News

News http://www.cctld.ru Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:42:10 +0400 60 The new issue of The CC’s Bulletin "The Runet Evolution Rating" http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3439 "The Runet Evolution Rating", the new issue of the CC’s analytical Bulletin, has come out.

<a href="http://cctld.ru/files/stats/Q4-2011.pdf">"The Runet Evolution Rating"</a>, the new issue of the CC’s analytical Bulletin, has come out. This issue highlights main development trends and indices of the Internet in Russia in 2011.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0400 The Registrars’ Committee to create a working group to develop procedure for the registration of vacated domains http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3422 At an extended meeting held on 23 January, the Registrars Committee discussed prospective solutions to the problem of vacated domains registration. The Committee meeting was attended by representatives of the Technical Center of Internet (TCI) and the CC’s Council members.

At an extended meeting held on 23 January, the Registrars Committee discussed prospective solutions to the problem of vacated domains registration. The Committee meeting was attended by representatives of the Technical Center of Internet (TCI) and the CC’s Council members. Presently, a registrar may register a vacated domain according to allocated certain quota, which depends on the number of removed domain names as of a given registration day. Some members of the Registrars Committee believe that the effective allocation of quotas does not ensure equity of all registrars, as this arrangement is consistent with the vacated domains registration procedure. It should be noted that the arrangement in question is a temporary one and is effective until introduction by the TCI of a new vacated domains registration procedure. “The global background of the issue is 20 years old and all the solutions to it are already there. The trick is to pick a most appropriate one, - says Alexander Panov, CEO of RU-Center and managing partner, Hosting Community. That said, the arrangement should not encourage the existing market players to give rise to “new” registrars.” Marina Nikerova, first deputy to CEO of the Technical Center of Internet, briefed about a new arrangement put forward by the TCI. In her words, a separate soft- and hardware system will be assigned to tackle the issue. This service will concurrently enable the registrars to submit applications for registration of such domains. Registration of vacated domains is possible in two forms: the monthly subscription and payment against the number of submitted applications. The cost of the service is to be determined later. “Registrars will always be at odds. The ideal arrangement would be a centralized platform for vacated domains registration where all players would be on equal footing,” – reckons Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO. The meeting ended with the Registrars Committee proposal to specify the temporary formula of allocation of quotas for registration of vacated domains. Calculations will be run on the basis of data voluntarily submitted by the registrars and on the basis of openly available information on quotas. Moreover, the Committee members voted for creation of a working group to coordinate principles of vacated domains registration. According to Andrey Kondakov, the Registrars Committee Chairman, the CC Council members will be invited to participate in the working group as experts.

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0400 The application window to operate the new Top-Level Domains will become one of the main events of Domain Industry in 2012 http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3399 On 13 January the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ held a press conference “Domain spaces administration strategy in 2012” in the ITAR-TASS press center, which was attended by leading domain industry experts, technical experts, registrars’ and NGO representatives.

On 13 January the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ held a press conference “Domain spaces administration strategy in 2012” in the ITAR-TASS press center, which was attended by leading domain industry experts, technical experts, registrars’ and NGO representatives. Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, opened the press conference by outlining main developments facing the society in 2012. He believes that the most important one will be the application window to operate the new top-level domains, which had opened the day before. “According to our estimates, a total of 1,000-4,000 applications, will be submitted to ICANN from January to April 2012, - noted A. Kolesnikov. –There won’t be many applications from Russia, only from about 10 companies, and the chance for their submission is fairly high.” Within the application window, the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ will be busy with the gTLD .ДЕТИ project. The application for this top-level domain will be submitted by a specially established for this purpose Smart Internet Foundation in February 2012. Vladimir Mamontov, President of the editorial office of daily “Izvestia”, a member of the RF Public Chamber and the future head of the Smart Internet Foundation, emphasized a paramount importance of this type of domain for various categories of users, including both children and parents, and the government. “We are already backed by the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media, which is essential. What we should bear in mind is that we are creating this platform for our children. We’ll do our utmost to make it interesting and useful.” Sergey Plutogarenko, the RAEC’s CEO, elaborated on the NGOs’ role in the Internet governance system, whose development is impossible without business, state and society’s co-engagement. He also enumerated all fundamental events that took place in the industry in 2011. Alexey Skvortsov, Commercial Director of Hosing Community group of companies, noted important marketing aspects with respect to new domain zones. Marina Nikerova, First Deputy CEO of “Technical Center of Internet” CJSC, was next to speak. “Now, due to the launch of new domains, the issue of increased resilience and stability of a registry, the DNS system’s development and deployment of new services for the domain industry comes to the fore,” – noted she. - That's what we are going to come to grips with in the New Year.” Pavel Khramtsov, Director of the Information Policy of RU-CENTER, related about yet another two new gTLDs his company is going to apply for this year, that is, .МОСКВА and .MOSCOW. The last speaker at the press conference, Alexey Koroluyk, CEO of REG.RU, briefed the attendees on the secondary market of domain names registration. “Now that new TLDs and IDN TLDs have been up and running, we face unusual challenges and issues, which are all but exciting to tackle,” – noted he.

