Domains & DNS: February 2006 Archives

Why oh why oh why do people get DNS so wrong? I'm really tired of other providers' incompetence when it comes to setting up DNS entries for clients. There are two basic things you need to setup reverse DNS. Without them it simply will not work:

1. A dns server
2. Delegation

There's no point making entries unless you have delegation. This article explains it in quite simple and plain English

Although consumers may have been following the pricing of domains that they pay ie. the retail rates they should be aware of what is going on behind the scenes. A lot of the bloggers who are involved in the domain industry have been commenting in recent months about the new contracts that Verisign is getting from ICANN.

As part of our sponsorship of the inaugaral Irish Blog Awards we'd like to offer all nominees a little something. We are offering all nominees a blog hosting plan + FREE domain (com/net/org/info/biz/co.uk) for one year. The package details are as follows:

• 200 MB diskspace
• 2.5 Gb monthly transfer
• FREE domain name*
• FREE email filtering
• Choice of Wordpress or Drupal preinstalled

I'll be giving Damien a special coupon code for the nominees to use. If you already have your own domain and hosting then you can either transfer it or setup a second blog. Small print: This offer is non-transferrable and is only available to nominees. It may not be exchanged for other services to the same value and is valid for the first 12 months of hosting and domain registration (for co.uk domains the initial 2 year registration period is covered)

Ambrand mentions the WIPO decision regarding the domain cultureireland.ie The case is between Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and Odyssey Internet Portal Limited. It seems that Odyssey registered the domain after the Department had either failed to renew the domain or simply let it expire. While they had held the domain for a period up to 2004 they were no longer the holder when they setup a national agency "culture ireland" in February 2005. Of course the domain was still available at that time, so why didn't they register it? In either case they lost the WIPO case. Why? The judgement includes some interesting details: "As to the use of the name “Culture Ireland” by the agency established by the Complainant in February 2005, the Complainant asserts that the agency and its name were “widely publicized” at the time of launch and that the agency “has already gained recognition and has established a reputation in both Ireland and abroad”. Again there is little detail let alone supporting evidence. Just how widely was the agency publicized in February 2005? Why have no examples of this publicity been produced? What activities has the agency undertaken in the six month period between its launch and the filing of this Complaint to generate the claimed reputation and recognition in that relatively short period? Again the Complainant might have exhibited samples of marketing material or details of marketing spend amongst other things." So before you go running off on a big marketing campaign, you may want to protect your brand..

Anyone wishing to draw comparisons between the IEDR and the Spanish domain registry probably needs to get their head examined: - the site's SSL seems to be self-signed - there is no whois server - the web based whois uses captcha

While talking to a friend last night the conversation swung round to that of analogies and how best to explain "our" world to the non-technical. Using an analogy can help, as for some people the concept of websites, hosting and domains is far too intangible and abstract for them to comprehend. Hosting companies sell or rent online real estate (space). They can help mark out your plots of land (domains) before you bring in architects (designers?) and engineers (developers?) to build your house or office Now how far can I take the analogy? :)

I wonder if someone screwed up or was emmyawards.com simply never held by them ?

One of the more common misconceptions regarding international domains (com/net/org/info/biz) is that the expiry date is meaningful. While it is indicative of the domain's renewal date it bears little relation to the domain's actual expiry date and its subsequent release. Mike Davidson provides a fairly clear explanation as he works his way through the entire process of picking up an expired domain Well worth reading

Over the last few months there has been a certain degree of debate in some circles with regard to the IEDR's pricing and other policies. Some people called for a reduction in pricing, although they did little to pass on any saving to the public. In other quarters there were mutterings about the future of the IE namespace with both the advent of EU looming on the horizon coupled with the likelihood of greater government involvement in the day to day running of the registry. What has the IEDR done about this? On the pricing front there was a significant reduction on both the wholesale and retail rate from 1st January this year. While some people are displeased with this, their displeasure would appear to be tainted by their previous complaints about the high pricing. Prior to January the pricing structure for IE resellers was anything but simple. There were pricing tiers based on the number of domains "held" by a billing contact. Once you got past a particular threshold you qualified for a rebate - not a price reduction - which was given to you quarterly. This obviously benefited some of the larger resellers who were billing for several thousand domains, but even for them this "pay now get moneyback later" scheme must have been quite cumbersome. The new pricing scheme is much simpler for all parties concerned. Instead of tiers you have a nice and simple uniform price, which per unit means that even the larger players do not pay more per unit than they did previously. However, as is so common in Irish business, there are those who are not happy with this pricing structure and would wish to cast doubts on the integrity of companies who have passed on savings to their clients. What ever happened to free market economics? Surely it is up to each company to chose their own business model? Why should taking a gutsy approach be greeted with an attack on a company's integrity or viability? However it is not for me, as a business owner, to make these decisions. Ultimately competitors are free to choose how they wish to react to our marketing tactics as in reality we do not market or sell to them, so their views of us do not really matter. Having said that the IEDR's own policies and procedures should be reviewed, or at least discussed. There are certain apparent inconsistencies between what they claim on the one hand and what they do on the other. What exactly do they mean by a "managed registry"? Which facets of the IE namespace, apart form the zonefiles, are they actually managing? Is it merely a matter of them applying rote to the processes and procedures that have been in place since the IE namespace was moved under the management of the IEDR, or should they be doing more to promote it and defend it from squatters and spammers? While it is possible for an individual to discuss these matters directly with IEDR management surely a more proactive approach is needed? Other registries, such as Nominet, actively encourage feedback from members. While the case of Nominet is hardly a good example to choose, due to the very size of the operation etc., it is also a good role model to follow in some cases.

There are a lot of myths and "old wives tales" surrounding the registration of IE domains. A lot of them may have held some truth in the past, however the current reality is very different.

Every few weeks the topic of adult content in Ireland raises its head. In some cases people are looking at domain names, whereas in others they are interested in the content itself. I've gone over a number of these topics in the past, as they were topical due to the release and subsequent shelving of the .xxx TLD. So where do people think the line should be drawn? Should a line be drawn? If you draw a line with regard to what occupies Irish web space (and the IE namespace) should you also restrict access to adult content from Irish ISPs? What is "adult" anyway? Where does erotica end and pornography begin? Is there any difference between the two? As a consenting adult should you have the right to view whatever content you wish in the privacy of your home? If an Irish company were to openly host pornographic content would they be able to survive in the marketplace? Why is the opening of a nightclub in Dublin cause of such furore? I wish I had the answers.. I do have my own thoughts and opinions, but most of those are already in the public domain, so little would be served in rehashing them.

We're continuing the offer for the month of February. Maybe it's because it's my birthday on Friday and I was feeling generous! We're having a pretty generous 2006 so far, with free asp.net 2.0 hosting plans up for grabs and a lot more :)