auDA backs retention of conf.au 2LD
The .au Domain Administration (auDA) has recommended that
just one second-level domain in a shortlist of four be
retained and no new open or closed 2LDs be created,
according to a draft report issued by the panel given the
task of examining proposals for new second level domains. 

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/27/1046064146472.html

Zenith Bank Lifts .ng Domain With N25 Million
In line with its commitment to ensure successful hosting of
the .ng domain, Zenith Bank International Limited has
donated a sum of N10 million to the Nigeria Internet Group
(NIG) bringing the total sum so far donated by the bank to
N25 million.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200302250661.html

ICANN Meetings in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 23-27 March 2003

ICANN's next round of meetings will be held 23-27 March
2003, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The meetings are free to
attend, and open to any interested person. ICANN encourages
broad participation in its bottom-up consensus-development
process. You can take part in these meetings by attending
in person, by taking part in the webcast and remote
participation opportunities, and by joining one of the
various ICANN-related mailing lists.

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-26feb03.htm

ccNSO Assistance Group Compiled Recommendations (for
Discussion at Rio de Janeiro Meeting)

http://www.icann.org/committees/evol-reform/ccnsoag-report-26feb03.htm

ccTLD IDN TF Meetings in Taipei, 25th February 2003
Purpose: The purpose of this one-day workshop will be to
discuss various issues related to IDN activities. The IDN
Task Force is to provide a regular forum among the various
stakeholders of IDN development and to coordinate IDN
activities in order to enable the ccTLD registries to
prepare for IDN services. The coordinating activities of
the ccTLD IDN Task Force will include exchanging
information and addressing issues for the various language
groups.
 http://www.wwtld.org/meetings/IDN_Taipei/index_new.htm

Niue ccTLD delegation issues for workshop on Member States'
experiences with ccTLD

http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-t/workshop/cctld/cctld057.pdf

Feds seizing domain names
Federal police have adopted a novel crime-fighting tactic:
seizing control of domain names for Web sites that
allegedly violate the law.
 http://rss.com.com/2100-1023-986225.html

Educational domain expanded
Beauty, theological and distance-learning schools will be
among the educational institutions that will soon share
online real estate with the likes of Princeton and Harvard.
The Commerce Department approved the expansion of the
“.edu” domain name on Tuesday to allow usage by schools
such as the Connecticut Institute of Hair Design and the
American Film Institute.
 http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/872015.asp

Yugoslavia top level domain name quandary
After Yugoslavia’s formal name change to Serbia and
Montenegro, it is still not clear what will happen with the
country’s top-level domain name (TLD).
 http://www.europemedia.net/shownews.asp?ArticleID=15127

NOMINET DRS PASSES 100th MILESTONE 
The Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) for .uk domain names
has just reached its 100th published decision, less than 18
months since its re-launch by Nominet, the UK domain name
authority.
 http://www.demys.net/news/2003/02/27_nom.htm

First .uk personal name dispute decision
Tahir Mohsan, the Managing Director of UK-based computer
manufacturer and retailer Time Group, has won the first
dispute under Nominet's dispute resolution service where
the domain in question related to a personal name.
 http://www.demys.net/news/2003/02/26_pe.htm
 
Nominet concerned about confusion created 
Internet users are being warned to be on the look out for
letters that appear to be invoices for domain names they
have not purchased.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2798399.stm

http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=usersofcoukwarn1046191480&area=news

Domain name owners warned of pressure tactics
Owners of .co.uk domains should be wary of unsolicited
mailings from a company calling itself UK Internet
Registry, Nominet has said.
 http://www.internet-magazine.com/news/view.asp?id=3199

http://www.net4nowt.com/isp_news/news_article.asp?News_ID=362

Multilingual Domain Names May Create New Trademark Disputes
The "testbed" launch of domain names using foreign
characters -- including Chinese, Korean and Japanese (such
as: .com) -- may be a great benefit to non-English
speakers, but it also could raise a new round of trademark
issues as cybersquatters descend on a new frontier.

http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2000/isenberg-2000-11c.html