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0400 ICANN to begin accepting applications to operate new Generic Top-Level Domains http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3370 The number of top-level domains is set to grow significantly in the near future: from 12 January, ICANN will begin accepting applications to operate new generic top-level domains.

The number of top-level domains is set to grow significantly in the near future: from 12 January, ICANN will begin accepting applications to operate new generic top-level domains. The application window will open on 12 January and close on 12 April 2012. The number of applications submitted within this window is envisaged to amount to several thousand. In the framework of the program, which took ICANN several years to develop, any organization may apply for operation of top-level domain (for example, .sport, .planet, or any other). The application processing fee is USD185,000. At the same time, submission of application will not guarantee the approval of the domain. The program envisages registration of a domain both in the Latin script and internationalized domain names (IDN). For the applicants who require sponsorship, ICANN will operate Applicant Support Fund. ICANN's Board has set aside USD2,000,000 to assist needy applicants. However, any applicant will have to prove that the domain is essential for a certain category of Internet users. When application window closes on 12 April, the applicants will have to pass a great many of tests. In the event ICANN has no objections, the domain may be launched already in 9 months , i.e. in early 2013. In the event ICANN or a third party has objections, the processing of an application may be delayed for 20 or more months. Applicants for the new domains are divided into several categories. Quite a fraction of prospective applicants are corporations keen to stake out their brand domain name (eg,.pepsi, .toyota). As well, many applications are expected to be submitted by communities (.music, .eco, and many others), geographical territories and cities (.africa, .moscow, .berlin). In Russia, top-level domains are also popular: for example, the Russian domain industry will apply for gTLDs .дети, .москва, .moscow, and .skolkovo.

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0400 New service has been introduced on the site “Domains of Russia” http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3365 Statistical online resource “Domains of Russia” has got a new section “Internet penetration in Russia”. The section demonstrates distribution of the monthly online audience across the federal okrugs and regions in Russia.

Statistical online resource “<a href="http://statdom.ru/">Domains of Russia</a>” has got a new section “<a href="http://statdom.ru/internet#29">Internet penetration in Russia</a>”. The section demonstrates distribution of the monthly online audience across the federal okrugs and regions in Russia. Distribution of Internet users across the federal okrugs and regions of Russia is based on a weekly nationwide surveys of Russia's population aged 18 + regularly conducted by "the Institute of the Foundation ‘Public Opinion’" LLC, (formerly the "Public Opinion" Foundation) . Reports in the section present both the data of the current and past periodssince Q2 2002. With the introduction of the new service, we can track back the dynamics of changes in the geography-wise distribution of the Russian online audience over the past 10 years.

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 Group-IB to help combating cibercrime in domains .РФ and .RU http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3366 The Coordination Center for TLD RU and Group-IB have signed an agreement on combating cyber threats in domains .РФ and .RU.

The Coordination Center for TLD RU and <a href="http://www.group-ib.com">Group-IB</a> have signed an agreement on combating cyber threats in domains .РФ and .RU. According to the <a href="http://www.cctld.ru/en/docs/rules.php">agreement</a>, Group-IB will unravel cases of phishing, unauthorized access to information systems and spread of malicious content from domain names registered in zones .РФ and .RU. In the event of exposure of violations, Group-IB will analyze obtained information and report it to the registrars. The latter in their turn may discontinue domain names delegation in compliance with the new Terms and conditions of domain names registration in domains .РФ and .RU. It is worth noting that information reported to the registrars will be of advisory nature. Thanks to the new agreement the Russian segment of Internet will become safer: Group-IB’s support will help the registrars to promptly react to domains administrators‘ potential violations “Our experts have an impressive experience in the 24/7 exposure of various kinds of malicious resources. This will enable registrars to promptly receive necessary information, - comments Ilya Sachkov, CEO of Group-IB. - A new partnership allows resisting violations in Runet at a qualitatively new level and help protect domestic users from cyber criminals.” “The Group-IB’s capabilities and technology of detection of cyber threats upgrade the security of Russian national domain zones. At the same time, their efficient methods include a holistic set of tools designed to analyze facts and signals to determine the degree of a threat and make effective decisions, - says Andrei Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO. - Our common goal is to make a safer Internet, and the common regulation with Group-IB will help in this regard.” Earlier, the CC signed similar <a href="http://cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3119">agreement</a> with the “Friendly Runet” Foundation, a division of the Safe Internet league. Group-IB is a non-governmental organization providing consulting services in the sphere of information security breaches. Since 2010 the company forms part of LETA Group. On the basis of Group-IB, <a href="http://www.cert-gib.com">CERT-GIB</a> operates as the center of information security 24/7.

