolve in the event of a failure by a new TLD operator.

Emergency back-end registry operators are activated only if a registry operator fails to provide or is unable to sustain five critical registry functions temporarily or in the case of transition from one registry operator to another. Having them in different regions of the world reduces the chance that a natural disaster would affect all three at any one time.

EBEROs mitigate risk that a failed new TLD operator could impact the stability and security of the Domain Name System. However, EBEROs are limited in the services they can provide. For example, EBEROs will maintain critical registry functions but will not provide any additional services that a TLD operator may have offered its customers, such as web hosting or network analytics. The critical functions covered by EBEROs are:

1. DNS resolution for registered domain names
2. Operation of Shared Registration System
3. Provision of Whois service
4. Registry data escrow deposits
5. Maintenance of a properly signed zone in accordance with DNSSEC requirements

The three selected organizations met stringent technical requirements and demonstrated years of experience in operating domain name services, registration data directory services and extensible provisioning protocol services.

For FAQ on EBEROs go HERE.

General Availability for .PW (the new ccTLD for “Professional Web” and for citizens and residents of the Republic of Palau) opens tomorrow, March 26, 2013. If you did not get the .PW domains you wanted during the Sunrise or Landrush period(s), now is the time to register. Anyone will be able to register .PW domains regardless of location—and there are no local contact requirements.

If you have any questions about the .PW extension or would like to register a .PW domain(s), log in to the Safenames IDP today or contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact the Safenames in the UK +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1.703.574.5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The ICANN Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) is scheduled to launch tomorrow, March 26, 2013. With more than 1,000 new gTLDs scheduled to be introduced this year (as early as July) ICANN has built the TMCH—a single global repository for authenticated registered trademarks—to help protect brands and their IP rights. The TMCS offers registered trademark/brand owners a solution to help safeguard their rights and simplify participation during the multiple pre-registration launch periods in the new gTLD program. Safenames is a registered agent in the Trademark Clearinghouse and wants to ensure that our current customers and other trademark holders are prepared for the new gTLD expansion. Learn More.

If you have any questions about the the TMCH, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact us in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Chinese Registry (.CN) is now offering ASCII.IDN domain names (e.g., domain. 中国) for the .CN extension. Previously, .CN domains could only be registered as ASCII.ASCII or IDN.IDN. For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

This launch presents an opportunity for brand owners to register their international brand name with a true Chinese extension. The new ASCII.中国 domain names are launching in 3 phases:

1. Sunrise 1 Phase—September 16 through October 11, 2012: Priority phase for trademark holders; trademarks of Mainland China and trademarks outside of China are eligible; in the event that multiple applications are received for the same domain name, domain will be allocated on a first come first serve basis
2. Sunrise 2 phase—October 15 through October 22, 2012: Priority phase for existing holders of .CN domain names; the corresponding alphabetical and numerical .中国 domain names must be registered through the same registrar as the alphabetical and numerical .CN domain names
3. General Launch Phase—October 29, 2012: ASCII.中国 domain names registrations open to all individuals and organizations; available domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis

If you have any questions about Chinese ASCII.IDN domains, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Italian Registry(.IT) is now offering International Domain Names (IDNs) for the .IT extension. Previously, .IT domains could only be registered in the “Latin without diacritics” format, based solely on letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and the hyphen (-). For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

Additionally, the .IT registry has expanded the Local Contact requirements to include any individuals and businesses in Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, the Vatican, the Republic of San Marino, and Switzerland.

If you have any questions about Italian IDNs, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

Sedo.com just announced its weekly sales data ending June 18th, 2012. In all over $1.4MM of domains were sold. The top seller was Cruise.me at $28,500.

Other domains topping the list of public sales were festivals.de for €12,500 & kfzteile.net for €10,000.

In all 934 domains were sold. 43% of total sales were the result of Buy Now listings.

Below is the entire list of publicly reportable sales in their respective currencies:

…

According to a press release, going out tomorrow, Right Of The Dot™, LLC is launching a Contention Resolution Service for new gTLD applicants who have applied for the same or confusingly similar domain name extension as other applicants.

Right Of The Dot™, LLC is an Internet consulting firm specializing in advising existing and new TLD registries in maximizing revenue, increasing registrations and market share including board advisement, marketing, premium domain and market positioning, sales, and services.

The applications period for new gTLD’s closed just a couple of weeks ago and last week, ICANN has made the “Big Reveal”, publishing the first round of the applicants for the new gTLD and the specific extensions that were applied for by each.

There are over 1,900 applications and 751 are in direct conflict, meaning there are more than one applicant for a specific extension.

What does a company do if they find out that another company or organization has applied for the same gTLD as they have?

Under the ICANN Guidebook, parties are encouraged to work together to solve any contention privately otherwise the string will go to an auction.

Some have predicted that auction prices for contest new gTLD extensions could easily exceed $10 Million dollars.

The seasoned domain name professionals at RightOfTheDot.com have 29 years combined experience in the domain name business.

They have pioneered and innovated many of the standard services used every day in the domain industry.

Heading up the new gTLD contention resolution service for RightOfTheDot.com are two domain industry veterans and Domain Hall Of Fame Members, Michael Berkens, Esq and Monte Cahn who are uniquely positioned to advise and negotiate for companies to achieve the best outcome for contended new domain names to avoid costly auctions by bringing the applicants together to resolve the strings rather than going to auction.

Monte Cahn is Co-Founder and President of Right of the Dot™, LLC and Founder and former CEO of Moniker.com and TrafficClub.com and was the former President of SnapNames.com. Monte has been pioneering domain name and virtual property aftermarket services since 1995, with such innovations as Whois Privacy protection, Domain Escrow, domain name security, and Domain Brokerage, Auctions, Appraisals and Sales.

Monte has sold more than $300 Million domain names since 2001 and operated more than 117 ICANN Accredited Registrars after his company Moniker.com was acquired by Oversee.net in 2007.

Michael H. Berkens, Esq. is Co-Founder and Managing Director at Right of the Dot™, LLC, and Founder of Worldwide Media, Inc., and MostWantedDomains.com.…