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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. –(BUSINESS WIRE)– Nov 13, ‘07 — GoDaddy.com is working with Google as the pilot partner for a new effort to seamlessly integrate Google Webmaster Tools into customers’ Web hosting accounts.

With Google Webmaster Tools, Go Daddy users are now able to see how Google views their site, diagnose problems and share information with Google in order to improve their site’s visibility in search results. This service, combined with Go Daddy’s Sitemap Editor, provides a free and easy way for Web site owners to manage and improve traffic to their site.

“When Google approached us about incorporating their product into our hosting accounts, it was an easy decision,” said GoDaddy.com CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “Our customers are always looking for simple ways to make their sites easier to find and attract new visitors. Thanks to these easy-to-use tools, customers can quickly tap this valuable Webmaster resource without having to be technical wizards.”

Los Angeles, CA — October 02, ‘07 — Peter Dengate Thrush, a New Zealand lawyer, has been elected unanimously as the new Chairman of the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

“I am delighted that my colleagues have placed their confidence in me for this challenging and important role,” Dengate Thrush said.

Peter practices civil litigation, specializing in intellectual property, competition, and Internet law. He has been involved in ICANN since its inception. As a member of the Boston Working Group, he provided comment in 1998 on the early drafts of the ICANN bylaws, and he co-chaired one of the pre-formation meetings of the Intellectual Property Constituency in Wellington, New Zealand.

He has been President of InternetNZ, a leader of the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) community in the formation of the ccNSO, and was selected as a board member after an international vote of ccTLD managers in the ccNSO in December 2004. He is currently on the President’s Strategy, Board Finance, Board Governance, and Executive committees.

Retiring Chair Dr Vint Cerf sees Dengate Thrush’s appointment as a clear signal that ICANN has matured.

“ICANN has moved from a foundation state to a steady state. Peter understands that and the Board’s role and is a great choice to keep the organization strong and focused,” Dr Cerf said.

Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO, also welcomed the appointment.

“This is great news. Peter’s long involvement in ICANN since before its incorporation means he knows the history as well as the current players and issues,” Dr Twomey said. “His legal training gives him a strong understanding of contracts as a key mechanism in ICANN, and his networks within industry, particularly the ccTLD community helps ICANN with its global responsibilities.”

Speaking after the vote, Dengate Thrush gave some perspectives on the organization and its future.

“ICANN is a unique model supporting a global community. The model works because it stands for one global Internet that is coordinated not controlled,” Dengate Thrush said.

“After nine years ICANN is well placed to face the challenges of the future. The fact that it is so well positioned is a tribute to Vint and of course the staff led by Paul Twomey who have taken us out of foundation mode to become the right organization to meet future challenges,” Dengate Thrush added.

“I think our biggest challenges are about serving the global audience. At a technical level there is the challenge of introducing international scripts at the top level for both gTLDS and ccTLDs, as well as new processes for introducing what may be a large number of generic top level domains,” Dengate Thrush said. More at ICANN.

Los Angeles, CA–October 31, ‘07–A panel on Internet names voted Wednesday to conduct further studies on the databases containing names, phone numbers and other private information on domain name owners, deferring long-simmering questions over whether such details should remain public. 

The committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, which oversees Internet addresses, also rejected a proposal to give Internet users the ability to list third-party contacts rather than their own private data in the open, searchable databases called Whois. 

Law-enforcement officials, trademark lawyers and journalists, as well as spammers, now access the database to figure out who may be behind a Web site. But privacy advocates say individuals shouldn’t have to reveal personal information simply to have a Web site. 

A third proposal, a so-called “sunset” option that would have eliminated the requirement for domain name registration companies to make the data available through Whois, was narrowly rejected, 13-10. That measure would have likely resulted in large gaps in registration records. 

The proposal on listing third-party contacts was defeated 17-7, the same margin by which the studies measure was approved. Ross Rader, a member of ICANN’s generic names council and the sunset proposal’s chief sponsor, said after the committee meeting that he was disappointed that the committee opted for an “open-ended” study. 

The committee, the Generic Names Supporting Organization Council, set a deadline of Feb. 15 to identify what types of studies are needed. FoxNews.

NEW YORK (AP) — October 24, ‘07 — ICANN, the Internet’s key oversight agency, is investigating suspicions that insider information is being used to snatch desired domain names before an individual or business can register them.

The Security and Stability Advisory Committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers termed the practice “domain name front running” and likened it to a stock broker buying or selling shares ahead of a client’s trade, in anticipation of a movement in price.

In the case of Internet addresses, many people who see a domain name available the first time they check find it already taken by the time they return to buy it. That has led to suspicions that someone with access to search requests has been using the information to gauge interest in a domain name.

By buying the domain first, that person can then try to sell it to the interested party for a profit. This is different from traditional domain name speculation because the buyer knows for sure that the address is of interest.

Although the practice has never been proven, the ICANN committee said the perception that it is happening “portrays an unfavorable image of the parties associated with the domain name registration process in specific, and of the domain name community in general.”

More at AP