Decision Nears on Contentious Domain Name Service
The overseer of the Internet's domain naming system is
closer to approving a controversial service for
back-ordering Web addresses.
 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1538084,00.asp

nz: Domainz accredited by international domain name body
Wellington-based internet domain name provider Domainz Ltd
can now register website addresses ending in global
extensions, including .com and .org.
 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2823915a13,00.html
 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0402/S00080.htm

nz: Domainz not promising cut-price .com names
Domainz says it won’t be cutting the price of its .com
domain names following accreditation by ICANN to act as a
registrar of .com, .net, .org, .biz and .info domain names.

http://www.computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/FBEAF4528B5FC9DFCC256E430015AA38

nz: More domains may be on way
New Zealanders may get new second-level domains to follow
geek.nz and maori.nz later this year, after InternetNZ
released its draft 2LD policy yesterday.

http://www.computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/UNID/793DE6CB138EA20CCC256E4500142EF2

nz: 2LD Policy Review - Proposed New Policy for Comment
The 2LD Working Group (WG) has considered all submissions
received during the first public consultation of the 2LD
policy review. The WG now invite comment on a proposed new
Second Level Domain policy.
  http://www.dnc
.org.nz/content//proposed_new_2LD_policy.pdf

nz: Zone Transfer Policy Review - Proposed New Policy for
Comment
The Domain Name Commissioner invites comments on a proposed
new Zone Transfer Policy.
  http
://www.dnc.org.nz/content//proposed_new_zone_transfer_policy.pdf

sg: Why's another radio station at class95.com?
Launch your Web browser, type www.class95.com hit the
'return' key and you wind up at... WKRZ 91.3 FM instead. A
third party has registered the class95.com domain name and
uploaded WKRZ website content. MediaCorp, which operates
Class 95, is seeking legal advice. Sounds like a ploy by
WKRZ to cash in on the name of Singapore's most popular
English radio station?

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/techscience/story/0,4386,236784,00.html

au: Melbourne IT returns to black
Domain name registration company Melbourne IT said today it
believed it would outperform 2003 in the current year,
despite the impact of the rising Australian dollar.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/23/1077497491200.html

Domain Area for Children Underutilized
The domain area created by law just for kids has attracted
little interest or investment, resulting in the creation of
but a handful of new children friendly websites.
 http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/005013.html

ICANN Announcement: Internet Users Today Get An Additional
Voice In How the Internet Develops - ICANN Certifies
"At-Large Structures" in Africa, Europe
Furthering ICANN's goal to give the world's Internet users
a stronger voice in how the Internet develops, four
organizations in the African and European regions were
certified as "At-Large Structures" today by the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). They
join six groups that were certified as At-Large Structures
in December and that are helping individual Internet user
communities throughout the world participate in ICANN.

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-23feb04.htm

ICANN Internationalized Domain Names
Welcome to the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)
information area. This area is designed to document the
progress of the implementation of IDNs as well as allow for
discussion of issues encountered in implementation. As part
of this effort, ICANN hosts a publicly archived mailing
list for discussion of IDN implementation issues. All gTLD
and ccTLD registries are encouraged to participate in the
list.
 http://www.icann.org/topics/idn.html

Microsoft's Lindows Fight Expands To Canada
Microsoft Corp. has opened a Canadian front in its
continuing legal war with Lindows.com Inc. In this latest
move, Microsoft filed a request for a permanent injunction
at the Court of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, last week to
stop Lindows.com from using Lindows, LindowsOS and other
terms that conflict with Microsoft's Windows trademark.
 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1537342,00.asp

us: Md. Congressional Candidates Playing the Domain Name
Game
Robin Ficker wants his name back. The perennial political
candidate from Montgomery County has filed a lawsuit to
claim control of www.robinficker.com, a domain name snapped
up by a paid political consultant for Charles R. Floyd, one
of Ficker's Republican opponents in the March 2
congressional primary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A559-2004Feb23.html

ICANN and the Data Quality Act: Part IV
This is the fourth part of a multi-part series reported by
ICANNfocus. This part focuses on the Information Correction
Process. The Data Quality Act provides affected persons the
right "to seek and obtain correction of information
maintained and disseminated by the agency that does not
comply" with the Data Quality Act and implementing
guidelines. ...The Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
provides detailed instructions on how to request correction
of information not meeting their Data Quality guidelines.
NTIA is the operating unit of the Department of Commerce
that is responsible for ICANN.
 http://www.circleid.com/article/501_0_1_0_C

ICANN Whois Task Force 2 Survey Questionnaire for the
Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)
The GNSO's WHOIS Task Force #2 is chartered with reviewing
the current ICANN whois policy regarding the collection,
disclosure and transmittal of data obtained when a domain
name is registered, and how consent of the registrant to
these policies is obtained.

http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/questionnaire-tf2-gac.shtml