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 New registrar was accredited in domains .RU and .РФ http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3121 New Registrar, “United Domain Names” LLC successfully passed the accreditation procedure in domains .RU and .РФ.

New Registrar, <a href="http://uninic.ru/">“United Domain Names”</a> LLC successfully passed the accreditation procedure in domains .RU and .РФ. “United Domain Names” LLC is a Moscow-based firm whose main activity is the provision of services and support of domain names in Russian domain names .RU and .РФ. The firm will deploy hi-tech soft- and hardware complex “Virtual Registrar”. A total of 24 registrars are accredited in domain.RU, and 22 registrars – in domain .РФ.

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 Andrey Kolesnikov joined the Public Expert Council to debate on-line video broadcasting from polling stations throughout the country http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3120 Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, joined the public expert Council to debate on-line video broadcasts from polling stations in RF. The RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media initiated the creation of the Council. It is envisaged that during the 2012presidential elections in Russia video broadcasts from 94 thousand polling stations will be streamed onto the Internet.

Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, joined <a href="http://webvybory2012.ru/experts.html">the public expert Council to debate on-line video broadcasts from polling stations in RF</a>. The RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media initiated the creation of the Council. It is envisaged that during the 2012 presidential elections in Russia video broadcasts from 94 thousand polling stations will be streamed onto the Internet. Ilya Massukh, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Media, was appointed the Council’s Chairman. The Expert Council also includes Leonid Borodinov, CEO of the FSUE SRI “Voskhod”, Ilya Segalovich, Director on R&D of the JSC “Yandex”, Alexey Naschekin, Vice President on the innovation development of the JSC “Rostelekom”, Ilya Ponomarev, MP from “Just Rossia”, Elena Nikolaeva and Robert Shlegel, MP from “United Russia”. Other Council members represent the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media and the RF Ministry of Finance, telecoms industry, academic and public organizations. The Council’s mission is to discuss the most feasible project within a shortest possible timeline: with just less than three months before the presidential elections, the scope of the project involves organization of video broadcasts from tens of thousands of polling stations. “The main problem of the project is tight timelines, - said Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO. - In my opinion, the gravity of the challenge lies in logistics: the project is gargantuan, with very little time to go. There is a plethora of interesting technical with regard to organization of Internet broadcasts. But we’ll have to pick those technological means which can be promptly implemented. Plus, there is an idea to keep the project up and running beyond the election to tackle societal and humanitarian challenges.” The Council is to reconvene on Thursday, 22 December, at the RIA Novosti’s International Multimedia Center.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:46:40 +0400 The Safe Internet League to provide registrars with information about illicit resources http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=3119 The Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ and the “Friendly Runet” Foundation,  a division of the Safe Internet League –– signed an agreement on combating the spread of illicit content on the Web.

The Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ and the <a href="http://www.friendlyrunet.ru/en/index.phtml">“Friendly Runet” Foundation</a>, a division of the <a href="http://ligainternet.ru/">Safe Internet League</a> –– signed an agreement on combating the spread of illicit content on the Web. Thus, the CC selected a first competent organization which will provide the CC and the domain names registrars with information about the resources with illicit content. In compliance with the <a href="http://www.cctld.ru/en/docs/rules.php">new Terms and conditions of domain names registration in domains .RU and .РФ</a>, the registrars may discontinue domain names delegation for such resources upon receipt of a corresponding report from the Safe Internet League. The Safe Internet League is one of the most efficient public organizationscombating malicious content on the Web. Over the past ten months, 20-plus thousand reports about Internet resources with child pornography were received. As a result of these reports, over 8000-plus web pages containing illicit content have been removed from the Web. In 2011, the Coordination Center received over 40 calls from users with a request to stop delegation of certain domain names. All these complaints were communicated to the domain name registrars, as the Coordination Center has no authority to independently suspend delegation. Denis Davydov, Executive Director of the Safe Internet League, considers the cooperation with the CC critical to combat against online threats: “The Coordination Center has always been one of our key partners in the fight for clean and safe Runet. With the cooperation regulation at hand, we will be able to more efficiently combat the online evil.” “The Safe Internet League is an organization, which most of the Internet community put trust with. Information about malicious content, which will channeled to the registrars from the League, will help us all to make a safer Runet,” – said Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:42:06 +0400 New DNS node for Russian domains http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2137 Next DNS node designated for servicing domains .RU, .SU and .РФ was deployed in Hong Kong in early December. Thanks to the DNS node’s location, from now on the Asian users’ requests to Russian domains will be processed faster.

