Nominet have introduced a free pilot DNSSEC Signing Service to simplify the signing of zones and help encourage the introduction of the improved security measure in the .UK ccTLD. This new product from Nominet allows registrars to hand-over the process of DNSSEC signing their zones to Nominet. The service reduces the technical barriers to DNSSEC deployment by registrars. It allows registrars to quickly and easily start offering DNSSEC as a security product to their customers with very few overheads and without significant and costly infrastructure development. Nominet’s signing service is an alternative approach to DNSSEC management that, with a much lower infrastructure investment, allows registrars to sign zones. Nominet will generate and manage DNSSEC keys and DS records and publish them to nameservers and parent zones respectively, allowing registrars to sign zones in a quick and simple way. The pilot service is free however Nominet say they intend to introduce charges for using the service in January 2013. The fee will be ten per cent of the registration cost which, based on the current registration prices will be £0.50 (plus VAT) per domain name for two years. Nominet have provided information on how the DNSSEC Signing Service works here . To register your .UK domain name, check out Europe Registry here .

Hustler has prohibited ICM Registry, the operator of the .XXX registry, “from registering or selling to a third party any .XXX domain names that contain the famous Hustler trademark or other Hustler-related trademarks.” Hustler President Michael Klein said “it appears that the .XXX TLD will do nothing but drive up costs to the adult community and will force us to fight infringement on yet another front,” according to an XBix.com report. Hustler has made clear in writing several times “that any attempt to do so will constitute infringement of its intellectual property rights and that legal action will be taken, the company said.” “Like many other companies in the adult industry, Hustler will not allow its trademarks to be bought, sold or used by any other entity nor will be we be shaken down by ICM,” Klein said. “We are prepared to take whatever legal action may be necessary.” The report also noted that attorneys for Hustler said they are continuing attempts to initiate dialogue with ICM, but the company has remained silent. “We are constantly policing the registration and use of domain names that attempt to capitalize on Hustler’s trademarks,” said Jonathan Brown, attorney for Hustler. “ICM’s silence is particularly disconcerting, especially in light of ICM’s supposed aim of ‘working proactively to balance the rights of existing domain name holders, and other trademark and intellectual property holders.’” In a separate report on AVN, the parent company of Brazzers, Manwin, also signalled its intention to assertively protect its online properties in a letter to ICM Registry last week demanding protection of its domain names and trademarks as the launch date for .XXX nears.

New registration policies for .HU domain names came into effect on 1 June 2011 with the main change seeing a shortening of the registration procedure for the Hungarian ccTLD’s domain names. Previously “a unique registration mechanism meant that it took at least two weeks to register a ‘.hu’ domain name, which the applicant could not use until its final registration” reports the International Law Office website, a significant disadvantage as it was much easier and quicker for registrants to register domains in other TLDs. “The Hungarian system remains unique in enabling IP rights holders to prevent potential serious infringements before the final registration of a domain name. However, the period within which a trademark owner may object to the final registration of a domain name has been reduced.” For more details on the changes to .HU registration procedures, check out www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?g=bb828be3-0db8-4394-8ee9-b29a838194a3 . To register your .HU domain name under the new procedures, check out Europe Registry here .

CIRA (the Canadian Internet Registration Authority)  now uses a promo video to promote the .CA country code top level domain . This is a very interesting idea and it will definitely help CIRA gain more exposure . The video was posed on YouTube and it already has 1,032 visitors

[news release] In light of the recent disasters that have devastated Japan, .ORG, The Public Interest Registry (PIR) today announced a plan to waive renewal fees for Japanese domain name holders who are unable to renew their .ORG domain names. Together with PIR, more than 15 participating Registrars have committed to automatically renew for one year at no cost the .ORG domain names that would unintentionally expire due to the inability of the owner in Japan to re-up their registration.  Affected names will include those with expiration dates within the March 11 – June 11, 2011 period.

A screenshot from Network Solutions website shows features of its SSL certificates (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) – Web hosting provider Network Solutions ( www.networksolutions.com ) announced on Monday that it has added Xpress SSL certificates, domain validated SSL certificates with 256-bit encryption.

Hosting company starts German newbuild Hetzner Online breaks ground on 40,000 sq m site in Nuremberg Published 22nd March, 2011 by Penny Jones