Ireland's ccTLD Abandons Block on Place Names In Domains

As of 20 December 2016, the Irish ccTLD manager IE Domain Registration abandoned the block on geographic names in domain names. The change means businesses and community groups that can show a connection to Ireland are now able to register domains that contain their geographic location. Any town, village or city can be applied for.

While most geographic names have been registered, options exist for potential registrants to use the placename as part of a longer name, for example, HowthRugbyClub.ie. As there are only 222,200 .ie domain names registered, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Lexsynergy is an accredited .IE registrar and can process your .IE domains for you. Email us at support@lexsynergy.com.

EURid Joins With Europol In Battle Against .EU Illegal Activity

There has been a significant decline in the number of .eu domain names EURid has suspended and deleted due to illegal activity from 2015, a record year, to 2016.

In 2015 EURid suspended 14,710 domain names and deleted 10,128. But to date in 2016 the number of suspensions have roughly halved to 5,877 to the end of November while the number of deletions plummeted to 488.

In 2015 law enforcement agencies reported 390 domain names for illegal activity leading to 339 suspensions. The number of reports from law enforcement agencies has roughly quadrupled with 1,471 domain names reported resulting in 1,447 suspensions.

In an effort to further their work combatting cybercrime in .eu and .ею (the Cyrillic version of .eu), and as cybercrime rates worldwide continue to climb, EURid has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Europol, the European Policy Agency. The MoU will see the two organisations collaborate by engaging in joint efforts related to fighting cybercrime, to exchange statistical data and trends pertaining to cybercrime, and to commit to cooperate on projects designed to combat cybercrime.

After 30 Years French and Italian ccTLDs Join the 3 Million Registrations

December saw two European ccTLDs hit the 3 million registrations mark with the .fr and .it ccTLDs reaching the milestone around a week apart. As with most ccTLDs, registration numbers have grown as internet usage increases.

For .it, whose growth has broadly mirrored that of .fr, it took 18 years until 2005 to reach one million domain registrations and then 5 years later in 2010 the 2 millionth. Registration growth slowed somewhat for the next million taking six years, reflecting that more people and businesses are online, and have registered their domain names.

.fr and .it are essential for any European business. Email support@lexsynergy.com to secure your trademarks today.

.TRAVEL Restrictions Reduced

The .travel registry has changed its registration policies, reducing the restrictions on who can register a .travel domain. Previously, only licensed travel businesses and professionals could register a .travel domain. The registry has now opened up registrations to everyone who provides or plans to provide services, products or content to the travel industry. If you are involved in the travel industry register your .travel domain with Lexsynergy.

.BANK and .INSURANCE Reverification Process

As part of the fTLD Security Requirements that support the value of trust-based .BANK and .INSURANCE domains, a re-verification of these domains must be completed at least every two years or at the time of a renewal, whichever comes first (see Requirement #20). 

Re-verification of Registrants and their domain names will be triggered under the following circumstances:

1. Domain Renewals: If it has been more than 20 months since a full verification, another full verification will be performed. If it has been 20 months or less since a full verification and no information has changed, the renewal will be processed immediately.
2. Organization Name Change: A full verification is performed.
3. Domain Transfer: If it has been 20 month or less since a full verification and no information has changed, the associated renewal will be processed immediately. If it has been more than 20 months since a full verification, another full verification will be performed.
4. Bi-annual for domains registered for longer than two years: A full verification of the information will be performed even if the information is exactly the same.

If you anticipate any of the above events for your .BANK or .INSURANCE domains this year, please ensure the information in your account is current so that any re-verification that is needed can proceed as smoothly as possible. This information includes both your Registrant Contact and Organization details, as well as the telephone number and address. 

Please note that information about the Government Regulatory Authority and ID, and HR and Manager contact information is now required by fTLD as this assists Symantec in completing the verification process in a timely manner. Please contact us if you have any updates for this information or if you did not initially provide that information so that it can be included on the re-verification order.

You should also alert your HR department and others to anticipate and quickly respond to Symantec’s request for confirmation of employment and authority so any needed re-verification can be completed as quickly and smoothly as possible. If Symantec is unable to reach someone to complete the verification, they will leave a security code on their voicemail. It’s important to understand this detail and that the person can provide the security code when they return Symantec’s call to complete the verification.

We look forward to supporting you during this process so please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@lexsynergy.com as needed.