Difference between revisions of "Afilias"

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{{CompanyInfo|
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{{Actor
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| logo            = AfiliasLogo.png
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|stakeholder group=Business
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| type           = Private
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|actor type=
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| industry       = Registry, Registrar
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|country=USA
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| founded         = 2000  
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|website=https://www.afilias.info
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| founders        =
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|issue areas=DNS
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| ownership      =
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|Logo=AfiliasLogo.png
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| headquarters   = 2 La Touche House<br/>IFSC<br/>Dublin 1
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|membersponsor=ICANNWiki [[Sponsorship|Member]]
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| country        = Ireland
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|type=Private
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| businesses     =
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|industry=Registry, Registrar
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| products        =  
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|founded=2000
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| employees       = 150 <ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/companies/afilias Afilias on LinkedIn]</ref>
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|headquarters=300 Welsh Rd<br />Building 3, Suite 105<br /> Horsham, PA 19044
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| revenue        =
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|businesses=[[mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd.]],
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| website        = [http://www.afilias.info Afilias.info]
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|employees=200 <ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/companies/afilias Afilias on LinkedIn]</ref>
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| blog            =
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|twitter=Afilias
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| facebook        =
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|keypeople=[[Hal Lubsen]], Former CEO<br>
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| linkedin        =
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[[Jonathan Robinson]], Former Executive Chairman<br>
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| twitter         = Afilias
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[[Huw Spiers]], Former Chief Financial Officer<br />
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| keypeople       = [[Hal Lubsen]], CEO<br>
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[[Ram Mohan]], Former EVP and CTO<br>
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[[Ram Mohan]], EVP and CTO<br>
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[[Roland LaPlante]], Former SVP and CMO<br>
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[[Roland LaPlante]], SVP and CMO<br>
+
[[Steven Pack]], Former Compliance officer <br>
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[[Steven Pack]], Compliance officer <br>
+
[[M. Scott Hemphill]], Former VP and General Counsel<br>
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[[M. Scott Hemphill]], VP and General Counsel<br>
+
[[John Kane]], Former VP of Corporate Services<br>
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[[Chris Campbell]], Director of Business Development<br>
+
[[Chris Campbell]], Former Director of Business Development<br>
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[[Kroopa Shah]], Accounts Manager
+
[[Michaela Cruden]], Former Director of Business Development - Europe<br>
 +
[[Kroopa Shah]], Former Accounts Manager<br>
 +
[[Doug McDonald]], Former Sales Executive<br>
 +
[[Steve Heflin]], Former VP of Sales<br>
 
}}
 
}}
 +
'''Afilias''' is now part of [[Identity Digital]]. It is the world’s second-largest Internet domain name registry, with more than 20 million names under management.<ref>[https://afilias.info/about-us Afilias About Us]</ref> Afilias is a US Multinational Corporation with international headquarters in Pennsylvania. It launched the [[.info]] [[gTLD]] in 2001. In February 2010, Afilias took ownership of the [[Registry Operator]] for the [[.mobi]] mobile phone [[TLD]], [[mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd]]. It helped found the dotMobi company and provided early technical assistance to the company.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/mobi+acquisition Afilias Limited Acquires .Mobi Domain Registry and Expands Market Leadership], Afilias.info.</ref> In January 2012, Afilias acquired [[RegistryPro|Registry Services Corporation]], which until that time had been the registry for the [[.pro]] [[TLD]].
  
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'''Afilias''' is one of the major [[gTLD]] registries in existence today, having launched [[.info]] domains in 2001. Afilias has also been the registry operator for the [[.mobi]] mobile phone [[TLD]] since February, 2010.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/mobi+acquisition Afilias Limited Acquires .Mobi Domain Registry and Expands Market Leadership]</ref>
+
Afilias supports the technical back-end of many [[TLD]]s, including nine [[gTLD]]s, the largest of which is [[.org]].<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120117_afilias_acquires_registry_services_corporation_dot_pro/ Afilias acquires Services Corporation dot Pro], CircleID.com. Published 2012 January 17.</ref><ref>[http://domainincite.com/afilias-acquires-pro-operator-registrypro/ Afilias Acquires .Pro Operator RegistryPro]. Domain Incite.</ref>  In total, their systems currently support more than 20 million registrations.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120612_afilias_bringing_hundreds_of_new_top_level_domains_to_the_internet/ Afilias Bringing Hundreds of New Top Level Domains to the Internet], CircleID.com Published 2012 June 12.</ref>
  