Next DNS node designated for servicing domains .RU, .SU and .РФ was deployed in Hong Kong in early December. Thanks to the DNS node’s location, from now on the Asian users’ requests to Russian domains will be processed faster. Global provider PCCW Global ensures connectivity of the Hong Kong DNS node with the Asian networks. Moreover, PCCW Global provides a security service for the new node to protect it from DDos attacks. From the very beginning, the DNS node has dealt with users’ requests from Indonesia, China, South Korea, Japan, Pakistan and many other countries of Asia - Pacific region. Recently, the node has handled about 15% of the overall number of DNS requests and currently is the 3rd largest by number of requests node after the Moscow and the New York ones. More detailed statistics about the operation of DNS domains .RU, .SU and .РФ are posted <a href="http://www.tcinet.ru/dnsstat/all/reports/c001d/?index=20111211">on the website of the Technical Center of Internet</a>. “The Hong Kong DNS node gives an opportunity to ensure yet a far stable and faster operation of DNS network, - says Elena Voronina, Technical Director of CJSC “TSI”. -The new node will allow a more even distribution of the load in the existing network, in particular, in Asia - Pacific region.” Today, the DNS system, which handles domain .RU, .SU and .РФ, consists of 12 nodes located in 8 Russian cities, as well as in Europe, America and Asia. Usage of IP-anycast technology allows directing the users’ requests to a nearest DNS node by the shortest route. This, in turn, ensures the minimal response time. Moreover, deployment of this technology makes the DNS nodes interchangeable as well as increases the resilience of the DNS system against D-Dos attacks and breakdowns. MSK-IX experts ensure operation and 24/7/365 monitoring of the DNS system.

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 Rod Beckstrom: “ICANN to create a Fund to support applicants for new gTLDs” http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2124 Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and CEO, held a press conference in Moscow on 12 December 2012. Mr. Beckstrom briefed the Russian Internet community about main tasks and challenges of the new gTLD program. The ICANN President call on Moscow as a part of the ICANN’s roadshow on the new gTLD program, with Russia being an 18th country covered in the tour.

Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s President and CEO, held a press conference in Moscow on 12 December 2012. Mr. Beckstrom briefed the Russian Internet community about main tasks and challenges of the new gTLD program. The ICANN President call on Moscow as a part of the ICANN’s roadshow on the new gTLD program, with Russia being an 18th country covered in the tour. While speaking at the event, Mr. Beckstrom specifically touched upon the issue of sponsorship of applications for new gTLDs: according to the ICANN President , ICANN is to put aside certain funds to support some applicants should they be in need of financial assistance. ICANN will consider sponsorship on individual basis. The ICANN President emphasized that the overall size of the fund will amount to 2 mn USD. He focused on the new gTLD application processing procedure. Rod Beckstrom noted that the final decision on giving priority to certain applications was still pending. However, in the event there are two or more applicants for the same top-level domain, the preference will be given to a community-based application. This mechanism will work on condition such an application has met all the required criteria and successfully passed the ICANN evaluation procedure. George Sadowsky, member of ICANN Board of Directors, stressed Russia’s unique role both in development of Internet and in the ICANN: “We support and appreciate contribution of Russian representatives in ICANN. ICANN is an organization where all voices are heard of. We are always open to recommendations and the Russian members’ contribution to the ICANN committees is invaluable.” “Moscow is a landmark city for completion of this roadshow, - underlined Rod Beckstrom at the end of his presentation. – It is Russia which has been delegated the first Cyrillic domain in the Internet. Russian representatives in ICANN played a pivotal role in introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs). Today, Russia’s support is paramount for various committees and organizations within ICANN and the presence of Russian representatives in ICANN ensures that their voices will be heard of. Russia, in my opinion, will continue to play a significant role in expansion and advancement of the global Internet.”

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 The CC’s Council elections have taken place http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2123 On December 2011 regular elections of the CC’s Council were held. The new members elected to the Council are Viktor Leonidovich Belov, Mikhail Abramovich Medrish, Pavel Bronislavovich Khramtsov, Mikhail Vladimirovich Yakushev. Oleg Igorevich Tabarovsky replaced the outgoing Chair of the Council Marina Vasilievlna Nikerova. The new Council members will come into office from 1 January 2012.

