September 2024 - Middle-East

Domain Days Dubai | 5-6 November 2024
by Munir Badr Sept. 30, 2024

Sept. 30, 2024

Dear Middle East ICANN Members, I am writing to you in my capacity as the Founder & Curator of the Domain Days Dubai conference, a unique community-based initiative in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. Launched back in the fall of 2023, it has already become the biggest platform that brought together local stakeholders: largest industry players, service providers, technical experts, and at-large community members, - to discuss the critical agenda items for the region. As we are now gearing up for the 2nd edition of the Domain Days Dubai, I am pleased to let you know that it has already been scheduled for 5-6 November 2024 and will be held at the prestigious, 5 star Marriott Resort in Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE. This is the week before the ICANN81 meeting that takes place in Istanbul, Turkey - making Dubai an ideal transit spot before heading to Istanbul. [image: image.png] The feedback from prospective delegates has already demonstrated a genuinely keen interest in participation in Domain Days Dubai, which is why we believe that your contribution to the event will be very much appreciated, not least because it should further help your organization to tap into the enormous potential of the rapidly expanding region and leverage its role as a gateway to the wider domain name and hosting communities and learn and exchange knowledge with experts from the international community. About: Domain Days Dubai is the domain industry event in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region for Domain Registrars, Registries, Monetization, Investors & Traffic, Web3 Domains, Hosting & Cloud Providers, SaaS, Policy/Trade Mark and general industry Enthusiasts. Highlights: 35+ Local & Global Speakers 200+ Attendees from all over the world 50+ companies represented. 2 days of business & fun. Last year’s event highlights video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od58Bx2AS3M Event registration, venue hotel discounts, tickets and speaker list/agenda is on the website at www.domaindays.com. Also attached to this email is our 2023 post event report with key data about our past event and the formal invitation letter. ICANN Middle East Members are eligible for a *55% off discount* on our event passes, use code *ICANN* to avail the discount (valid until 31st of August only). Should you need further information on Domain Days Dubai, please refer to the event website at: DomainDays.com and do not hesitate to contact me at munir(a)domaindays.com Regards Munir Badr Domain Days Dubai & AEserver -- <https://www.aeserver.com/> *MUNIR BADR* Book A Call: Click here <https://calendly.com/aeserver> Sales Hotline: 800 123 123 <https://www.facebook.com/AEserver/> <https://twitter.com/aeserver> <https://www.instagram.com/aeserver/> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/aeserver/> <https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/news-and-trends/the-recap-the-e-business…>

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FW: ICANN | Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) workshop webinars
by Fahd Batayneh Sept. 24, 2024

Sept. 24, 2024

Dear All, The below technical webinars may be of interest to some. Thank you, Fahd Batayneh ICANN Date: Monday, 23 September 2024 at 10:50 PM Subject: ICANN | Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) workshop webinars 23 September 2024 Join us this week for the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) workshop webinars! ICANN's SSAC is a volunteer group of specialists in the technical security field that provides advice and insight to the ICANN community and the Board. As part of a workshop that is being held in Washington D.C. on 24-26 September, various sessions will be available remotely, covering relevant topics to the Community. Webinars Artificial Intelligence and Trust→ 25 September 2024 | 13:30-14:30 EDT/17:30-18:30 UTC Artificial Intelligence, the Domain Name System, Phishing, and Abuse→ 25 September 2024 | 14:30-15:00 EDT/18:30-19:00 UTC The pros and cons of interacting and integrating Blockchain systems with the Domain Name System→ 25 September 2024 | 16:00-17:15 EDT/20:00-21:15 UTC The evolution of the DNS from “unique identifiers” to its current model→ 26 September 2024 | 12:30-13:00 EDT/16:30-17:00 UTC Quantum cryptography and its growing relevance to critical infrastructure→ 26 September 2024 | 13:00-13:30 EDT/17:00-17:30 UTC Join us Zoom link (click here) [nj88a9rab.cc.rs6.net]Passcode: %ZV*1YN6GJWebinar ID: 958 6818 9441Passcode: 9408318027

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ICANN84 Annual General Meeting Location Announced | Muscat, Oman | 25-30 October 2025
by Fahd Batayneh Sept. 15, 2024

Sept. 15, 2024

https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/icann84-annual-general-meeti… Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that Muscat, Oman, has been selected as the location for the ICANN84 Annual General Meeting. The event will take place from 25–30 October 2025 at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre. The meeting will be hosted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman. ICANN holds three Public Meetings each calendar year in different regions around the world. ICANN Public Meetings are an essential element of ICANN's multistakeholder model and provide a venue to progress policy work, conduct outreach, exchange best practices, conduct business, and interact with other members of the ICANN community, Board, and organization. These meetings, typically comprised of more than 100 different sessions, are an important opportunity for individuals and representatives from ICANN's various stakeholder groups to discuss issues related to the ICANN policy development process. Participants may attend either in person or remotely. Meetings are open to everyone, and registration is free.