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==History ==
+
On December 29, 2020, [[Donuts]], the global leader in next-generation TLDs, completed its acquisition of Afilias' [[registry]]. Together, they will support over 25 million domain names spanning over 400 TLDs.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20201119-donuts-acquires-afilias/ CircleID analysis of Donuts/Afilias transaction]</ref> Although now under one corporate structure, the two companies continue to operate without apparent changes for registrars or registry services clients.<ref>[https://afilias.info/news/2020/12/29/donuts-acquires-afilias Donuts acquires Afilias]</ref> The transaction did not include Afilias’ [[registrar]] businesses or mobile software ([[DeviceAtlas]], [[DeviceAssure]], [[MobiReady]], and [[MobiForge]]).<ref>[https://afilias.info/mobile/ Afilias Mobile]</ref>
  
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As an acknowledgement of the need for more competition at the registry level of the domain name industry, a number of important domain name [[:Category:Registrars|registrars]] created Afilias in September, 2000. Just two months later Afilias was selected by [[ICANN]] to launch the [[.info]] [[gTLD]], which is often conisdered the most successful new [[gTLD]] after the launch of [[.com]].  
+
==Background ==
 +
Acknowledging the need for more competition at the registry level of the domain name industry, a number of important domain names [[:Category:Registrars|registrars]] created Afilias in September 2000. Just two months later, Afilias was selected by [[ICANN]] to launch the [[.info]] [[gTLD]], which has been called the most successful new [[gTLD]] after the launch of [[.com]].  
  
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The headquarters of Afilias is located in Dublin. They have a large number of offices worldwide, including operational offices in New Delhi, India, an operations center in Toronto, Canada, American offices in Philadelphia, and sales offices in London, U.K. Afilias Canada Corp also includes operational facilities in Ontario and sales offices in Vancouver.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/contact-us/offices Afilias Info]</ref>
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The headquarters of Afilias is located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, USA. They have a large number of offices worldwide, including their former headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, operational offices in New Delhi, India, an operations center in Toronto, Canada, and sales offices in London, U.K. Afilias Canada Corp also includes operational facilities in Ontario and sales offices in Vancouver.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/contact-us/offices Info], Afilias.info.</ref>
  
 
Afilias is the second largest domain services provider after [[Verisign]], supporting over 14 million domain names, as of January 2008.<ref>[http://www.osbr.ca/ojs/index.php/osbr/article/view/1142/1093 Osbr.ca]</ref>
 
Afilias is the second largest domain services provider after [[Verisign]], supporting over 14 million domain names, as of January 2008.<ref>[http://www.osbr.ca/ojs/index.php/osbr/article/view/1142/1093 Osbr.ca]</ref>
 +
 +
Afilias was the first registry to provide [[IDN]] capable email to its customers. All of its servers are [[DNSSEC]] and [[IPv6]] capable.<ref>[http://www.idnnews.com/?p=9963 IDNnews.com]</ref>
  
 
===.info 10 year Anniversary===
 
===.info 10 year Anniversary===
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On December 7th, 2010, Afilias released its annual report on [[.info]] domains, which happened to coincide with the domain space's 10 year anniversary. The report detailed the general growth and increased availability of the domain; at that time it was the number one new [[TLD]] to ever be launched, and the 7th largest TLD in the world. It stood at about 6.8 million domain registrations, with about 5 million of those, or 70%, resolving to active websites. They are available through 90% of domain registrars, and the entire registration grew about 30% from the year before. It had double the registration of any other new TLD.<ref>[http://www.info.info/content/afilias-releases-info-domain-2010-annual-report Afilias Releases info Domain 2010 Annual Report]</ref>
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On December 7, 2010, Afilias released its annual report on [[.info]] domains, which happened to coincide with the domain space's 10-year anniversary. The report detailed the general growth and increased availability of the domain. At that time, it was the number one new [[TLD]] ever to be launched and the 7th largest TLD in the world. It stood at about 6.8 million domain registrations, with about 5 million of those, or 70%, resolving to active websites. They are available through 90% of domain registrars, and the entire registration grew about 30% from the year before. It had double the registration of any other new TLD.<ref>[http://www.info.info/content/afilias-releases-info-domain-2010-annual-report Afilias Releases info Domain 2010 Annual Report], Info.info.</ref>
 +
===Sunrise Auctions===
 +
In 2012 and 2013, Afilias teamed up with [[GoDaddy]] to auction off domains that had been reserved under its Sunrise periods but whose trademarks later proved invalid. The first round of auctions produced highlights, such as Cancer.info, which sold for $16,005, and loans.info, which sold for $12,205. Together both auctions included over 235 domain names.<ref>[http://domainnamewire.com/2013/01/08/afilias-and-go-daddy-to-hold-second-info-auction/ Afilias and Go Daddy To Hold Second Info Auction, DomainNameWire.com]Published 8 Jan 2013, Retrieved 9 Jan 2013</ref>
  
