September 2, 2011 — SEO host SEO Web Hosting announced on Thursday that it has named Josh Ward general manager. SEO Web Hosting has offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Durham, North Carolina, and provides hosting across multiple IP ranges using multiple name servers, according to its website. It provides colocation, bandwidth, dedicated servers, and managed services out of data centers in Nevada, Silicon Valley, Philadelphia and the UK.

The latest Dashboard report from the Public Interest Registry shows the TLD continues rapid growth with an increase in active registrations of 10.1 per cent year on year, and four per cent or over 350,000, in the six months, to the end of June. The growth sees .ORG registrations total 9.2 million at the end of June with North America (63%) and the European Union (23%) accounting for the regions with the most registrations. In 2011, Italy and Japan entered the list of the top ten countries from where registrations originated. Other countries in the top ten are Germany, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Netherlands, Spain and China. In total 11 per cent of registrations come from the Asia pacific, two per cent from Latin America and the Caribbean one per cent from Africa. “Yet again, we’re seeing significant growth of the .ORG domain as web users worldwide continue to see the value in using a trusted, secure domain to educate, mobilize and empower their communities,” said Brian Cute, CEO of .ORG, The Public Interest Registry. “By June 2011, the .ORG domain reached 9.2 million domains under management, a monumental figure compared to the 3.9 million in 2005. These numbers are clear indicators that .ORG is well-positioned to take advantage of the Internet growth that we continue to see occur.” As part of its most recent Dashboard report, the Public Interest Registry commissioned research on the health and status of traditional websites versus corporate social media. The study indicated that 81 per cent of web surfers still chose an organisation’s website – over Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn – as the most trustworthy place to find information. Moreover, almost half of all respondents – 47 per cent – would choose .ORG over other domain extensions to post information on a cause they are passionate about. And during a time of crisis, 39 per cent of Americans turn to a .ORG website for information first. As predicted when asked which word people most commonly associate with the .ORG domain, the most common response was “non profits” with 52 per cent of responses. Other responses were: 12 per cent associate .ORG with “trusted” 4 per cent associate .ORG with “exclusive” 21 per cent associate .ORG with all of the above 9 per cent associate it with none of the above. To download the full report, see: pir.org/pdf/dashboard_1H_2011.pdf To register your .ORG domain name, check out America Registry here .

July 29, 2011 — Research group Tier1 Research recently released the second iteration of its North American Multi-Tenant Data Center Supply: Emerging Major Markets report for 2011. The study finds that the 14 major North American markets have a utilization rate of approximately 79 percent.

The domain names WorldTradeCenter.com and Moms.com are up for sale through Aftermarket.com and Sedo respectively. While there are several World Trade Centre’s around the globe, WorldTradeCenter.com is seeking to cash in on the tragedy of 9 September 2001. “We believe that WorldTradeCenter.com will forever attract those seeking to commemorate such a poignant event in U.S. history,” said Carron Brown, Director of Marketing for Thought Convergence. “We’re proud to play a role in locating the appropriate owner to preserve the reverence of the site.” Meanwhile moms.com is seeking to cash in on an entirely different demographic – what Sedo describes as the “highly influential ‘mom’ demographic.” Sedo notes that with the buying power of American mothers currently $2.1 trillion a year, what the North Americans call the “mom” (the rest of us English speakers say “mum”) demographic is one of the most lucrative consumer groups in the United States. Moreover, they are one of the top performing groups with regards to blogging, social media, couponing and overall internet use. A recent study shows that the number of “US Adult Female Internet Users with Children” increases year by year, revealing the massive marketing opportunity for this growing demographic. “It’s very rare when a domain name of this value becomes available – especially one that has not yet been developed,” said Kathy Nielsen, Director of Sales at Sedo. “Moms.com not only offers the right investor the ability to start with a clean slate, but also provides a very significant marketing and revenue opportunity. We are very pleased to be chosen as the exclusive brokerage firm to represent this domain sale.” Descriptive and generic domains that define a category have historically been the most valuable properties on the Web. Similar domains that have sold in the past show the potential value of the sale of this domain. For example, Toys.com sold for $5 million in 2009, Men.com sold for $1,320,000 in 2003, and Social.com sold for $2,500,000 in 2011.

