One- and Two-Character .TRAVEL domain names will be released in the near future following ICANN’s approval of the proposal to release all of the domain names. The .TRAVEL registry is currently deciding a process for releasing the domain names that conform to the proposal submitted to ICANN with a likely release in September 2010. Registrars and registrants will have ample opportunity to review the terms of the program before the first names are available for registration.

Nokia appears to be interested in applying for the .NOKIA top level domain according to a Domain Incite report. During a meeting of ICANN’s vertical integration working group on 30 August Nokia working group representative Tero Mustala said, “our company is considering the possibilities to apply for a new gTLD” according to the report

Responding to a Domain Name Wire article on whether there is “policy overload” at ICANN and whether they are “handling too many policy efforts at once”, David Olive responds on the ICANN Blog saying the answer with a definitive “no”. Olive writes that “Public Comment periods are vital in satisfying ICANN’s goal to be a bottom-up multi-stakeholder policy making body and to provide openness and transparency in its policy development processes.” “An ICANN policy development process takes time to gather all viewpoints.

Web Hosting News – Scottsdale, AZ -  High visibility companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Overstock “O.co” and Twitter “T.co” have registered .CO domain names. Overstock.com spent $350,000 for O.co and Twitter took T.co for its shortened URL.

ISOC-IL, the registry for .IL (Israel), has announced they will soon be making available domain names containing Hebrew characters, like איגוד-האינטרנט.org.il. Prior to general availability, ISOC-IL is launching a Sunrise process. There will be four phases in the lead up to making Hebrew .IL domain names available to the general public

The Obama administration has issued a request for domain name registrars to attend a meeting at the White House in late September to look at voluntary ways to crack down on online pharmacies that sell counterfeit prescription medications. The request was sent by White House Senior Adviser for Intellectual Property Enforcement Andrew J.

New gTLDs continue to be a major topic of discussion within ICANN circles, and the regional meeting currently underway in Tokyo has revealed some interesting updates for potential applicants. ICANN’s Chief gTLD Registry Liaison, Craig Schwartz, delivered a great presentation on the progress being made behind the scenes at ICANN and provided the attendees with an insight into a couple of key changes that are likely to be seen in the Final Applicant Guidebook.

ICANN will be holding a third consultation on the new gTLD registry agreement issues at 18:30 UTC on 8 September. On the ICANN Blog, Craig Schwartz writes that “ICANN has consulted with an open drafting consultation group on several issues relating to implementation of the new gTLD program. Earlier this year the “Temporary Drafting Group” group met twice to discuss the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Process and the process for future amendments to the registry agreement for new gTLDs

The Netfleet domain name auction of a number of premium .AU domain names closes Friday afternoon Australian time at 15:00:00 Australian Eastern Standard Time. The domain names up for grabs are: 3DProjector.com.au AVShop.com.au BackupPower.com.au Blackberry.net.au Boards.com.au Cables.com.au Camerapro.com.au Chargers.com.au CloudNetworking.com.au DataRecoverySoftware.com.au DigiCopy.com.au DigitalCams.com.au DownloadIt.com.au ElectricalParts.com.au Gadgetry.com.au GamersNetwork.com.au GamesNetwork.com.au Gizmos.net.au GlobalPositioning.com.au GPSPro.com.au Groups.com.au HandHeld.com.au HtmlCodes.com.au MobileBackup.com.au Mouse.net.au MP3Players.com.au MP3Playerstore.com.au Network.com.au NetworkStore.com.au NewLaptop.com.au Notebook.com.au NotebooksOnline.com.au PatchPanels.com.au PCDealer.com.au Printer.com.au Printers.com.au PrinterShop.com.au ProjectorSales.com.au Repair.com.au Repairs.com.au Restores.com.au Router.com.au SalePoint.com.au Scanner.com.au Screens.com.au SecureDigitalCards.com.au SecurityCams.com.au Semiconductor.com.au Server.com.au Servers.com.au SolarPowerChoices.com.au SolarTiles.com.au TechNews.com.au Telecommuters.com.au VideoCams.com.au Wallpaper.com.au WebsiteSoftware.com.au WiMAX.com.au Workstation.com.au To bid on these domain names visit the Netfleet website and login with your Netfleet username and password, enter your maximum bid for any domain names you choose and click submit. The colour coded legend on the right will indicate how successful your bid was, showing either red, or green, with a full explanation of why (you were outbid, you are winning etc).

Though .co is the country-code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for Colombia, the second-level registrations (ie company.co) are available on a global basis and it is being pitched as a direct competitor to the dominant .com gTLD. Google has altered its algorithm to increase the relevance of search results in the .co domain by treating .co as a gTLD and allowing .co website owners to specify the geographic regions they are targeting.  Though .CO Internet has the freedom enjoyed by all ccTLDs of not having to operate under ICANN’s policy framework, they have elected to adopt policies that very closely match that framework, including the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). The launch of second-level registrations under .co therefore represents, to all intents and purposes, a new gTLD launch, and appears to be a popular alternative to .com for both large corporations and small businesses, at least at this early stage.  Overstock’s purchase of o.co for US$350,000 shows a high degree of confidence in the new .co brand, and Twitter has also joined their list of high-profile anchor tenants, launching t.co as a secure URL shortening service.  Anecdotal evidence also suggests that small businesses are taking the opportunity to secure names within this new space that they had been unable to register in .com or other spaces.

In a shock announcement, the Board of Directors of .ORG the Public Interest Registry announced today that Alexa Raad, the President and Chief Executive Officer of PIR, has decided to resign from her positions with the company effective on September 24th, 2010. Her resignation concludes 3.5 years of service and leadership at PIR.

With IPv4 addresses running out rapidly, Verizon says businesses are better off adopting IPv6 sooner rather than later. And with 4G (long term evolution – LTE) and WiMAX devices with dedicated internet access, the demand for IP addresses will only increase, thus necessitating the adoption of IPv6 even sooner, William Schmidlapp, Verizon Business’s product manager for Internet dedicated access services, told Network World

EURid has taken a closer look at the distribution of .EU registrations among its registrars and has found that 65 per cent of domain name registrants chose a registrar from their own country, 18 per cent chose a registrar from a different country in the European Union, and 17 per cent chose a registrar located outside the EU according to a news release released this week. Registrants in Germany, Poland and Lithuania were the ones most likely to use a national registrar. In the European Union, registrars in Cyprus, Denmark and Luxembourg were the ones with the largest share of their business originating from outside the country