 
== Products and services ==
 
== Products and services ==
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Afilias is a domain service provider and a domain registrar.  
 
Afilias is a domain service provider and a domain registrar.  
  
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'''Service provider for the following [[ccTLD]]s:'''  
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'''Service provider for the following [[TLD]]s:'''<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/global-registry-services Global Registry Services]. Afilias.</ref>
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<div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2">
 
* [[.vc]]    (Saint Vincent & Grenadine)
 
* [[.vc]]    (Saint Vincent & Grenadine)
 
* [[.sc]]    (Seychelles)  
 
* [[.sc]]    (Seychelles)  
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* [[.org]]    ([[gTLD]])
 
 
* [[.mn]]    (Mongolia)
 
* [[.mn]]    (Mongolia)
 
* [[.me]]    (Montenegro)
 
* [[.me]]    (Montenegro)
Line 56: Line 63:
 
* [[.bz]]    (Belize)
 
* [[.bz]]    (Belize)
 
* [[.ag]]    (Antigua and Barbuda)
 
* [[.ag]]    (Antigua and Barbuda)
 +
* [[.org]]    ([[gTLD]])
 
* [[.aero]]  ([[gTLD]] for the Airline and Aviation industry)
 
* [[.aero]]  ([[gTLD]] for the Airline and Aviation industry)
 
* [[.asia]]  ([[sTLD]] for the region including Asia, the Pacific and Australia)
 
* [[.asia]]  ([[sTLD]] for the region including Asia, the Pacific and Australia)
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* [[.info]]  
+
* [[.info]] ([[gTLD]])
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* [[.mobi]]
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* [[.mobi]] ([[mTLD]])
 +
* [[.pro]] ([[gTLD]])
 +
* [[.xxx]] ([[gTLD]])
 +
* [[.post]] ([[gTLD]] for the postal union)
 +
* [[.blue]]
 +
* [[.red]]
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* [[.pink]]
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* [[.black]]
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* [[.shiksha]]
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* [[.kim]]
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* [[.organic]]
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* [[.lgbt]]
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* [[.vote]]
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* [[.voto]]
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* [[.green]]
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* [[.ltda]]
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* [[.vegas]]
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* [[.rich]]
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* [[.hiv]]
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* [[.global]]
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* [[.porn]]
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* [[.adult]]
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* [[.archi]]
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* [[.ski]]
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* [[.bio]]
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</div>
 +
===Registration Stats===
 +
In January 2011, Afilias announced that the 3-month-old [[.xxx]] extension had over 200,000 registrations, which were being technically supported by Afilias. However, more than half of these were not signed into the [[Root Zone|root zone]], meaning that many of the registrations were [[Defensive Registration|defensive acquisitions]] by trademark owners, or pre-blocked domains by [[ICM Registry]] that will never be resolving domains.<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2012/01/18/afilias-xxx-breaks-200k-domains-under-management-a-look-inside-the-numbers/ Afilias XXX 200k Domains Under Management a Look Inside the Numbers], TheDomains.com. Published 2012 January 18.</ref>
 +
 
 +
Afilias was able to double the registrations for [[.pro]] in just a year's time, including overcoming a deep loss of 40,000 domains of zip codes that had been registered to [[Hostway]]. In January 2013, it noted that it had 160,000 domains registered. CEO [[Karim Jiwani]] notes that it is all organic growth rather than large bundled deals, and is the result of various price decreases, and on-boarding more [[registrar]]s, most notably [[Directi]]. All this happened while Afilias simultaneously got more serious about enforcing the registration policies that require professional credentials. Though this also means educating registrars that an extensive degree is not a requisite for being a professional, and a professional may be a massage therapist or tour guide.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/11668-afilias-doubles-pro-registrations-in-a-year Afilias Doubles Pro Registrations in a Year, DomainIncite.com]Published 22 Jan 2013, Retrieved 23 Jan 2013</ref>
 +
 
