Weekly Launch Guide January 17, 2022

SPOTLIGHT

Turkey to Liberalize Domain Extension

Author: Christine Khalil

A little over three years ago, the Middle East Technical University (METU) and the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (ITCA) signed a new protocol agreeing to transfer authorization and management procedures related to Turkish country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) to a new system—TRABIS.

The full transfer from NIC.TR to TRABIS is expected to be completed by the end of January 2022; an exact date has not been released by the registry. Domain name applications, transfers, and domain name renewals will be taken over by TRABIS.

TRABIS will bring radical changes to the domain application process, renewals, and transfers. Domain extensions such as, .COM.TR, .ORG.TR, and .NET.TR will become non-restricted. With the launch of TRABIS, these ccTLDs will be registered first-come first-served without the requirement of supporting documents. At this point, no exact date has been announced by the registry.

Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a population of around 84 million, and they are attracting foreign investors from all over the world. Yet according to Netcraft, the .TR extension is also in the top 50 TLDs for cybercrime, and no formal dispute process has been put in place as of today, which means it’s harder to recover third-party domains. Therefore, the threat profile for these domain extensions will become higher than before.

Our recommendation is to evaluate your brands and secure critical domains in this namespace to prevent future cyberthreats.

Businesses and organizations interested in registering a .TR-related domain name as an opportunity, or even for defensive purposes, should speak with their CSC strategic account manager or client service partner.

Kazakhstan (.KZ) Registry Not Operational

The Kazakhstan (.KZ) Registry is currently not operational as of January 5, 2022.  Domains using KZ DNS or a local KZ IP address will not resolve and new orders submitted for KZ cannot be processed at this time.

Registry unavailability appears to be related to the widely reported state of emergency that has been declared within the country due to civil unrest and the former government resigning.  The situation is very fluid and CSC is working diligently to gain more insight on when the Registry will come back online.  We will share updates as we receive them. If you have any questions about your .KZ domains, please contact your CSC Client Service Partner for further support.

.CN Registry Verification Process Change

The .CN Registry (CNNIC) has announced that the changes to the real name verification process scheduled for 1st January 2022 have been postponed. CNNIC are yet to finalize the implementation date. The change will impact all domains under .CN (and all sub extensions),  .中国 (xn--fiqs8s),  .公司 (xn--55qx5d) and  .网络 (xn--io0a7i).  Real Name Verification was introduced by CNNIC in 2012, and all new registration since 2012 have completed real name verification, however domains registered prior to 2012 were not originally included in the process. When implemented CNNIC will prevent renewal, transfer or update ownership of domains which the registrant name has not completed the real name verification process. CSC is continuing to focus on completing the Real Name Verification for domains which were not originally included in the process.

Please reach out to your Customer Service Partner if you have any additional questions on the new process.

Brexit Has Arrived for .EU Domains

As part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the European Union established on January 31 2020, the EU TLD Registry has now taken the final step in the process and has taken ca 48,000 internet domain names belonging to UK Citizens and organizations offline. The transition period established  has now ended and the .eu registry enacted their action plan to withdraw and delete domains that remained registered with noncompliant registrant contacts (i.e., UK addresses). These domains will now become available for registration on a first come, first serve basis in batches. CSC has ensured all managed domains meet the new EU regulations prior to the deadline.

DPML Block to Cover Additional TLDs

DPML Blocks will be obtaining an additional 30 TLDs to the blocking service as a result of the Donuts Registry acquisition of Afilias’ TLDs. This will go into effect beginning November 16th, 2021. The following are the new TLDs being added to the DPML

Blocking Service: .ac, .archi, .bet, .bio, .black, .blue, .global, .green, .info, .io, .kim, .lgbt, .llc, .lotto, .mobi, .organic, .pet, .pink, .poker, .pro, .promo, .red, .sh, .shiksha, .ski, .vote, .voto, .watches, .xn--5tzm5g, and .xn--6frz82g

DK Registry Moving to Registry-Registrar Model

The .DK Registry is launching a new Registry-Registrar model. This model will allow CSC for easier management of the domains in the future and ability to automate the process. In preparation for these changes we will be making updates to our TLD requirements in the Domain Manager portal and your Customer Service Partner will let you know if any additional information will be needed to register domains going forward.

Top Level .AU Launch Announcement

The .AU Registry has announced the Top Level TLD will begin launching 24-Mar-2022 and we are working to ensure our systems are ready to take orders. In the meantime, please reach out to your client service partner with any questions.

.BD Registry – Temporary suspension (Registration + Transfer)

The registry has implemented a temporary suspension to registration and transfer orders due to an ongoing legal matter within local Bangladesh court. This ongoing legal matter is a direct impact to the registry and they are diligently working to draft new regulations and procedures for registration orders. CSC will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.  Please note this temporary suspension is an impact to all registrars that support .BD domain names. At this time DNS delegation is intact and sites are remaining active. CSC can still modify WHOIS details + DNS details, as well as renew domains (potentially subject to change).