On December 2011 regular elections of the CC’s Council were held. The new members elected to the Council are Viktor Leonidovich Belov, Mikhail Abramovich Medrish, Pavel Bronislavovich Khramtsov, Mikhail Vladimirovich Yakushev. Oleg Igorevich Tabarovsky replaced the outgoing Chair of the Council Marina Vasilievlna Nikerova. The new Council members will come into office from 1 January 2012. The rotation of the CC’s Council members takes place annually: in compliance with the rules of the Council’s formation, its members are elected for the term of three years, accordingly, each year one-third of the Council steps down and new members are elected to replace them. In all, 16 applications were submitted, of which 4 ones – on recommendation of the Council members. This year the following Council members are to step down from the Council: Marina Vasilievna Nikerova, The Council Chairperson, and three Council members: Alexey Dmitrievich Lesnikov, Yulia Viktorovna Ovchinnikova and Alexey Yurievich Sokolov. New Council members are: Viktor Leonidovich Belov, Head of the Communications Network Department of JSC “MTS”. For many years he has been an active member of the Russian Internet community; from 1996 his professional activity is linked with the development of the Russian segment of the Web. Presently he heads the department responsible for the development and operation of the online network of JSC “MTS”. Mikhail Abramovich Medrish is Technical Director of CJSC “AKADO-Stolitsa”. He was elected the CC’s Council member at the founding meeting of 12 July 2001 and was Council member until 2012. In 2009 he took part in the development of the Statute of CJSC “Technical Center of Internet”. He is one of the most prominent members of the Internet community in Russia. Pavel Bronislavovich Khramtsov is an Information Policy Director at CJSC RSITS (RU-CENTER registrar), also performing his duties as a Head of Internet Department at Russian Scientific Centre "Kurchatov Institute". Mr. Khramtsov is also a member of RAEC (Russian Association of Electronic Communications) committee for Information Security and Cybercrime, and a member of Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development. He received his candidate degree from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute and holds a docent rank there at a Department of System Analysis. Pavel Khramtsov is also studying the dynamics of Russian domain zones, having developed and launched stat.nic.ru, a portal dedicated to domain usage stats. Mikhail Vladimirovich Yakushev is Vice-President of Mail.Ru Group. From 1995 he is concerned with the Internet regulation issues. In 2004-2006 he was Director of the Legal Department of the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media, representative of the authorized representative of the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media in the CC. He is author of several books and dozens of publications on the regulation of domain space and other aspects of Internet regulation. He is proactive in the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC). From 2004 through 2010 he was the CC’s Council member, from 2007 through 2010 – the CC’s Council Chairman. From 1 January 2012 the composition of the CC’s Council will be as follows: <ol> <li>Viktor Leonidovich BELOV </li> <li> Maxim Victorovich BOBIN</li> <li> Marat Alikovich GURIEV</li> <li> Alexander Fedorovich KLIMOV</li> <li> Ilya Issovich MASSUH – the authorized representative of the RF Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media</li> <li> Mikhail Abramovich MEDRISH </li> <li> Alexander Sergeevich NASCHEKIN</li> <li> Alexander Valerievich PANOV</li> <li> Sergey Alexandrovich PLUGOTARENKO</li> <li> Denis Vladislavovich STAFEEV</li> <li> Oleg Igorevich TABAROVSKY</li> <li> Pavel Bronislavovich KHRAMTSOV </li> <li> Mikhail Vladimirovich YAKUSHEV</li> </ol>

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 The CC’s website section “Questions and Answers” updated http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2115 Comments on the new Terms and conditions of domain names registration in domains .RU and .РФ have been posted on the CC’s website section “Questions and answers”.

<a href="http://cctld.ru/ru/activities/faq/new_rules.php">Comments</a> on the new Terms and conditions of domain names registration in domains .RU and .РФ have been posted on the CC’s website section “Questions and answers”. Comments refer to issues raised by users and registrars in the process of development of new Terms and conditions, as well as after their publication. The comments offer both interpretation of most clauses of the Terms and conditions and answers to the questions not directly reflected in the Terms and conditions such as, for instance, detailed information about the use of the personal data in compliance with the amendments to the RF law or description of how the currently developed stop-list functions. The “Questions and answers” section is regularly updated in response to the users’ questions. To ask a question, please use the <a href="http://cctld.ru/en/about/contact_info/send_message.php">feedback form</a>.

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 The CC’s Council approved the creation of Smart Internet Foundation http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2110 On 29 November, the CC’s Council held its regular meeting.

On 29 November, the CC’s Council held its regular meeting. At the meeting, Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, elaborated on the theme of the top-level domain .ДЕТИ. As a reminder, the Coordination Center is considering an initiative to apply for the respective domain under the New gTLD program. According to A. Kolesnikov, domain .ДЕТИ will be an integrated registry with the focus on children. The mission of the domain is to promote and popularize websites for children and teenagers. “Domain .ДЕТИ is an online space where young visitors, above all, amuse themselves, - notes Marina Nikerova, the CC’s Council Chairperson. – The new domain is intended for educational and edutainment content, which should be amusing and, at the same time, safe for the young online audience. Safety in domain .ДЕТИ is mostly a matter of technology.” To that end, the Coordination Center decided to create a non-profit Smart Internet Foundation and approved its Charter, as well as the foundation’s financial structure. Specifically, it was decided that the foundation would assume regulation of activities of organizations in domain .ДЕТИ, as well as drafting and submission of an application for the domain to ICANN. In the future, the foundation will be incorporated to administer domain .ДЕТИ according to the procedures under the New gTLD program. In the format of the meeting, the CC’s Council approved the CC’s 2012 budget and discussed AOB.

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:41:35 +0400 Results of the context for the best story about the domain .РФ announced http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2113 The Coordination Center for TLD RU to announce completion of the jubilee contest “Domain .РФ: after one year into the open registration”  and pick the winners.