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Participate in ICANN’s Operational Design Phase Community Consultation Survey
by Fahd Batayneh Sept. 10, 2024

Sept. 10, 2024

https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/participate-in-icanns-operat… ICANN is inviting the community to participate in the Operational Design Phase (ODP) Community Consultation Survey, launching on 9 September. The survey will conclude information gathering efforts to understand and capture lessons learned from completed ODP processes. As described in the 2021 Operational Design Phase Process Paper, the objective of an ODP is to provide the Board with relevant information to facilitate its determination on the operational impact of implementing a set of policy recommendations. The paper calls for a community consultation after two ODP efforts had concluded. ICANN org completed two ODPs in 2022 and published respective Operational Design Assessments (ODAs): The System for Standardized Access/Disclosure ODA was prepared for the Board to consider policy recommendations related to building a system that brings ICANN's Registration Data Directory Services into compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. The New Generic Top-Level Domain Subsequent Procedures ODA presented analysis and potential designs to implement and operationalize the outputs of the GNSO Final Report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process. Community input will help ICANN identify opportunities for continuous improvement regarding ODP objectives and related mechanisms in the policy lifecycle to fulfill the needs of the Board, community, and org. A summary report will include survey responses as well as data previously collected from the ICANN Board, community, and org. The report is intended to inform how lessons learned from the ODP process might be incorporated into the Consensus Policy Implementation Framework. What will the survey include? The objectives of the ODP and whether the completed ODPs met those objectives. Appropriateness of the scope of the completed ODPs. Quality of assessments presented in the completed ODA. Whether outreach efforts conducted for each ODP were sufficient to inform the community. Alignment of assumptions between the completed ODPs and community recommendations. Overall satisfaction with the ODP process. The ODP Community Consultation Survey will be available 9-27 September and can be accessed using this link. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact globalsupport(a)icann.org.

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ICANN Seeks Community Help in Outreach to Next Round Support Candidates
by Fahd Batayneh Sept. 6, 2024

Sept. 6, 2024

https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/icann-seeks-community-help-in-outrea… We are happy to report that outreach and engagement efforts to support the New Generic Top-Level Domains Program: Next Round are in full swing. One of our major goals for the next round is to facilitate gTLD applications from new communities and voices representing a variety of languages and scripts, geographic and ethnic diversity. We intend to accomplish this, in part, through the Applicant Support Program (ASP). The ASP is aimed at making the New gTLD Program more attainable to applicants that want to apply for a new gTLD but are unable to because of financial constraints and lack of other resources. The current phase of awareness-raising focuses on opportunities for community members to collaborate with ICANN org in identifying potential ASP applicants. ICANN's regional vice presidents are contacting a number of community members to share plans and ask advice. Working together, we will inform potential applicants in each region of the ways a gTLD might be useful for their organizations, and how they can apply for support. The ASP provides a range of financial and nonfinancial assistance for qualified applicants including access to pro bono professional services, training, other resources, and reductions in evaluation fees. More information can be found in the final draft of the ASP Handbook, which is pending Board approval. Seeking Next Round Champions While our initial effort is predominantly in places that may lack presence in ICANN, or a well-developed Domain Name System sector, our focus will expand to reach all the parts of the world where demand for enhanced online identities or services may exist. In addition to direct collaboration, ICANN has produced a toolkit for gTLD program "champions" who would like to volunteer to share information among their existing networks, specifically reaching beyond the ICANN community. The champion's toolkit includes Next Round and ASP slide presentations and fact sheets (to be made available in the ICANN languages), a speaker request form, and more. Additional ASP resources include FAQs and recordings of two well-attended webinars in late July 2024 aimed at involving the ICANN community in raising awareness about the ASP. If you already have ideas for organizations to contact or ways to target ASP-eligible entities please send them to Engagement.newgtldprogram(a)icann.org with the subject "ASP Leads / Ideas". To stay up to date on the New gTLD Program: Next Round and the ASP, join the mailing list by sending an email to nextroundinfo(a)icann.org. Community participation is critical to the success of the New gTLD Program: Next Round, which seeks to foster diversity, encourage innovation, and enhance the utility of the Domain Name System. I look forward to seeing many champions on the mailing list and thank you for your continuing efforts to make the next round a success.