 +
In December 2010, .info was the largest new gTLD, and the 7th largest TLD in the world, with about 6.8 million registrations.<ref>[http://www.info.info/content/afilias-releases-info-domain-2010-annual-report Afilias Releases info Domain 2010 Annual Report, info.info]</ref> Afilias' [[Roland LaPlante]] has noted that "there are as many .info domains registered as all other new TLDs combined."<ref>[http://www.sedo.com/presse/presse.php?tracked=1&partnerid=&language=us&id=555 Press Release, May 29, Sedo.com] Retrieved 29 May 2013</ref> Between 2012 and 2013, the .info TLD had a net loss of 914,310 domain registrations, which amounted to an 11% decline compared with 2011 domains. 2012 ended with 7,402,557 .info domains, still making it the leader in new gTLD total registrations despite the loss. [[Afilias]] attributed the decline to the implementation of an anti-abuse policy that took down registrations it considered as spam.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/12744-afilias-blames-security-crackdown-for-massive-drop-in-info-domains Afilias blames security crackdown for massive drop in .info domains, Domain Incite] Retrieved 13 Sept 2013</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Developments===
 +
In July 2013, [[Afilias]] requested that [[ICANN]] lift the restrictions set out in its Registry Agreements for .pro and .mobi that forbids Afilias from owning more than a 15% share in the registrar company that sells the TLDs.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/13911-afilias-wants-registrar-ownership-ban-lifted-on-mobi-and-pro Afilias Wants Registrar ownership bands lifted, Domain Incite] Retrieved 19 Sept 2013</ref>
 +
 
 
==Other==
 
==Other==
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In October, 2011 Afilias announced that it would be holding a contest to find the best new [[gTLD]] idea. The top prize would be $5,000 with other prizes going down to $1,500. Judges of the contest included [[Kevin Murphy]] of [[Domain Incite]], former ICANN CEO [[Paul Twomey]], and Aflias' own [[Roland LaPlante]] and [[Ram Mohan]].<ref>[http://domainincite.com/win-5000-for-your-new-gtld-idea/ Win 5,000 for your new gTLD idea]</ref>
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===New gTLD Contest===
 +
In October 2011, Afilias announced that it would be holding a contest to find the best new [[gTLD]] idea. The top prize would be $5,000 with other prizes going down to $1,500. Judges of the contest included [[Kevin Murphy]] of [[Domain Incite]], former ICANN CEO [[Paul Twomey]], and Aflias' own [[Roland LaPlante]] and [[Ram Mohan]].<ref>[http://domainincite.com/win-5000-for-your-new-gtld-idea/ Win 5,000 for your new gTLD idea], DomainIncite.com.</ref>
  
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The winning extension was [[.know]], which was billed as a platform for an online knowledge base. The two runners up were [[.sec]], for secure websites and file transfers, and [[.med]], for verified medical professionals.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/blogs/roland-laplante/here-are-winners-afilias-global-innovation-contest-new-tld-ideas Here Are the Winners, afilias.info/blogs]</ref>
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The winning extension was [[.know]], which was billed as a platform for an online knowledge base. The two runners up were [[.sec]], for secure websites and file transfers, and [[.med]], for verified medical professionals.<ref>[http://www.afilias.info/blogs/roland-laplante/here-are-winners-afilias-global-innovation-contest-new-tld-ideas Here Are the Winners], Afilias.info.</ref>
  
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In December, 2011, Afilias publicly warned brand owners that it could be ten years after the first new gTLD application period opens in January, 2011, before a second round is opened. Afilias cited the [[batching]] and delay process that will surely follow, and also the typically slow [[ICANN]] process.<ref>[http://domainnamewire.com/2011/12/02/afilias-could-be-10-years-before-another-new-tld-application-round-opens/ Afilias Coud Be 10 years Before Another new TLD Application Round Opens, DomainNameWire.com]</ref>
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In December 2011, Afilias publicly warned brand owners that it could be ten years after the first new gTLD application period opens in January 2011, before a second round is opened. Afilias cited the [[batching]] and delay process that will surely follow, and also the typically slow [[ICANN]] process.<ref>[http://domainnamewire.com/2011/12/02/afilias-could-be-10-years-before-another-new-tld-application-round-opens/ Afilias Could Be 10 years Before Another new TLD Application Round Opens], DomainNameWire.com. Published 2011 December 2.</ref>
  