Opening for an ALAC Representative from the North American Region Application Period Ends 25 July 2011 Following the resignation of the ALAC representative from the North American region, appointed by ICANN’s 2010 Nominating Committee (NomCom), the 2011 NomCom invites Statements of Interest for this important ICANN leadership position. Interested individuals from the North American region are invited to submit a Statement of Interest to become an At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) representative for the remainder of the current term, ending at the ICANN Annual General Meeting in 2012. The Statement of Interest form is online nomcom.icann.org/apply/ North American citizens who submitted SOIs in 2011, or carried forward previous SOIs into the 2011 process, will be invited to update their statements and have them considered by the NomCom. ICANN’s geographic regions are explained in this www.icann.org/en/meetings/montreal/geo-regions-topic.htm document. The At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is the ICANN body responsible for representing the voice of the end user in policy and operational discussions. For more information on the work of the ALAC see www.atlarge.icann.org/ . To fill this interim vacancy the NomCom is seeking an accomplished person of integrity, objectivity and intelligence who has: a commitment to ICANN’s mission and an understanding of the potential impact of ICANN decisions on the global Internet community an understanding of the DNS and the impact of ICANN policy on end users demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making and sound judgment an interest in bottom-up consensus policy building in a real-life environment an ability to chair or otherwise provide leadership and support for a multi-stakeholder group working to reach consensus a willingness to serve as a volunteer, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses the ability to work and communicate in English The following knowledge, qualities and experiences are specifically sought: experience and skills that bear on gathering, understanding, and communicating the interests of individual users and in group decision-making consumer protection and or consumer advocacy experience particularly in communications/telecommunication sector specific experience and/or expertise in internet-related policy development leadership experience in local or regional internet-related or DNS policy experience in gTLD or ccTLD activities ability to bring to the ALAC a National or Sub-Regional Internet user view or perspective not currently represented in the North American RALO or existing ALS demographic strong local networks that will positively enhance the current ALAC and Regionally focused strategic and project planning as they relate to the wider ICANN Strategic plan and ALAC Improvement Implementation More information about the position can be found in the 2011 NomCom “leadership positions” document nomcom.icann.org/positions-2011.htm Statements of Interest for the position described above can be submitted through an on-line application form at nomcom.icann.org/apply/ or by contacting nomcom2011@icann.org . More information regarding the Nominating Committee can be found at nomcom.icann.org/ . Applications will be considered in confidence and should be received by 25 July 2011 for full consideration. Selections will be announced as soon as possible thereafter and the successful candidate will take up the position immediately. The successful candidate will be invited to participate in ICANN #42 Meeting to be held in Dakar, Senegal, 23-28 October 2011. Background: The Nominating Committee is designed to function independently from the ICANN Board, Supporting Organizations, and Advisory Committees. Nominating Committee members act only on behalf of the interests of the global Internet community and within the scope of the ICANN mission and responsibilities assigned to it by the ICANN Bylaws. Nominating Committee members contribute understanding of the broad interests of the Internet community as a whole, and knowledge and experience of specific Internet constituencies who have appointed them. The challenge for the Nominating Committee is to integrate these perspectives and derive consensus in its selections. Although appointed by Supporting Organizations and other ICANN entities, individual Nominating Committee members are not accountable to their appointing constituencies. Members are accountable for adherence to the ICANN Bylaws and for compliance with the rules and procedures established by the Nominating Committee. Successful candidates are not remunerated, although direct expenses incurred in the course of duty will be reimbursed. Fluency in English is a requirement for all positions. These positions may involve significant international travel, including personal presence at periodic ICANN meetings, as well as regular telephone and Internet communications. This ICANN announcement was sourced from: www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-20jul11-en.htm

Web Hosting – Denver, CO – ViaWest, a leading provider of colocation, hosting, and managed services, announced the grand opening of its twenty-first enterprise-class data center located in Portland, Oregon. Hillsboro II is the company’s second data center investment in the region. Grand opening ceremonies are scheduled for May 12 and will feature tours of the new facility, product overviews, and local celebrity appearances

SpamExperts and eApps Hosting announce Strategic Partnership Web Hosting – SpamExperts announced that eApps, provider of high performance, high up-time hosting and related services has joined its Hosting Partner Program. As a Hosting Partner of SpamExperts, eApps will be offering e-mail security products to its clients in order to provide them the highest level of security and protection.