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FY24 Regional Action Plan - 2023 MEAC study?
by John McCormac Sept. 4, 2024

Sept. 4, 2024

Good morning all, I was reading through the FY24 Regional action plan. The MEAC DNS Industry study is listed as having RFP and evaluation dates in 2023 with publication dates in early 2024. There has been no announcement from ICANN on the evaluation of proposals, the award of the contract or the MEAC DNS report itself. Did the 2023 ICANN MEAC DNS study ever go ahead? The RFP document from 2023 was interesting in that it seemed to be a wishlist that did not take into consideration how the industry has changed since the 2015 ICANN MEAC DNS study. Even reading the RFP from 2015 shows how different the requirements were from the complexities of the market. The 2015 study hadn't a hope of providing some of information and statistics required in the RFP as there was a massive underestimation of the complexity of delivering what the RFP involved and the availability of some of the data. One of the things of which both RFPs did not take into account was the rate at which the hosting market changes. It changes every month with new resellers entering the market and resellers leaving. Change also happens at a registrar level. Some of the requirements such as the market at an ICANN registrar level are trivial. Outside that, the reseller markets and the ccTLD markets are much more difficult to measure even with the necessary data. The best that could be achieved with those RFPs, even if the vendors were able to deliver on all requirements, would be a snapshot of the current market. In the gTLDs, over 5.5 million new domain names were registered in April 2024 and over 5.2 million domain names were deleted. That's just in one month. Over a year, that's tens of millions of new and deleted domain names. The domain name industry is not a monolithic and unchanging one. It is more like a flowing river where up to 30% of a country's domain name hosting market in a TLD can change in a year due to new registrations, deletions and transfers. The 2015 market for the MEAC region is a different market to the 2023 market and the 2024 market. The biggest change since the 2015 study has been the unintended effect of the European Union's GDPR on somewhat reliable WHOIS data. Many gTLD domain names registered since May 2018 no longer have registrant data or even country data. WHOIS privacy is now the default on some of the larger registrars. The WHOIS service is also being replaced by RDAP. Despite results from various studies (pre-2018), the accuracy of WHOIS data varies considerably. Some of the larger registrars have been using default WHOIS privacy to stop their customers being spammed. This has also made the approach used by previous studies, including the 2015 study, highly problematic. This is what the MEAC gTLD hosting market looks like based on the 01/August/2024 gTLD zone files (legacy and new gTLDs). The number of gTLD domain names in the August 2024 survey was 219,695,890. This is a monthly survey of all gTLD domain names. All gTLDs Hosting Market (MEAC): Country - cc - Region - Domains - Local - External - Site IPs United Arab Emirates ae AP 41,586 4,757 17,112 80,879 Afghanistan af AP 269 0 238 89 Algeria dz AF 13,474 902 11,825 1,221 Bahrain bh AP 661 18 249 2,943 Egypt eg AF 16,118 2,896 10,336 5,535 Iraq iq AP 1,860 47 1,410 378 Iran ir AP 397,320 187,268 81,424 283,174 Jordan jo AP 3,045 533 913 1,472 Kuwait kw AP 2,355 291 1,310 1,095 Lebanon lb AP 2,591 857 953 1,403 Libya ly AF 3,385 258 2,508 280 Morocco ma AF 32,986 8,280 16,094 9,107 Mauritania mr AF 11 1 0 10 Oman om AP 1,263 159 782 530 Pakistan pk AP 127,891 1,629 111,352 3,646 Palestine ps AP 827 407 274 1,107 Qatar qa AP 1,909 62 1,538 536 Saudi Arabia sa AP 67,817 1,850 59,682 4,483 Sudan sd AF 1,384 1 1,218 44 Somalia so AF 954 1 789 156 Syria sy AP 1,474 528 772 713 Tunisia tn AF 8,233 4,365 2,105 4,921 Turkey tr AP 1,607,672 1,125,675 122,652 1,207,346 Yemen ye AP 254 6 222 200 The 'Domains' figure is the number of domain names hosted on webhosters associated with the country. This includes registrars and resellers. The 'Local' figure is the number of websites of those domain names on local registrars and resellers that are hosted on IP ranges associated with that country. The 'External' figure is the number of websites hosted outside that country's IP ranges. The 'Site IPs' figure is the number of websites hosted on that country's IP ranges. The reason that this may not match the Local figure is that a website may be using the DNS service of a webhoster outside the country but have an IP address associated with the country. The gTLD hosting market is tracked monthly as part of one of the monthly reports that I publish. The current resolution (grouping domain names with webhosters by country) is 98.49%. These figures are for the hosting market rather than the ICANN registrar market. Internet infrastructure affects hosting. The more developed the infrastructure, the more websites will be hosted locally. The ccTLDs are also part of the market and some MEAC ccTLDS are dominant in their market. These are the ICANN gTLD figures from April 2024: ICANN MEAC Registrars -All gTLDs (Legacy and New gTLDs) Country - cc - Region - Registrars - gTLDs - % United Arab Emirates AE AP 4 20,146 0.01% Iraq IQ AP 1 953 0.00% Jordan JO AP 1 919 0.00% Kuwait KW AP 1 1,992 0.00% Morocco MA AF 2 16,856 0.01% Pakistan PK AP 1 21,202 0.01% Tunisia TN AF 1 84 0.00% Turkey TR AP 8 1,766,212 0.76% ICANN MEAC Registrars New gTLDs Country - cc - Registrars - New gTLDs - % UAE ae 2 11,002 0.03% Iraq iq 1 533 0.00% Jordan jo 1 8 0.00% Kuwait kw 1 13 0.00% Morocco ma 2 699 