Neustar have advised ICANN they will be increasing the wholesale price of .BIZ domains, the price they charge registrar’s, by $0.55 or approximately 7.5 per cent as of 1 February 2012. This means the price will increase from the current$7.30 to $7.85 per year and is in line with the registry agreement Neustar have with ICANN. Of course, registrants can avoid the fee increase by registering their .BIZ domain names before 1 February through America Registry here .

Domain name theft is a significant problem claims Morgan Linton, with thousands of domain names stolen each year – some belonging to hobbyists, others to business while others can be premium domain names. In an announcement announcing the establishment of DomainTheft.org , Domain Investor Morgan Linton says that unfortunately law enforcement agencies do not have a procedure in place to track the theft and generally nothing is done. Most domain registrars and marketplaces try to stay-out of these situations as well and assume zero responsibility for the loss, even if the customer put their life-savings into the domain. There is no domain name police, theft database, or recovery agents, until now. Linton’s company plans to make a major impact in the domain security and theft prevention space. DomainTheft.org is a centralised database of stolen domains all verified by a proprietary algorithm called DTVS or the Domain Theft Verification System. DTVS does an initial check to ensure that the theft being committed is valid and then sends it along to a member of DomainTheft.org’s task force for investigation. “People have been buying and selling domain names for over 15 years, and thieves have been stealing domains for the same amount of time,” says Linton who runs a popular blog that attracts Domain Investors from all over the world. The service will work through domain owners paying a small monthly fee to list their stolen domains in the system and the database is available to every major domain name sales platform and marketplaces like eBay and Flippa. “If every marketplace checks our database before listing a domain for sale it will not only dramatically reduce the number of stolen domains, but also improve the chance of recovery,” says Linton who is pioneering the space as the founder of the first Domain Theft Database available online. “Along with listing domain names in our database we have dedicated recovery agents that will work with registrars and law enforcement agencies to recover stolen domains.” The amazing thing about DomainTheft.org’s recovery service is the price – there is none. “The cost of this service is entirely up to the customer. At the end of the day we want to make the domain world a better place and financial gain is not our primary focus.” The service start-up coincides with the decision last week of the first case where a domain thief was criminally prosecuted in the United States. Daniel Goncalves was sentenced to five years in prison after stealing P2P.com from domain investor Mark Ostrofsky and attempting to sell it to retired NBA star Mark Madsen. In cases like these it can take high-powered lawyers and big bucks to recover a domain. “Our goal is big and the challenge is even bigger, but we think that we can make a huge impact in the Domain Name Security space. Just think, if everyone checks our database before they buy a domain name, it will be almost impossible for thieves to sell domains.” Linton feels strongly that by making it harder to sell stolen domains, thieves will become less inclined to even attempt a theft. “Some people want to make the physical world a better place, I want to make the virtual world a better place and DomainTheft.org will do exactly that.”

So, you’ve heard about ICANN’s new TLD Program and you’re thinking about the best way to get involved so you can gain a slice of the of the $5 billion dollar domain name industry. You might be an entrepreneur out to make your next million, a brand looking to make a statement of leadership in the digital space, a city keen to deliver a clear digital identity online or maybe something cool I’ve never even heard of! Regardless of your intention, what you might be missing is a real insight into the ways in which you can activate the new Top-Level Domain opportunity to introduce a business never before seen in the domain name space. As someone who has been following the program closely for a few years now, below are five key tips that will hopefully get your brain working in overdrive: 1. Act now: The clock is ticking on this limited opportunity. The application window will open on 12 January and we’ll start to see new Top-Level Domains in operation from 2013. If companies and entrepreneurs miss the application window (12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012), it may be a long time before they have the same opportunity again. Get moving now to make sure you don’t miss the boat. There is less than 176 days until the application window opens and you’ll need all of that time to make sure your approach is on the money. 2. Think different: This opportunity isn’t all about trying to be the next .com. The real value lies within the formation of market or vertical centric generic TLDs that will offer value to a specific target audience. Let’s take a .music TLD as an example of a generic Top-Level Domain that could be launched specifically for the music industry. Such a namespace is not intended to be a competitor to .com, however it will still hold significant value to the music industry given it will be directly tied to the subject matter as well as the global music community. The logical step regarding perceived value is the opportunity to demand a higher price per domain, driving profit up even if overall registration volumes don’t break world records. So think very carefully about your audience, as I firmly believe that the most successful new Top-Level Domain applicants will be those that are able to identify a consumer group that is willing to pay more per domain for the privilege of an authoritative, trusted and relevant domain name. In this game, an audience of “everyone” is a very risky move to make. 3. Commercialise your .brand TLD: .brand TLDs don’t just have to be an online branding exercise to improve message recall and online efficiency. There are huge opportunities available for .brand applicants to activate the namespace and drive return on investment. Imagine eBay securing .eBay and selling a slice of that space to its audience of 94 million registered users at two dollars per vanity domain name fee? Think michaeltwist.ebay and you’ve got the basis of a solid revenue generation model. 4. No language barrier: For the first time in history, new Top-Level Domains are available in non-Latin scripts and with 60% of the world’s population residing in countries where the native language is based on a script other than Latin, you could be one of the first to capitalise on this latest shift in domain name technology. Imagine what the Chinese equivalent for .com could be worth to the thriving Chinese community? 5. Seek advice: The new Top-Level Domain program is not for the novice – there are few people who can run a slice of the Internet alone – so start with the idea and seek advice from an industry expert who understands the application process, policy and technological infrastructure required to make the most of the new Top-Level Domain opportunity. The five tips explained above are just a starting point for a much larger analysis of your idea and associated business case. At AusRegistry International, we are currently working with brands, entrepreneurs and governments across the world in a full service capacity that can cover your entire new Top-Level Domain project from strategy right through to technology and launch marketing services. Please feel free to drop me a line if you’re after some advice on how you can make the most of this revolutionary opportunity. Also, be sure to read a blog we wrote last month explaining why choosing a domain name registry services partner for your new Top-Level Domain is the most important decision you will make from here on in. For more information please visit www.ausregistry.com or find out more about the new Top-Level Domain program here: www.BeyondDotCom.info This article was written by Michael Twist, Top-Level Domain specialist with AusRegistry International and was sourced with permission from www.ausregistry.com/blog/?p=831 .

