Exit Strategies from the ‘Domain Name Funnies’ |  |
| Exit Strategies from the ‘Domain Name Funnies’ Posted: 29 Jun 2010 07:14 AM PDT
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Holiday Hours for Canada Day, July 1, 2009 | |
| Holiday Hours for Canada Day, July 1, 2009 Posted: 28 Jun 2010 03:19 PM PDT
The picture of Canada’s flag is courtesy of Ian Muttoo. Thanks for making your photo available under a Creative Commons license! Here’s a list of departments along with any special holiday hours for Thursday July 1st, 2010:
We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday! |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
.CO Landrush Begins, GA is Next | |
| .CO Landrush Begins, GA is Next Posted: 22 Jun 2010 10:41 AM PDT Yesterday was the first day of Landrush for the new .CO domain extension. Of course, as Adam Eisner, our Director of Domain Services, is fond of saying, there’s no rush in Landrush for .CO.
You can submit Landrush orders through OpenSRS and we’ll continue to accept them through the end of the Landrush period on July 13th, 2010. General Availability is just around the corner What will be a rush is General Availability (GA), which happens on July 20th, 2010. On that day, it’s a real free-for-all as registration officially opens to everyone at the regular price and whoever gets the application in first gets the domain. We’ll have more information about what we’re doing for General Availability shortly, but in the meantime, OpenSRS is already accepting pre-orders via the Reseller Web Interface (RWI) and the API. As always, the .CO Launch Page is updated with all the information about the launch of .CO. |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Upcoming SSL Root Updates to 2048-bit | |
| Upcoming SSL Root Updates to 2048-bit Posted: 16 Jun 2010 10:30 AM PDT If you sell SSL through OpenSRS, or if you use or sell SSL products from any of our vendors – VeriSign, GeoTrust and Thawte – then you’ll want to take note of some changes coming up to the root certificates. VeriSign, GeoTrust and Thawte are all in the midst of a transition from 1024-bit roots to new, more secure 2048-bit roots. This change is in line with industry best practices to ensure the highest level of security. Browser vendors are also starting to require the use of SHA-1 and 2048 keys. For example, Microsoft has stipulated requirements for all Certificates that require that all new Root Certificates must have a minimum be 2048-bit RSA keys and not use MD5 as the hashing algorithm. As a result of this upgrade, there are some changes to how SSL certificates purchased through OpenSRS are ordered and installed. Please note: currently installed SSL certificates are not affected by the changes. However, new certificates along with renewals of existing certificates will required 2048-bit Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs) in the future, depending on the specific certificate brand and type. The new 2048-bit root updates will go live on the following dates:
2048-bit CSRs PleaseOpenSRS will begin requiring 2048-bit CSRs at the same time as the root updates occur. You may already submit 2048-bit CSRs for all products. In fact, Extended Validation (EV) certificates already required 2048-bit CSRs. If you submit an SSL order with a 1024-bit CSR after the root updates take place on the dates listed above, the order will fail. Installation Changes RequiredAdditionally, the SSL certificate installation process will change for all Thawte (excluding: SGC SuperCerts and Web Server with EV Certificates) and GeoTrust certificates (excluding True BusinessID with EV) issued after the go live dates listed above. Users will be required to install an intermediate Certification Authority Certificate in line with industry best practices. The excluded products listed already require the installation of this intermediate certificate. More InformationFor the latest information about the 2048-bit root changes, you may wish to view the Support Advisories issued by each brand: |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Announcing the first ever OpenSRS Quarterly Report! | |
| Announcing the first ever OpenSRS Quarterly Report! Posted: 15 Jun 2010 12:16 PM PDT
With more than 10,000 domain resellers in over 100 countries, from small Web designers to giant Web hosts, we think we have a unique perspective into the data and trends behind the domain name business.
The OpenSRS Quarterly report is our first attempt at providing you, our reseller, with data you can use to benchmark your own performance and make informed decisions. We’ve analyzed the data across our entire base to provide you with valuable insight. You’ll even find fun facts like percentage of renewals that took place during the 40-day grace period. Some of these numbers might even surprise you. We expect this report to be just the beginning of a conversation within your organization, with your team and maybe even with other OpenSRS resellers about best practices and how we can work together to help you succeed. If you’re an OpenSRS reseller, click here to request this report electronically. Happy Selling! |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Twitter Affirms the Value of .co Domains | |
| Twitter Affirms the Value of .co Domains Posted: 09 Jun 2010 11:41 AM PDT Yesterday the micro-blogging/messaging service twitter announced that they would begin using t.co as their official domain for shortened URLs. While most of the media coverage around the move was focused on the twitter side of the deal – things like analytics, length of tweets, etc. – another side to the story is that twitter’s decision to use a .co domain will no doubt lead to greater awareness of .co amongst the general public.