Internet’s Main Root Server Saturated By 98%: Should You Be
Concerned?
In this special CircleID interview with Duane Wessels,
president of The Measurement Factory and one of the main
scientists who lead the root server study, we attempt to
gain a better sense of the background behind the study and
the alarming results? Mr. Wessels responds to why a main
root server, at the heart of the Internet, is so saturated
with unnecessary queries? What can be done about this
issue? And, how? But most importantly, why? After all, from
an end-user's perspective, the Internet appears to be
working just fine! Should Internet users and business or
any entity that fully or partially depends on the Internet
be concerned? Some of the answers may come as a surprise to
you...
 http://www.circleid.com/articles/2570.asp

Domain Name Typosquatter Still Generating Millions
Ever visit cartoonneetwork.com? Adaptac.com? Check the URLs
carefully, for these aren't the "real" sites operated by
the Cartoon Network cable channel or by Adaptec,
manufacturer of PC storage devices. Instead, these domains
are among more than 5000 domain names that were registered
by a Mr. John Zuccarini. Read on to learn what he is up to
and how he has gotten away with his typosquatting
enterprise while amassing millions of dollars.
 http://www.circleid.com/articles/2571.asp

A Sustainable Framework For The Deployment Of New gTLDs
At the Fourth Annual Meeting of the ICANN Board in
Amsterdam, the ICANN Board asked the DNSO Names Council
(who have since become "the GNSO Council") to provide the
Board with advice and input on the issues that surround the
creation of new generic top-level domain names. Based on
the Council's publicly documented conversations thus far,
it is becoming clear that Council is moving in directions
that do not seem to be consistent with the continued health
of the namespace or development of a competitive market for
registration and DNS services.
 http://www.circleid.com/articles/2572.asp

Internet Users: Is It Time For A Declaration Of
Independence?
How can Internet users shake off the constraints of an
unaccountable system? Here, again, we learn from history.
Internet users can break free of unresponsive governance by
declaring independence from a global structure that only
represents self-selected "stakeholders." Of course, a
declaration of independence presupposes some shared sense
of what should come from such efforts, and that is a tough
order for a group as wide-spread as the world...
 http://www.circleid.com/articles/2573.asp

Thinking Outside The ICANN Box: Creating A Prototype Based
On Internet Experience - Part I
In the open source movement, there is a principle that the
more eyes observing what is being done, the better the
chance of finding the problems and errors. Similarly, in
1825, James Mill, the father of the well-known philosopher
and economist John Stuart Mill, wrote an article about how
to prevent corruption in government. "There can be no
adequate check without freedom of the press," he wrote.
Considering similar problems, Thomas Paine wrote that
people must be able to freely exchange ideas and knowledge
in order to be able to determine what is good government.
How do these political theorists' ideas contribute to the
problem of creating an appropriate management structure for
the Internet's infrastructure? Ronda Hauben explains the
proposal for the creation of a prototype to develop this
needed structure.
 http://www.circleid.com/articles/2574.asp

Panel Has The Trump Card In Poker.com Dispute Updated -
from http://www.udrplaw.net UDRPlaw.net
CPR Institute Panelist M. Scott Donahey dismissed a
complaint filed against the registrant of Poker.com. As
reported in this ICANNwatch article last week, this case is
an example of a complex dispute between parties which
should be resolved by the court system and not through the
UDRP.
 http://www.cpradr.org/ICANNDecisionCPR0301-030212.htm

California High Court refuses to interject in Sex.com case
The High Court of California yesterday refused to be
dragged into the ongoing legal battle between the owner of
Sex.com, Gary Kremen, and domain registration giant
Verisign.
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/29480.html

http://www.webhostdir.com/news/articles/showarticle.asp?id=1236

Johnnie Walker the man loses to Johnnie Walker the whisky
A ruling by Nominet UK means that a man called John F.
Walker, who registered the web site johnniewalker.me.uk as
a domain name, must suspend his site after Guinness United
Distillers complained it had the rights to the trade mark,
Johnnie Walker.
 http://inquirerinside.com/?article=7975

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