 
===ISOC Sponsorship===
 
===ISOC Sponsorship===
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Afilias is a sponsor of a component of [[ISOC]]'s Next Generation Leaders Programme, which is an academic and field-based program, launched in 2010 in conjunction with the [[DiploFoundation]], intended to further the skills of promising Internet professionals and individuals working in Internet governance. Afilias specifically sponsors a fellowship with the [[IETF]], a part of the academic portion of the NGL programme.<ref>http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=2450 Newsletter, ISOC.org]</ref>
+
Afilias is a sponsor of a component of [[ISOC]]'s Next Generation Leaders Programme, which is an academic and field-based program, launched in 2010 in conjunction with the [[DiploFoundation]], intended to further the skills of promising Internet professionals and individuals working in Internet governance. Afilias specifically sponsors a fellowship with the [[IETF]], a part of the academic portion of the NGL program.<ref>[http://isoc.org/wp/newsletter/?p=2450 Newsletter, ISOC.org]</ref>
 +
 
 +
===Opposition to SOPA===
 +
In January 2012, Afilias put a sponsored post on [[CircleID]] highlighting their opposition to [[SOPA]], the Stop Online Piracy Act being considered by the U.S. Congress at that time. They noted that they do support [[Intellectual Property|intellectual property]] protections, but still regard SOPA as a threat to the integrity of the Internet. Their reasons for opposing SOPA include: the threat it poses to [[DNSSEC]], given that [[ISP]]s would suddenly be required to interrupt the security protocol's chain of command to block or suspend domains in violation of its copyright protections; the ease at which a user could still resolve a blocked site, given that it would be the local ISP's responsibility to block infringing domains; and the many opportunities and loopholes the legislation would create for Internet criminals.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120107_afilias_says_no_to_sopa/ Afilias Says No To SOPA], CircleID.com. Published 2012 January 7.</ref>
  
 
== Interesting facts about Afilias ==
 
== Interesting facts about Afilias ==
 +
'''Arabic Internet users get native language e-mail thanks to Afilias and [[.jo]] registry'''
  
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'''Arabic Internet users get native language e-mail thanks to Afilias and .JO registry'''
+
On October 29, 2010, Afilias and the National Information Technology Center of Jordan announced that thanks to Afilias' [[IDN]] technology, the .jo registry managed to send an e-mail between two completely internationalized e-mail addresses in the Arabic language.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/10/29/prwebprweb4719214.DTL Afilias and .JO Registry Bring Native Language E-mail to Arabic Internet Users], SFGate.com. Published 2010 October 29.</ref>
−
 
 
−
On October 29, 2010, Afilias and the National Information Technology Center of Jordan announced that, thanks to Afilias' [[IDN]] technology, the .JO registry managed to send an e-mail between two completely internationalized e-mail addresses in the Arabic language.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/10/29/prwebprweb4719214.DTL Afilias and .JO Registry Bring Native Language E-mail to Arabic Internet Users]</ref>
 
  
 
'''Increased DNS security thanks to Afilias'''
 
'''Increased DNS security thanks to Afilias'''
 +
Afilias has managed to implement [[DNSSEC]] for many of its [[ccTLD]]s and [[gTLD]]s. Its [[.org]] [[TLD]] was secured with DNSSEC in 2009, making it the first open TLD to implement these important security measures.<ref>[http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/060209_Afilias_Secures_org_TLD_with_DNSSE], TheWhir.com. Published 2009 June 2.</ref>  On October 5th, 2010 it initiated the new security measures for [[.vc]] (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), [[.lc]] (St. Lucia), [[.hn]] (Honduras), [[.bz]] (Belize) and [[.ag]] (Antigua and Barbuda).<ref>[http://www.myhostnews.com/2010/10/afilias-increases-dns-security-with-dnssec/ Afilias Increases DNS Security with DNSSEC], MyHostNews.com. Published 2010 October.</ref> It has continued to transition to DNSSEC-secured TLDs.
  
