WebProNews

ICANN Becomes More Independent

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body responsible for managing Internet domain names, has announced it will no longer be controlled by the U.S. government. ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce signed an agreement today supporting the model of international multi-stakeholder governance of the global Internet addressing system. ICANN was created in 1998 to manage the Internet's addressing system such as top-level domain-names and IP address space. The group has been criticized for being too influenced by the U.S. government.

24 Million New Domain Names Added In 2008

The Internet added 24 million new domain names in 2008, according to the fourth quarter 2008 Domain Name Industry Brief by VeriSign. The year ended with a total of 177 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domains (TLDs). This represents 16 percent growth over the previous year. In the fourth quarter, more than 10.1 million new domain names were registered across all TLDs. The five largest TLDs in terms of size were .com, .cn (China), .de (Germany), .net, and .org.

ICANN Approves Expansion Of Domain Names

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has voted to approve lifting restrictions on the classification of domain names, allowing for new customized Web addresses.A unanimous vote by ICANN members at a public meeting in Paris paves the way for businesses and individuals to adopt domain names based on any combination of letters. Previously domain names had been limited by geography.

America.com Falls Short At Auction

America.com, thought to be one of the most valuable domain names, has frustrated its owner by failing to sell at auction.Last week bidding reached just $1.7 million, far short of the seller's expectations. Before the auction there was speculation that America.com would surpass the $12.5 million paid for Sex.com.The record price paid for a domain was last year's sale of Business.com to a phone directory publisher for $350 million.

The German Digital Divide

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is experiencing a digital divide, according to German industry association Bitkom.Western German states, including Hesse and Bavaria, have the majority of Internet addresses ending in the German ".de" country code domain, with the country's five former Communist eastern states landing at the bottom of the list.

Stranger-Than-Fiction Google Domain Names

You know those monkeys that are supposed to recreate the works of Shakespeare?  Judging from some of the strange domain names Google owns, the company appears to have hired a handful of them.

The Return of Google's WHOIS Feature

Google had launched an application in January 2004 called WHOIS, that was later withdrawn. However, now according to Matt Cutts, the WHOIS feature has been released again. By entering a simplistic web address such as whois google.com, a user would be able to know the creation and the expiration date of the domain.

Pizza.com Sells For $2.6 Million

A Maryland man has sold the domain name "pizza.com" for $2.6 million.Chris Clark paid $20 to register the domain name back in 1994, hoping it would help his Internet consulting business get a contract with a pizza company. He never received a contract and sold the business in 2000.

Fox Business Network Fails To Win Domain Name

If you want to learn about the Fox Business Network, foxbusinessnetwork.com is not the place to do it.  That domain name belongs to Worldwide Directory Services, and, according to a ruling by the World International Property Organization, WDS will continue to be its owner.

Domain Name Fetches Record Price

A British cruise operator has paid a record $1.1 million for the domain name cruises.co.uk.Seamus Conlon company already owned the address cruise.co.uk so the letter "s" proved to be an expensive acquisition. The price breaks the earlier record for a .co.uk domain of $300,000 paid in October last year.