0.00% Pakistan pk 2 63 0.00% Tunisia tn 1 0 0.00% Turkey tr 3 15,857 0.04% (Registrars figure is for active registrars. A registrar can be accredited for a gTLD but have no domain names under management.) In terms of registrations, Turkey is the largest player in the region followed by Iran. Much of the gTLD registration activity of countries in the region are outsourced to registrars in other countries. This is not uncommon and the reseller share of the gTLD market is approximately 21.71%. These are domain names that are not hosted on registrar nameservers. At a webhosting level, the gTLD market is even more complex. The nameservers with the largest number of gTLD domain names hosted are Godaddy's domaincontrol.com nameservers. The domain names that use those nameservers are hosted on over 1,645 webhosters. Some registrars have their own dedicated webhosting operations and also use Cloud hosting. Large registrars can have webhosting operations in various regions. The one inescapable issue for countries with developing Internet infrastructure is that it is often cheaper to register and host outside that country's Internet infrastructure. The gTLD markets in most of the countries with developing infrastructures are almost completely reseller based. A reseller is a business that resells the registration and hosting services of a registrar or webhoster. In gTLD terms, every business that is not an accredited ICANN registrar and is selling these registration services is a reseller. For the gTLDs, there are approximately 118,192 of them with ten or more gTLD domain names hosted. With a five domain name cut-off, the figure rises to 186,415. That's only on the basis of nameservers. Some resellers use the services of retail registrars who provide "registration as a service" covering a gTLDs and ccTLDs. Identifying these resellers is slightly more difficult. Relying only on ICANN's gTLD registrar figures for the size of a country's or region's market gives a very misleading view of the market because ICANN doesn't provide the country-level breakdown of registrants. The MEAC hosting market for new gTLDs is quite different to that of the ICANN MEAC registrar market. New gTLD Hosting Market MEAC: Country - cc - Domains - Local - External - Site IPs UAE ae 13,214 338 1,281 19,174 Afghanistan af 33 0 32 4 Bahrain bh 22 7 9 708 Algeria dz 389 21 319 98 Egypt eg 358 74 179 284 Iraq iq 180 10 47 67 Iran ir 33,258 8,931 5,986 31,690 Jordan jo 191 30 23 121 Kuwait kw 229 17 50 84 Lebanon lb 112 41 23 68 Libya ly 149 4 31 7 Morocco ma 1,911 361 693 554 Mauritania mr 0 0 0 2 Oman om 55 5 48 34 Pakistan pk 33,225 21 29,725 256 Palestine ps 58 18 19 77 Qatar qa 87 0 62 51 Saudi Arabia sa 1,308 26 1,065 220 Sudan sd 79 0 57 2 Somalia so 10 0 4 3 Syria sy 23 11 10 32 Tunisia tn 212 80 73 144 Turkey tr 261,765 208,045 9,541 212,213 Yemen ye 18 0 15 20 The rise of Cloud hosting and CDNs has also impacted the MEAC market. The largest players are Amazon, Cloudflare, Microsoft. Cloudflare nameservers had 17,451,025 gTLD domain names as of 01/August/2024. Some of those are MEAC domain names and websites. The MEAC market is also heavily interdependent with some countries providing registration and webhosting services for adjacent countries. Most of the domain names on MEAC hosters are in legacy (.COM/NET/ORG etc) gTLDs and the new gTLDs have not had a major impact. The .COM is still the biggest gTLD in the market for historical and pricing reasons though this may change as gTLD registration fees increase. The biggest competition to the legacy gTLDs is not from the new gTLDs but rather from the ccTLDs. There's a registrar issue too. It is often cheaper for a hosting business to become an accredited ccTLD registrar than become an accredited ICANN registrar. Some MEAC countries have no ICANN accredited registrars so all their gTLD registration activity is outsourced. This makes it difficult for prospective MEAC ICANN registrars to gain market share. The typical development path is that a reseller builds up enough regisrations so that becoming an ICANN registrar makes economic sense. The problem with that, for ICANN, is that it is cheaper to become a ccTLD registrar and most of the local market identifies with the ccTLD being their TLD in a way that .COM is not. In the last twenty years, there has been a shift away from gTLDs to ccTLDs in many country level markets as the local ccTLD becomes the most popular (First Choice TLD) TLD in the country's market. The .COM is still the top global TLD for export. But as the ccTLD and local Internet usage grows in a country, people increasingly use the local ccTLD for their websites, e-mail and businesses. There is a tipping point where the First Choice TLD switches from .COM to the local ccTLD. After that, the new registrations volume in the ccTLD begins to outpace that in the gTLDs. The IDNs might provide some possibilites for growth in the MEAC market. It would be possible to break the gTLD figures above down by IDNs. The main market for IDNs could be in the local ccTLDs rather than gTLDs. There were 782,442 IDN domain names in .COM on 01/August/2024. There were 154,946,557 active .COM domain names. The future for IDNs is more likely to be in the ccTLDs than the gTLDs even if some new gTLDs are purely IDN. Regards...jmcc -- ********************************************************** John McCormac * e-mail: jmcc(a)hosterstats.com MC2 * web: http://www.hosterstats.com/ 22 Viewmount * Domain Registrations Statistics Waterford * Domnomics - the business of domain names Ireland * https://amzn.to/2OPtEIO IE * Skype: hosterstats.com ********************************************************** -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