−
Afilias has managed to implement [[DNSSEC]] for many of its [[ccTLD]]s and [[gTLD]]s. Its [[.org]] [[TLD]] was secured with DNSSEC in 2009, making it the first open TLD to implement these important security measures.<ref>[http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/060209_Afilias_Secures_org_TLD_with_DNSSEC The Whir]</ref>  On October 5th, 2010 it initiated the new security measures for [[.VC]] (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), [[.LC]] (St. Lucia), [[.HN]] (Honduras), [[.BZ]] (Belize) and [[.AG]] (Antigua and Barbuda).<ref>[http://www.myhostnews.com/2010/10/afilias-increases-dns-security-with-dnssec/ Afilias Increases DNS Security with DNSSEC]</ref> It has continued to transition to DNSSEC secured TLDs.
 
 
==New gTLDs==
 
==New gTLDs==
−
In November, 2011, Afilias announced that it was going to apply for both simplified and traditional chinese [[IDN]]s for the translation of its [[.info]] domain under [[ICANN]]'s new [[gTLD]] policy. This followed an announcement by their competitor [[Verisign]] that they intended to pursue translations of their own [[.com]] domain.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/afilias-to-apply-for-chinese-info/ Afilias to Apply for Chinese .info, DomainIncite.com]</ref>
+
In November 2011, Afilias announced that it was going to apply for both simplified and traditional Chinese [[IDN]]s for the translation of its [[.info]] domain under [[ICANN]]'s new [[gTLD]] policy. This followed an announcement by their competitor [[Verisign]] that they intended to pursue IDN translations of their own [[.com]] domain.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/afilias-to-apply-for-chinese-info/ Afilias to Apply for Chinese .info], DomainIncite.com</ref>
 +
 
 +
On June 12, 2012, the company confirmed its application for a total of 305 new gTLDs; 170 of the applications are [[Brand TLD]]s, 18 [[IDN]]s, 4 [[Community gTLD]]s, 4 [[GeoTLD|geographical TLDs]], and the remaining 211 TLDs were applied for as [[gTLD|Generic TLDs]]. [[Roland LaPlante]], Afilias Senior Vice President and CMO, said that the company's gTLD applications are more concentrated on European strings since the company is based in the region, though its clients also come from North America and the Asia Pacific.<ref>[http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120612_afilias_bringing_hundreds_of_new_top_level_domains_to_the_internet/ Afilias Bringing Hundreds of New Top-Level Domains to the Internet], CircleID.com. Published 2012 June 12.</ref>
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
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+
<div style="column-count:2;-moz-column-count:2;-webkit-column-count:2">{{reflist}}</div>
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{{reflist}}
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
  
−
* [http://www.afilias.info/ Afilias website]
+
* [http://www.afilias.info/ Afilias Website]
 
* [http://www.afilias.info/about-us About Afilias]
 
* [http://www.afilias.info/about-us About Afilias]
  
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[[Category: Companies]]
+
[[Category: Registrars]]
 
[[Category: Registries]]
 
[[Category: Registries]]
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[[Category: Sponsor]]
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[[Category:Past Sponsors]]
 +
[[Category:Acquired]]

Latest revision as of 15:11, 12 May 2023

AfiliasLogo.png
General Information
Industry: Registry, Registrar
Stakeholder Group: Business
Issue Areas: DNS
Country: USA
Founded: 2000
Headquarters: 300 Welsh Rd
Building 3, Suite 105
Horsham, PA 19044
Website:

LinkIcon.png   https://www.afilias.info

Contact
Twitter: TwitterIcon.png@Afilias
People
Hal Lubsen, Former CEO

Jonathan Robinson, Former Executive Chairman
Huw Spiers, Former Chief Financial Officer
Ram Mohan, Former EVP and CTO
Roland LaPlante, Former SVP and CMO
Steven Pack, Former Compliance officer
M. Scott Hemphill, Former VP and General Counsel
John Kane, Former VP of Corporate Services
Chris Campbell, Former Director of Business Development
Michaela Cruden, Former Director of Business Development - Europe
Kroopa Shah, Former Accounts Manager
Doug McDonald, Former Sales Executive
Steve Heflin, Former VP of Sales

Afilias is now part of Identity Digital. It is the world’s second-largest Internet domain name registry, with more than 20 million names under management.[1] Afilias is a US Multinational Corporation with international headquarters in Pennsylvania. It launched the .info gTLD in 2001. In February 2010, Afilias took ownership of the Registry Operator for the .mobi mobile phone TLD, mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd. It helped found the dotMobi company and provided early technical assistance to the company.[2] In January 2012, Afilias acquired Registry Services Corporation, which until that time had been the registry for the .pro TLD.