by Adrian Kinderis, CEO of AusRegistry International , explains why choosing a registry services partner is the most important decision applicants will make. The ICANN Singapore meeting last week was all about certainty. The official approval of the new Top-Level Domain program and the delivery of an application timeline by the ICANN Board has provided the certainty we have all been eagerly waiting for. What I can also be certain about is that potential applicants are now desperately trying to finalise their new Top-Level Domain strategies. To those applicants, I have one very important message: Choosing a domain name registry services partner for your new Top-Level Domain is the most important decision you will make from here on in. As such, I think it is also important for potential applicants to understand that not all registry services providers are created equal. There are several key criteria for differentiation that can help potential applicants decipher all the spin and make an informed decision. Below is my summary of the criteria I believe are critical for your choice in registry services partner. 1) Experience – Your chosen partner must have long-term experience in developing, growing and operating a current, high volume namespace. In this game, experience counts for everything. 2) Financial Security – Financial security ensures long term viability of your provider. This means that your registry services partner will be around for as long as your TLD needs them to be. 3) Flexibility – Your solution must be built for the specific requirements of your new TLD. Flexibility from your registry services partner will ensure you aren’t restricted by technical capability. 4) Focus – Are new TLDs a primary focus of the business? They should be… 5) Diverse Expertise – Navigating the TLD minefield is no easy task. To ensure success, you’ll need a combination of dedicated industry consultants, knowledgeable technical resources and sales & marketing experts to meet ICANN’s stringent requirements. Great registry services require an equal balance of brain power and technology. 6) Commitment – Ask prospective partners how much of their own time has been invested understanding the intricate details of the Applicant Guidebook and ICANN’s processes. Have they been an advocate and influencer of the program since its inception? Are they committed to the success of this revolutionary program? 7) Price – Extremely low per domain pricing structures may seem like a good idea in theory, however  you must question the ability for that entity to manage a registry well and, importantly, support your ongoing business long-term. If your partner is hamstrung because they have over committed on pricing, you may experience some challenges long-term. What you are looking for is a service provider that can positively cover off all these points at a consistently high level. What you want to avoid is a provider that may excel at one point to the detriment of another. There is only six months until the 12 January 2012 application window opens and the time to act is now. I’ve provided you with all the information you need to make the right decisions about your new Top-Level Domain. There is just one more piece of information I forgot to include: info@ausregistry.com . Drop my team a line one day to see how we stack up. This article was sourced from the AusRegistry blog at: www.ausregistry.com/blog/?p=803

Contributed by Wallace Manfrin on April 25 Questions have been raised as to the viability of the cloud computing system in light of recent technical difficulties faced by Amazon. Technical problems caused extensive interruption of the computer services provided by the company on Friday for the second day in a row

An illustration, from the Rackspace website, of Cloud Load Balancers in operation (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Managed and cloud hosting provider Rackspace ( www.rackspace.com ) announced on Tuesday that it has introduced its Cloud Load Balancers offering, a software-based, utility-priced load balancing product designed for use with its cloud hosting products, as well as its dedicated and managed server offerings. In private beta since Novmeber of 2010, and public beta since February of this year, Cloud Load Balancers, says Rackspace, is designed to alleviate the barriers to entry and architectural complexity associated with using third-party open source software load balancers. Based on that lengthy beta period, says Jerry Schwartz, enterprise services product manager at Rackspace, in an interview with the WHIR, the company incorporated a great deal of customer feedback into the development of its Cloud Load Balancers

A screenshot from Virtual Internet’s website (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – In the week ending April 15, 2011, there were many exciting promotions, including a free iPad 2 with colocation. Web host Virtual Internet is offering corporate customers who sign-up for colocation a free iPad, AvailHosting is offering half off its new VPS hosting plans, 1&1 Internet is offering 50 percent of its .co domains and German web host Strato is offering two servers for the price of one for a limited time. Web Host Virtual Internet Offers iPad 2 with UK Colocation Packages  Web hosting provider Virtual Internet ( www.vi.net ) is offering its UK corporate colocation customers who sign up for a one year contract a free iPad 2.