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Webinars Introduce ICANN’s New gTLD Program: Next Round RSP Evaluation Program
by Fahd Batayneh Sept. 4, 2024

Sept. 4, 2024

https://www.icann.org/en/announcements/details/webinars-introduce-icanns-ne… The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) organization will host two webinars to provide information about the Registry Service Provider (RSP) Evaluation Program. Developed as part of the New gTLD Program: Next Round, the program is for RSPs that intend to provide registry services to applicants in the New gTLD Program: Next Round. Aimed at RSPs and the ICANN community, the webinars will provide an overview of the requirements for evaluation, a description of the testing that will be conducted, and an explanation of the overall evaluation process. All New gTLD Program: Next Round applicants are required to use evaluated RSPs. RSPs successfully evaluated during the pre-evaluation period, which runs before the opening of the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) application submission period, will be eligible for inclusion on the initial public list of evaluated RSPs. An additional RSP evaluation period will take place when the gTLD application submission period opens. Through the RSP Evaluation Program, RSPs need only be evaluated once, no matter how many gTLDs they wish to support. The webinars will be recorded and presented in English with simultaneous interpretation available in Arabic and French during the 1 October 2024 webinar and Chinese and Spanish during the 2 October 2024 webinar. Please register in advance to receive details on how to join. The webinar will be held during two time slots and you only need to register for one. Click below to register. Webinar 1: Tuesday, 1 October 2024 from 15:00–16:00 UTC. Webinar 2: Wednesday, 2 October 2024 from 00:00–1:00 UTC.

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