The Coordination Center for TLD RU to announce completion of the jubilee contest <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tochkaRF?sk=app_23744633048">“Domain .РФ: after one year into the open registration”</a> and pick the winners. As a reminder, 11 November 2010 started open registration in the IDN TLD for Russia. Owners of Cyrillic domains who became contest participants have been sending their comments about the historic milestone development and related about the usage of their Russian-language domains and the jury, which included CC’s representatives, picked the most interesting stories. According to the jury, the author of the most amusing story and the winner of the main prize, iPad tablet 2 32 Gb WiFi+3G, is Elena Kopylova, editor- in-chief of the <a href="http://xn--80abvnkf0a.xn--p1ai/">Биатлон.рф</a> website. <a href="http://xn--80abvnkf0a.xn--p1ai/">Биатлон.рф</a> is nearly of the same age as the Cyrillic domain zone. The name of this online resource was subsequently given to the printed journal focusing on one of the most popular sports. Another two winners will get trophies from the Coordination Center: they are Ksenia Moldavskaya, representing the <a href="http://xn--c1ajfmrrb.xn--p1ai/">Книгуру.рф</a> resource, who related about an interesting social project: “<a href="http://xn--c1ajfmrrb.xn--p1ai/">Книгуру</a>” is a contest for the best prose work for children aged between 10 and 16 years. At the moment, the contest is held for the second straight season. The first one drew both experienced and novice writers from across the country and even from some CIS countries.” eanwhile, the other laureate, Artem Sukhanov of hosting company RuFox gave a detailed explanation as to why his company needed Cyrillic domain <a href="http://xn--j1ahfghg.xn--p1ai/">Руфокс.рф</a>: “With the launch of zone .РФ, we, of course, immediately registered domain <a href="http://xn--j1ahfghg.xn--p1ai/">руфокс.рф</a>. Now we can safely and clearly dictate the address of our website to anyone. Although we have long been on the market, many people do not quite know how to put down rufox.ru”. The Coordination Center thanks the contest participants for their commitment and amusing stories, congratulates the winners and wishes all the users in the Cyrillic domain zone every further success in developing their projects!

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0400 Content filtering discussed at ENOG-2 http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2112 Day two of the ENOG-2 international meeting on 30 November was marked by the panel discussion provocatively labeled “DNS filtering content: Does might make right?” The panel was sponsored by the Coordination Center for TLD RU.

Day two of the <a href="http://cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2090">ENOG-2</a> international meeting on 30 November was marked by the panel discussion provocatively labeled “DNS filtering content: Does might make right?” The panel was sponsored by the Coordination Center for TLD RU. The panel moderator, Mikhail Yakushev of RAEC and Mail.ru Group, outlined main issues for discussion: criteria for content blocking and practicability of respective technical levers. The first panelist, Andrey Robachevsky of ISOC, briefed the participants on the debate on the issue at <a href="http://cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=1878">IGF-2011</a> in Kenya. According to international experts, DNS-based content filtering is not a means to take on illegal content on the Web. The source of the content remains freely accessible, and the ways to bypass DNS filters are very rough and cause serious damage to the network infrastructure. Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, tagged issues of malicious content filtering as the most pressing ones. “The issue of dissemination of criminal content on the Web will be addressed through technical means, whether we like it or not. On the other hand, the same mechanisms can be used against objects which do not fall under the Criminal Code. For example, under the right holders’ pressure the United States face the urgency of extra-judicial removal of content from Internet resources. And instead of hunting down real criminals, the police chase peering network users. These two issues should be clearly separated, said Andrey Kolesnikov. – Today, an efficient way to combat unlawful content is to do it all together. That’s the way “hot lines” operate, and it has proved pretty effective.” Vladimir Menyailo of the Friendly Runet Foundation took up the issue by displaying impressive statistics of hot line performance in combating child pornography. Over a year, the hot line took and checked out as many as 46,820 users’ messages regarding child pornography online. Upon verification 18,916 resources were rooted out in Russia and 859 ones - overseas. Certain materials were passed over to law enforcement agencies to subsequently open 41 criminal cases. Ivan Zassoursky, the Internet publishers Foundation, complained about the Russian law failing to properly define extremism. The inaccuracy in determining what should constitute extremism, according to I. Zassoursky, gives rise to abuses. As a result, the Internet users perceive almost all legislative novelties in this area as a threat to online freedoms. Ivan Zassoursky expressed doubts over effectiveness of technical blocking of inappropriate content. He cited the example of Kazakhstan and Turkey that tried this method on a national scale; however, a user can easily bypass the blockages. Moreover, I. Zassoursky noted that Runet faces a grave challenge of spilling out the accumulated negative attitude and hatred online. Paul Vixie, ISC, related about how things stand with the problem of posting illegal content abroad. Commenting on his presentation, Ivan Zassoursky noted that for Russians a tightening of control over the online content is the prime fear. In Europe and America, the greatest concern is the government’s Big-Brother capacity. Paul Vixie stressed that most politicians and policemen can grasp the concept of filtering through changes in the DNS records to no matter how senseless and fruitless it is. Petr Zavialov, Mail.ru, referred to the problem of confusing the really unlawful content with “the one you personally find disgusting.” Recapping, Mikhail Yakushev asserted that the Internet is inseparable from the offline life, and it is naive to assume that it is home to the evil, and as such, it can be overcome by technical methods. The whole society’s engagement in addressing these issues is the keystone of success in fighting against illegal content in the Internet.