Proposed Guidelines for the ICANN Staff Managers Issue
Report - Version 1
Background: The staff manager's issue report is the
precursor to the GNSO policy development process (PDP). The
PDP is relatively new and there has been a high degree of
variation in the quality, length and usefulness of the
issues reports so far. This is not surprising since Council
and staff are still developing procedures. Therefore,
Council proposes guidelines to provide structure for future
staff manager issue reports. The goal is to ensure that the
materials are directly useful to the work of the Council.
 http://gnso.icann.org/council/pdp-guide-v1.shtml

WHOIS Task Force 3 Teleconference February 18 , 2004 -
Minutes

http://gnso.icann.org/meetings/minutes-dow3tf-18feb04.shtml

It's About Connectivity Not The Internet! By Bob Frankston
I've been trying to avoid writing about the Internet as
such. With as "At the Edge" I'm looking at larger issues
but can't escape writing more directly about the Internet.
It seems as if everyone wants a say in Internet policy
without distinguishing between technical and social issues.
Today the term "The Internet" or, for many simply
"Internet" is more of brand than a term for a specific
technology and its implications. It has become too easy to
talk about the Internet in lieu of understanding. We also
see the converse -- a failure to recognize "Internet"
issues.
 http://www.circleid.com/article/499_0_1_0_C

nz: Minutes of NZOC Meeting - 19 February 2004
The minutes of the NZOC meeting held on 19 February 2004
are available at:
 http://www.dnc. org.nz/content//minutes_NZOC_19_Feb_04.pdf

ICONZ Expansion Drive Secures Free Parking (Press Release:
ICONZ)
Internet business solutions provider (ICONZ) has purchased
New Zealand's most popular authorised domain name
registrar, FreeParking, as part of its ongoing expansion
strategy.
 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/SC0402/S00095.htm

Civil society bats for 'non-profit' .ph domain registry
Some representatives of the civil society showed support to
the recently drafted guidelines on the administration of
the Philippine (.ph) domain name. However, they also urged
government to ensure greater public access to the use of
the domain.
 http://www.itmatters.com.ph/news/news_02182004b.html

cn: Will the World's Most Populous Nation Become a Premier
Market for Domains?
 http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/china.htm

us: FBI Takes Servers From Chat Room Company
Federal agents conducting an Internet crime investigation
confiscated computer equipment and data files from a
company that hosts private Internet chat rooms, an FBI
spokesman said Tuesday.

http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/high_tech/1700/2-25-2004/20040225081506_27.html

us: Agents Complain That Website Vendor Cheated Them
Agents around the country are complaining about a Website
vendor, Informedia Group, Inc., which they say took their
money in advance, registered their domain names in the
company's name, and then abandoned support of their
Websites.
 http://realtytimes.com/rtapages/20040225_cheat.htm

ITU Background Paper for ITU Workshop on Internet
Governance
The workshop objective is to contribute to the ITU's
process that will prepare its inputs and position vis-ā-vis
the United Nations working group to be established on
Internet governance, resulting from the Declaration of
Principles and Action Plan adopted on 12 December 2003 at
the first phase of the World Summit on the Information
Society. For the Background Paper: Herding Schrödinger's
Cats: Some Conceptual Tools for Thinking about Internet
Governance see:

http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/forum/intgov04/contributions/itu-workshop-feb-04-internet-governance-background.pdf
 http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/forum/intgov04/index.html

MaxMD To Offer Internet Domain Names With .md Designation
to International Health Care Community
MaxMD, a privately held company, announced today that it
will begin selling internet domain names with the
designation .md to the global health care community
beginning March 1, 2004. By creating a new internet
landscape for the global health care community, MaxMD
increases the availability of relevant internet names and
addresses. As a result, participants in the health care
sector can acquire valuable names that correlate precisely
with the marketing of their core businesses, established
trademarks and new products.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040225005446&newsLang=en

Brand-Name Web Sites Available for a Price
Suppose the long-deliberated decision to create your
company's own web site has been made. The only formality
left to sort out is getting your hard-earned brand-name
domain registered. Luckily, there are plenty of firms
offering the service.
 http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/946/sb/s_11767.htm

What Is A Domain Name And Why Do You Need One?
What is a Domain Name? A domain name in its simplest form
is just an Internet Website address. Just as your house or
apartment has its own unique identifying address for the
post office, so does each and every Website in existence.

http://www.webpronews.com/ebusiness/professionaldevelopment/wpn-11-20040225WhatisaDomainNameandWhyDoYouNeedOne.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Check out http://www.auda.org.au/about/news for the latest
domain news. Within 24 hours of this news being posted, a
more recent edition of the news will normally be posted to
the auDA web site. The domain name news is supported by
auDA.

Also see
http://greta.electric.gen.nz/mailman/listinfo/internet-news
for an archive or to subscribe to the general news.

Sources include Quicklinks (www.qlinks.net) and BNA
Internet Law News (www.bna.com/ilaw)".


=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David§yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home

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