Once a registrar-contract has been terminated, all domain names previously managed by that registrar have to be moved to an other registrar. The .fr-registry has chosen to simply give the domain name portfolio to any other .fr-registry that asks for this. The first other .fr-registrar to apply for taking over the portfolio of a .fr-registrar who stopped operation their registration business, will be handed over the domain names. Some rules apply for them to follow, but this does mean that some .fr-registration might find their .fr domain name suddenly managed by a registrar they have never heard of. Maybe even one that isn’t easy to reach or that might not even have a website in French.

It currently isn’t known how many domain names are involved in this. The first domain name portfolio’s will be handed out the 22′d of May. More news follows…

As we’ve mentioned before, it is possible to apply for your own personalised gTLD via ICANN since mid January 2012. The Flemish government now decided they’ll also apply for their own extension, .vlaanderen. The filing of this application and the possible management of this extension has been outsourced by the Flemish government to DNS.be (.be registry) They’ve now got until April 22nd 2012 to file this application via ICANN.

DNS.be is very pleased they were chosen by the Flemish government. ‘Registering a domain name under .vlaanderen is a great opportunity for companies, organisations and individuals to express their link with Flanders,’ both the government and the registry say.

However it still isn’t certain .vlaanderen will indeed become the extension for Flanders. ICANN will verify all applications one by one after April 22nd. ICANN also already clearly stated they’ll only approve 500 applications for personalised gTLD’s. Question is if .vlaanderen will be one of those.

The verification process showed information of about 22.000 Norwegian companies that seized to exist, was still used as the owner information of over 35.000 .no domain names. That’s over 6% of all Norwegian domain names currently registered.

In the coming weeks, NORID will be sending out e-mails and letters to all of them, indicating that their registration isn’t according to the .no registration rules and giving them the opportunity to correct the owner information to a company that still is registered in the Norwegian company register. If the information isn’t updated by the owner within 60 days after receiving the notification, the domain name will be suspended and 30 days later it will be fully removed and be available for registration by others.

All however isn’t lost for those who no longer have a Norwegian company but would like to keep their .no domain name. They should be able to keep their name if they transfer it to a registrar offering “local presence” for .no domain names (also known as “trustee service”).

It will be some time before this process is fully completed for all .no domain names. Due to the volume, NORID expects it to take 2 to 3 months before they will have contacted all affected domain name holders.

Further more the registry also said they’ll keep making their best effort to make the .uk extension as attractive as possible for everyone. As from May 1st 2012, they will implement multi year registrations. This means that from then on names can be registered for 1 to 10 years.

Nominet is also taking part in the release of the personalised gTLD’s by filing an application for .wales and .cymru (Welsh version for Wales).

Randomly determining who will receive a (possibly valuable) domain name, can be seen as gambling which is banned by law in many places. So registries thought of something that actually also has much randomness in it, but isn’t random by law. It’s called “first come, first served”. Taking into account network latency and the fact that time difference between multiple applications is measured in milliseconds, this is just as random as spinning a ball in the roulette. You might be able to blow at it, hoping that it goes to a certain number, but that probably won’t cause much difference.

The launch of the new gTLD’s now turns out to be bothered by the same kind of laws. With ICANN being bound by Californian law, they also are not allowed to organise anything that might look like gambling. So if multiple requests are received for the same TLD, who to give the highest priority? They thought of something called “Time Target Variance”. It would be a nice test for a children’s TV-show, only the quizmaster is missing. What the applicant needs to do, is choose a time in the future (pick a time, any time). At the chosen time, the applicant needs to push a button (I assume it’s a virtual one on the ICANN website). The one who clicks the button to closest to the chosen time wins and gets the highest priority.

gTLD applicants are already working on a system to make clicking the button as accurate as possible and trying to place servers as near as possible to those of ICANN, to minimise network latency.

Up until now, it was only possible to register domain names under .com.gt, .net.gt and .org.gt but this will chance as from March 5th 2012. It will then also become possible to register IDN names. IDN names are domain names which contains non Latin characters. As from March 5th, the .gt registry will accept applications which contains the following characters: á, é, í, ó, ú, ü and ñ.

On March 5th the sunrise will begin and this sunrise will be divided into 2 phases. Until March 18th it’s possible to file a sunrise application. To be able to do so you need to be the administrative contact of a registered Guatemalan domain name. You can then register the IDN version or the (IDN) .gt version of this name. For instance the owner of lapiz.com.gt can apply for lápiz.com.gt or lapiz.gt/lápiz.gt.

From March 19th 2012 until May 28th 2012 the registry will analyse all applications which were filed during the sunrise. So the first come, first served principle won’t be applied.

As from May 29th 2012, everyone who wishes to do so can register a (IDN) .gt or IDN .com.gt, .net.gt or .org.gt domain name. From then on the first come, first served principle will apply.

At the moment you need to be the owner of a trademark registered in Portugal or own a company name before you’ll be able to register a .pt name. Moreover the domain name you wish to register needs to be the same as or resemble to your registered trademark or company name. Currently it also isn’t possible to register a figurative under .pt. But this will soon change.

As from May 1st 2012 everyone who wishes to do so can register a .pt domain name. The rule that you need to own a trademark registered in Portugal or need to own a company name will no longer apply. All applications for .pt names will be treated on a first come, first served basis.

However the registry has decided to launch the liberalisation of the .pt domain with a sunrise phase. This phase will start on March 1st 2012 and end on April 30th 2012. During the sunrise owners of a registered trademark (not valid in Portugal), logo’s, company names,… will be able to register those names under the .pt domain. As from May 1st 2012, everyone who wishes to do so, can apply.

Since mid January it’s possible to file an application with ICANN to obtain your own personal extension. This can still be done until April 12th 2012. Nominet will now file 2 applications, both for .wales and .cymru (Welsh for Wales).

The Welsh government is very pleased with this agreement. Previous surveys already showed that the Welsh people were very keen about an own extension. Moreover this is also a great opportunity for the branding of Wales on the Internet.

IDN names are names which can also contain non Latin characters such as é, è, î,… AFNIC plans the introduction of those names for all its extensions (.fr, .re, .yt, .pm, .wf and .tf) in 2 phases: a sunrise and the ‘general availability’.

- Sunrise: During this phase which will start on May 3rd 2012 companies and individuals who already own a registered .fr name will be offered the possibility to register the IDN version of this name under the AFNIC extensions. So for instance, if you’re the owner of cafe.fr or lecons.fr, you will then have the opportunity to register café.fr or leçons.fr.

- ‘General availability’: This phase will start on July 3rd 2012. From then on, everyone who wishes to do so can register an IDN name under the AFNIC extensions. Applications will be treated on a first come, first served basis.

On February 20th 2012 the landrush for .jp.net domain began. This landrush will end on March 16th 2012. During this landrush everyone who wishes to do so, can register a domain name under the .jp.net extension. Moreover it’s also possible to register 1 and 2 character domains.

If 2 or more applications are filed for the same name, this name will be sold during an auction after the landrush to the highest bidder.

The landrush will be followed by the owner promotion which will run from March 19th until April 20thb2012. During this phase, owners of a .jp or a .net name can register the exact same name under the .jp.net extension. the release will end with the go-live of this extension which will begin April 24th.