We’re nearing the end of the Sunrise phases of the launch where trademark holders get first dibs on .co domains that match their existing trademarks. Later this month, things really begin to heat up as the Landrush phase starts on June 21. For many, Landrush will be the first chance for many to get their hands on some great .co domains. And as exciting as Landrush will be, General Availability will really ramp things up with a first-come, first-served registration blitz when the .co Registry officially opens for business on July 20. e.co AuctionWhile t.co is generating some significant buzz around the tech community, another .co domain is also grabbing headlines. Between June 7 and June 10, .co is auctioning off another single character .co domain – e.co. With bidding set to close tomorrow, the current price for e.co is already up over $30,000 and continuing to climb. Proceeds from the auction of e.co go to the winner’s charity of choice which makes the whole thing even more of a win for all involved. Are you selling .co?OpenSRS is fully supporting the launch of .co as one of ten .co accredited registrars. We’re continuing to take Global Sunrise orders at the moment and we’ll be switching on both Landrush and General Availability pre-orders in the coming weeks. If you haven’t yet started marketing and selling .co domains, it’s not too late. Awareness amongst the general public continues to build and CO Internet SAS continues to do a great job building buzz around the new extension. With General Availability coming next month, demand for .co domains amongst the general public should continue to swell. If you are looking for more information on the launch of .co, we have a special page setup for you. All the information around dates, phases and pricing is there. And you can download a full package of .co marketing materials including web copy, flash banners and other images and graphics you can use to highlight your participation in the launch of .co. |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Join Random Hacks of Kindness Global Hackathon | |
| Join Random Hacks of Kindness Global Hackathon Posted: 02 Jun 2010 07:42 AM PDT Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) is a global collective between Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, NASA and the World Bank. They are hosting a global hackathon on Saturday, June 4 – Sunday, June 5, 2010. Events take place in cities around the world including Nairobi, Jakarta, Sydney, Washington DC and San Paolo.
Software developers, usability experts, emergency planners, technologists, social media knowledge workers, project managers, NGOs and university professors will meet in each of the cities to crowdsource open source solutions to very real humanitarian problems. There are seven main projects ranging building SMS applications to report amputee needs, near real-time UAV imagery processing to creating a people finder application. We also expect some awesome incubator discussions. When you get such diverse, innovative minds in a room, great things are bound to happen. RHOK invited Crisis Commons to provide problem definitions for the global hackathon. I’ve blogged about CrisisCommons in the past–they are a global network of volunteers who use creative problem solving and open technologies to help people and communities in times and places of crisis. I’m on my way to Sydney as we speak to participate as a core Crisis Commons volunteer and project liaison. |
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| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
Our Reseller-Friendly Approach to Pricing | |
| Our Reseller-Friendly Approach to Pricing Posted: 01 Jun 2010 10:27 AM PDT At OpenSRS, we’re proud to be an industry leader when it comes to ‘reseller friendly’ wholesale domain services. Features like free WHOIS privacy, a 5-day add grace period for domain deletions, true white label sub-reseller support, and our ‘cost-plus’ model for pricing have established us as a leading choice for wholesale domain name registrations. Effective July 1, 2010, registry fees for .com and .net domains are increasing. These registry fee increases were announced by VeriSign (the operator of the .com and .net registries) in January, in accordance with their agreement with ICANN. Here are the details:
Several years ago, OpenSRS transitioned to selling gTLDs, including .com and .net domains under a ‘cost-plus’ pricing model, meaning that the price you pay is broken down into three separate parts – the Registry cost, the ICANN fee (currently 18 cents), and an OpenSRS management fee. OpenSRS retains the management fee for providing the domain registration and management service. Changes to the Registry costs and the ICANN fee are passed through transparently. The chart below shows the changes to our domain registration fees after the VeriSign fee increase on July 1st: OpenSRS
Our transparent, reseller friendly pricing model is in contrast to the approach taken by other registrars, where there is often a single price per gTLD. In the case of eNom, this was recently announced as an across-the-board 55 cent increase to domain registration fees for the six most popular gTLDs. Below is their Basic plan pricing, broken down into its component costs, with the new pricing effective July 1st: eNom
As an OpenSRS reseller, you have complete visibility to our costs; We won't use one registry's price increase as an opportunity to raise our prices on additional gTLDs. We believe that our transparent pricing model gives you comfort in clearly understanding how we approach pricing, and what you can expect in the future. If you want to see more detail on the current registry costs and ICANN fee, you can see it here: http://opensrs.com/services/domains/domains-pricing Up next, we’ll be writing about our more reseller friendly approach to sub-resellers. Stay tuned! |
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Now that’s not to say that people won’t be lining up to get their preferred .CO domain during the Landrush phase – demand for .CO domains has been quite strong. Rather, it’s a way of saying that Landrush orders aren’t approved on a first-come, first-served basis. Instead, multiple Landrush orders for the same domain will result in the domain going to an auction in which all those who applied for the domain during the Landrush period are able to bid.
Have you found yourself wondering how your own own performance indicators measure up against other OpenSRS resellers? Key performance metrics like renewal rates by quarter, new registrations and transfers in and out have long been providing valuable insight to service providers like yours.
If you are in one of these cities, we encourage you to join the hackathon. There are great discussions about hosting and how to collaborate on a global scale. The sign up for each city is