Domain Diary

dotMobi, the company behind the first and only Internet address created for
mobile phones, today announced that qualified trademark owners may apply for
dotMobi Premium Names starting September 15, 2006.

In cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO),
dotMobi has developed a Premium Name Application Process for trademark holders.
Trademark holders must meet clearly defined criteria to apply to have their
name removed from the Premium Name list and successfully register the domain.
The Premium Name Application Process can be accessed at the dotMobi and WIPO
Web sites (http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/gtld/mobi/).

VNNIC, the registry for Vietnam that manages the entire .VN zone, will offer the top level domain .VN. The only restriction imposed by the registry, is that only companies can register .VN names.

According to the company, for years, the Vietnam registry only offered second level domains under ‘com.vn, org.vn’, however, beginning Tuesday, the 15th of August, the ccTLD is set to embrace a significant success in a world where domains become strategic investment for brands and ‘’domainers.'’ Vietnam has a population of 84Mio, for now an Internet penetration of 15%. The population size can be compared to the population of Germany.

Trademark holders can register domain names from September 15 from the premium name list, developed with the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
dotMobi, the registry for .mobi domains, today announced that qualified trademark owners can now apply for dotMobi Premium Names starting September 15, 2006.

In cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), dotMobi has developed a Premium Name Application Process for trademark holders. Trademark holders must meet defined criteria to register domain name from the premium name list. The Premium Name Application process can be accessed at the dotMobi and WIPO Web sites.

Damien Hirst, a young British artist best known for experimental art involving animal parts, is in dispute with another artist over a domain name. The domain name, www.damien-hirst.co.uk, was purchased by Mr Simon Phillips, who describes himself as an ‘Internet artist’. Mr. Hirst’s contention is Mr. Phillips is profiting from a site which visitors might believe to be Hirst’s official site (which has yet to be launched). Mr. Hirst has given Nominet (www.nominet.org.uk), the “.uk” domain name manager, three weeks to assign the domain to him before proceeding with legal action. Mr Phillips has promised to fight the action and retain the name.

The US Government this week renewed its contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), effectively extending its grip on the administrative body that co-ordinates Net addressing until to 2011.
The new contract between ICANN and the US Department of Commerce covers technical functions related to the Internet domain-name system (DNS) and is scheduled to go into effect on 1 October, one day after the existing contract expires. Technically, the agreement lasts for one year, and the Government has the option of renewing it each year for up to four additional years.
“In executing this contract the Department of Commerce has confirmed that ICANN is uniquely positioned to perform this function,” Paul Twomey, the organisation’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The move appears to be consistent with a set of Internet governance principles issued last summer by the Commerce Department that ignited a worldwide debate. In addition to asserting its plans to retain control over the Internet’s “root” — the master file that lists what top-level domains are authorised — the Bush administration said it planned to maintain its supervision over ICANN.

“Microsoft has witnessed a virtual land rush for Internet domain names with the goal of driving traffic for profit,” said Aaron Kornblum, the company’s Internet Safety Enforcement attorney. The company noticed the surge in sites earlier this year as part of its efforts to monitor so-called phishing sites, which mimic bank and other sites as part of identity-theft schemes.