Verisign Delegates Four New gTLDs to the Root Zone

• By • Domain Names

Guest post from Pat Kane, Senior Vice President, Naming and Directory Services

On Oct. 23, 2013, at approximately 11:00 a.m. EDT, Verisign received authorization instructions from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to delegate four new gTLDs into the root zone, which we are responsible for maintaining per the Cooperative Agreement between Verisign and NTIA. Verisign acted in accordance with our contractual obligation and delegated these TLDs into the root zone at 2:33 p.m. EDT the same day.

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Verisign Launches Verisign DomainScope: Take the Guesswork Out of Finding the Right Domain Name

• By • Domain Names

Today Verisign announced the launch of Verisign DomainScope, a new domain name discovery tool designed to enhance the search for unique, relevant domain name choices in the .com, .net, .tv and .cc top-level domains. Incorporating the same functionality found in our DomainFinder, DomainScore and DomainCountdown tools, DomainScope replaces these tools and allows users to focus their domain search and uncover new domain name registration opportunities in one place.*

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Diversity, Openness and vBSDcon 2013

• By • Domain Names

“There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity”

–Michel Eyquem, seigneur de Montaigne (1533–1592)

Diversity is a central design principle of the Domain Name System. With respect to the DNS root, it’s the reason that there are 13 separately managed root servers with 12 independent operators. It’s the reason Verisign operates the two root servers we’re responsible for – the A and J roots – as well as other name servers – at multiple locations around the world. It’s also the reason that within these locations operated by Verisign, multiple physical servers handle the incoming traffic. And it’s the reason that among these multiple servers, we use multiple hardware and software platforms, as well as multiple network providers.

In other words, diversity is one reason the DNS industry in general, and Verisign in particular, doesn’t do everything the same way and in the same place.

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15 Facts About .net to Celebrate 15 Million Registrations

• By • Domain Names

Recently, .net hit a major milestone when its zone surpassed 15 million .net domains registered globally, making it one of the most popular domain extensions on the Internet today.  Supported by the same infrastructure and expertise that has powered .com for more than 15 years, .net is recognized around the world as an established and credible place to interact online. To mark this momentous occasion, we pulled together 15 facts about .net. How many .net facts do you already know?

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Update on Verisign’s IDN Implementation Plans

• By • Domain Names

The composition of the internet’s population has seen a dramatic shift over the last two decades. In 1996, the majority of end users were based in the U.S.; according to a 2012 Comscore report, the non-English speaking internet population has grown to 87 percent, with more than 40 percent based in the Asia-Pacific region. In order to embrace this population shift, we believe the internet must become multilingual so it can be accessible and relevant to the majority of end users today.

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Improving the Internet, In Person and Online

• By • Domain Names

As much as the world has become more connected, so that people across the world can collaborate online at any hour of the day (even in the midst of weather events like Sandy), there’s still an important role for conferences that bring people together in person at a specific time and place.

I’ve been reminded of the value of this technical “networking” as I’ve attended some key events related to my own work in recent weeks.

In mid-October, I spent some time at the ICANN 45 meeting in Toronto, the triannual focal point for industry work on domain names (as well as IP “numbers”, the second “N”). Pat Kane, senior vice president and general manager of Verisign’s Naming Services, describes his experiences at this important series as exemplifying “hard work and collaboration.” Good technical consensus, as I’ve learned through my past years in industry forums in cryptography and security, starts with trust. The many introductions and conversations that I enjoyed throughout my visit built on this value.

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The Promise of a Better Connected Digital World

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Earlier this year, Verisign announced its 2012 Internet Infrastructure Grant program, which called for proposals for basic research with “potential to improve the availability and security of internet access in all parts of the world.” Two proposals would be selected based on criteria of relevance, innovation, feasibility, and overall quality.

It’s my honor now to announce that the program’s distinguished judging panel has reached its decisions. The awards will go to:

  • Converged, Secure Mobile Communication Support Through Infrastructure-opportunistic, DHT-based Network Services led by Prof. Z. Morley Mao, University of Michigan (United States) and Prof. Cui Yong, Tsinghua University (China)
  • Downscaling Entity Registries for Poorly-Connected Environments led by Prof. Dr. Philippe Cudré-Mauroux, Director, eXascale Infolab, University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and Dr. Christophe Guéret, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

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Do We Need An IPv6 Flag Day?

• By • Domain Names

In recent interviews about World IPv6 Launch I’ve been asked by several different people whether or not I think there needs to be some kind of a “Flag Day” on which the world all together switches from Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) to the version 6 (IPv6).

I don’t think a flag day is needed. World IPv6 Launch is just the right thing.

It’s worth looking at some previous flag-type days to get a better sense of why.

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Connecting With Verisign: Seven Months In

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As a technology leader whose career objective is to help build a connected digital world, it’s hard for me to envision a better place to be at this time in internet history than Verisign.

That’s what I needed to be convinced of earlier this year when I decided to leave a good job with great people at another leading IT company to become Verisign’s CTO. Seven months later, I haven’t been disappointed.

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