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0400 The ENOG-2 International Meeting opened in Moscow http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2090 The ENOG-2 (Eurasia Network Operators’ Group) international meeting kicked off in the World Trade Center in Moscow on 29 November 2011. The event  is sponsored by the Technical Center of Internet.

The <a href="http://www.enog.org/meetings/enog-2/agenda/">ENOG-2</a> (Eurasia Network Operators’ Group) international meeting kicked off in the World Trade Center in Moscow on 29 November 2011. The event is sponsored by the <a href="http://www.tcinet.ru/">Technical Center of Internet</a>. Opening the plenary session, Paul Rendek, Head of External Relations and Communications, RIPE NCC, noted that that was the second time the event was held in Moscow and gathered experts of different levels. Thus, ENOG meetings are becoming one of major events for regional network operators. Elena Voronina, Technical Director, CJSC “TCI” and the head of the Moscow Internet Exchange (MSK-IX) emphasized that this year ENOG-2 combined two events – the 7th Peering Forum MSK-IX, which opened on 28 November, and the traditional RIPE NCC Regional Meeting. “This format promotes the Russian and international communities’ keenness to further operators’ interaction, introduction of IPv6 and network security on the dynamically developing modern market,” – said Voronina. She briefed the audience on the MSK-IX project’s current performance: “This year, we have launched a new platform for connection in Moscow, and put into service two new access points in St Petersburg and Novosibirsk, which will improve accessibility of Russian national domains .RU and .РФ for providers.” A total of 560 Russian providers use the MSK-IX services.” Igor Milashevsky, Director of the Department of Public Policy in Information Technologies and Coordination of Information Systems of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Media, thanked RIPE NCC and MSK-IX for organizing the conference. He noted that the holding of the conference in Moscow allows attraction of a large number of participants from Russia and promotion of international cooperation. Igor Milashevsky believes that today the Web is changing its nature and turning into a global medium. The last speaker at the session, Paul Vixie, Head of ISC, briefed the conference participants on the background of neutral commercial peering and PAIX experience in that sphere. On 30 November, participants in the round table under the provocative name <a href="http://www.enog.org/meetings/enog-2/agenda/">“DNS filtering: Does might make right?”</a> will be able to discuss various aspects of content filtering, exchange opinions on the issues and know experts and practitioners’ stand on the matter.

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:38:18 +0400 The 17th International Forum of Hosting Providers is held near St Petersburg http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2083 On 25 November 2011, the 17th all-Russia forum of hosting providers (“Hostobzor”) was opened in Roschino, near St Petersburg.

On 25 November 2011, the 17th all-Russia forum of hosting providers (“Hostobzor”) was opened in Roschino, near St Petersburg. Held twice a year, in the spring and in the autumn, the event traditionally gathers leading players of the Russian domain industry. This year’s event was attended by 60-plus representatives of hosting providers and registrars, as well as representatives of the Coordination Center and the Technical Center of Internet. The event served as a platform for many discussions which touched the most topical themes of the Russian domain market – specifically, within the panel “Domain Market: Autumn 2011”. The discussion was attended by representatives of the domain market: Marina Nikerova, the CC’s Council Chairperson; Alexander Panov, RU-CENTER’s General Director and managing partner, Hosting Community; Alexey Skvotsov, Commercial Director, Hosting Community; Pavel Khramtsov, Director of Information policy department, RU-CENTER; and Sergey Kopylov and Dmitry Beliavsky of the Technical Center of Internet. According to forum participants, the new gTLD project remains one of the most pressing issues. For instance, Marina Nikerova elaborated on acceptance of application for new domains articulating that any organization may submit an application from 12 January through 12 April 2012: “The procedure of drafting and submitting an application is very complicated. For example, the respective requirements tonational top-level domains are much simpler, - stresses M. Nikerova. – It is highly unlikely to comply with the application process and submit all required information without having experience in the domain industry.” Pavel Khramtsov delivered intriguing statistics regarding the pay-off period of domain zones: the expert noted that in order to recoup registration and maintenance costs of a top-level domain this domain should have some 150,000 or more registered domain names. Interestingly, Russia will also participate in the new gTLD project: for example, the forum participants discussed filing of an application for domains . moscow and .москва, .skolkovo, and .дети. Marina Nikerova briefed on the draft registration procedures in the projected domain .дети: according to the CC’s Council Chairperson, registration in the domain will be open almost for all comers.

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0400 For the first time sites in Cyrillic domain .РФ became winners of “Runet-2011 Award” http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2082 The 8th award ceremony of the National Prize for the contribution to development of the Russian segment of Internet, “Runet-2011 Award”, was held on the stage of the “Pushkin” cinema theater on 25 November 2011.

The 8th award ceremony of the National Prize for the contribution to development of the Russian segment of Internet, “Runet-2011 Award”, was held on the stage of the “Pushkin” cinema theater on 25 November 2011. The Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC) was its established organizer and the Coordination Center for TLDs RU/РФ co-sponsored the event this year. Igor Schegolev, Minister of Telecom and Mass Media, opened the ceremony. “We are celebrating this year’s milestone development with Internet in Russia having topped Europe by the number of users, - noted I. Schegolev. – This year, we are close to the 1,000,000 milestone by the number of registered domain names in zone .РФ.” Igor Schegolev presented the award in the category “State and Society” to three winners: project ANO “Modernizatsiya” (i-russia.ru), “VTB-Russia” (vtbrussia.ru) and infosud.ru. This year, the Coordination Center sponsored a special category “For the Contribution to Development of Domain .РФ”, which aimed to distinguish projects promoting development of the Russian Cyrillic top-level domain. “Domain .РФ, undoubtedly became a distinguishing feature of 2011, - Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, said at the award ceremony. – The fact that sites in the Internet now can be named in Russian, I believe, is already known to all Russians. About a hundred sites in domain .РФ submitted applications for the Runet-2011 Award in our category. And a good bunch of them, I think, proved well worth the award – just for creative approach to the usage of the domain and assistance in demonstrating to our countrymen the fact that the Russian domain is practical, popular and fancy.” The “For the Contribution to Development of Domain .РФ” award ultimately went to: the project большоеправительство.рф, the project суперсадовник.рф, and the portal for the children and teenagers вектор-успеха.рф. But the award ceremony was not over with that: one of the winners in the category “Science and Education” also was a Cyrillic Internet project - умная-школа.рф. The complete list of the Runet-2011 winners is available on the <a href="http://www.premiaruneta.ru/">site</a> of the Award.

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0400 Domain .РФ success is one of the major events in 2011 http://www.cctld.ru/en/news/news_detail.php?ID=2073 On 22 November 2011, the Federal Agency for Printed and Mass Media (Rospechat) in tandem with the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC) co-organized a press conference “Runet: year in review and prospects of expansion” at the RIA Novosti press center . Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, took part in the press conference.

On 22 November 2011, the Federal Agency for Printed and Mass Media (Rospechat) in tandem with the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC) co-organized a press conference “Runet: year in review and prospects of expansion” at the RIA Novosti press center . Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, took part in the press conference. In his presentation, Sergey Plutogarenko, the RAEC’s CEO, listed major 2011 Runet developments. One of those, in his opinion, was the success of the Cyrillic domain .РФ. “By the end of the year, the number of domain names registered in zone .РФ nearly hit one million; it can now be asserted that the domain not only exists and functions successfully, but is popular with users,” – noted S. Plutogarenko. As to other major highlights of the year, he noted IPOs by two leading Russian Internet companies, Yandex and Mail.ru Group, as well as a rapid expansion of mobile Internet and e- commerce in Russia. Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s CEO, elaborated on domain .РФ. “Russian domain space keep expanding and by its size already holds leading positions worldwide,” – noticed he. As of today, domain .РФ boasts 930,567 registered domain names, with 58.7% of them already delegated and 35% - actively used by their owners. As of today, more than a half of domains registered in November 2010, in the first month of the open registration period, have already been extended. “I figure, next year, domain .РФ will hit a mark of 1,000,000 registered domain names, - added A. Kolesnikov, - and we will have new equally exciting projects. We kicked off preparations for the applying for another top-level domain - .ДЕТИ, which should for an Internet space reserved exclusively for the youngest users.” Mikhail Seslavinsky, Head of Rospechat, noted that the Internet forms a main source of information for 25% of Russians. “It’s a very significant figure. Some 57 million people use the Internet weekly, and the young Internet audience is growing constantly. Gradually, the Internet becomes available in libraries and educational organizations. More and more people go online using mobile devices.” M. Seslavinsky also added that 70% of users go online in search of information, 59% - to log in social networks and another 53%- to read news. “People are learning to look for relevant information online and begin to trust the Internet as a source of information.” The press conference was also attended by Olga Brukovskaya, Vice-President on marketing, Mail.ru Group; Oleg Rumyantsev, pr-director of Rostelekom; Marina Treschova, General Director, Fast Lane Ventures; and Denis Davydov, Director of the Safer Internet League.

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0400