Afilias supports the technical back-end of many TLDs, including nine gTLDs, the largest of which is .org.[3][4] In total, their systems currently support more than 20 million registrations.[5]

On December 29, 2020, Donuts, the global leader in next-generation TLDs, completed its acquisition of Afilias' registry. Together, they will support over 25 million domain names spanning over 400 TLDs.[6] Although now under one corporate structure, the two companies continue to operate without apparent changes for registrars or registry services clients.[7] The transaction did not include Afilias’ registrar businesses or mobile software (DeviceAtlas, DeviceAssure, MobiReady, and MobiForge).[8]

Background[edit | edit source]

Acknowledging the need for more competition at the registry level of the domain name industry, a number of important domain names registrars created Afilias in September 2000. Just two months later, Afilias was selected by ICANN to launch the .info gTLD, which has been called the most successful new gTLD after the launch of .com.

The headquarters of Afilias is located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, USA. They have a large number of offices worldwide, including their former headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, operational offices in New Delhi, India, an operations center in Toronto, Canada, and sales offices in London, U.K. Afilias Canada Corp also includes operational facilities in Ontario and sales offices in Vancouver.[9]

Afilias is the second largest domain services provider after Verisign, supporting over 14 million domain names, as of January 2008.[10]

Afilias was the first registry to provide IDN capable email to its customers. All of its servers are DNSSEC and IPv6 capable.[11]

.info 10 year Anniversary[edit | edit source]

On December 7, 2010, Afilias released its annual report on .info domains, which happened to coincide with the domain space's 10-year anniversary. The report detailed the general growth and increased availability of the domain. At that time, it was the number one new TLD ever to be launched and the 7th largest TLD in the world. It stood at about 6.8 million domain registrations, with about 5 million of those, or 70%, resolving to active websites. They are available through 90% of domain registrars, and the entire registration grew about 30% from the year before. It had double the registration of any other new TLD.[12]

Sunrise Auctions[edit | edit source]

In 2012 and 2013, Afilias teamed up with GoDaddy to auction off domains that had been reserved under its Sunrise periods but whose trademarks later proved invalid. The first round of auctions produced highlights, such as Cancer.info, which sold for $16,005, and loans.info, which sold for $12,205. Together both auctions included over 235 domain names.[13]

Products and services[edit | edit source]

Afilias is a domain service provider and a domain registrar.

Service provider for the following TLDs:[14]

Registration Stats[edit | edit source]

In January 2011, Afilias announced that the 3-month-old .xxx extension had over 200,000 registrations, which were being technically supported by Afilias. However, more than half of these were not signed into the root zone, meaning that many of the registrations were defensive acquisitions by trademark owners, or pre-blocked domains by ICM Registry that will never be resolving domains.[15]

Afilias was able to double the registrations for .pro in just a year's time, including overcoming a deep loss of 40,000 domains of zip codes that had been registered to Hostway. In January 2013, it noted that it had 160,000 domains registered. CEO Karim Jiwani notes that it is all organic growth rather than large bundled deals, and is the result of various price decreases, and on-boarding more registrars, most notably Directi. All this happened while Afilias simultaneously got more serious about enforcing the registration policies that require professional credentials. Though this also means educating registrars that an extensive degree is not a requisite for being a professional, and a professional may be a massage therapist or tour guide.[16]

In December 2010, .info was the largest new gTLD, and the 7th largest TLD in the world, with about 6.8 million registrations.[17] Afilias' Roland LaPlante has noted that "there are as many .info domains registered as all other new TLDs combined."[18] Between 2012 and 2013, the .info TLD had a net loss of 914,310 domain registrations, which amounted to an 11% decline compared with 2011 domains. 2012 ended with 7,402,557 .info domains, still making it the leader in new gTLD total registrations despite the loss. Afilias attributed the decline to the implementation of an anti-abuse policy that took down registrations it considered as spam.[19]

Developments[edit | edit source]

In July 2013, Afilias requested that ICANN lift the restrictions set out in its Registry Agreements for .pro and .mobi that forbids Afilias from owning more than a 15% share in the registrar company that sells the TLDs.[20]

Other[edit | edit source]

New gTLD Contest[edit | edit source]

In October 2011, Afilias announced that it would be holding a contest to find the best new gTLD idea. The top prize would be $5,000 with other prizes going down to $1,500. Judges of the contest included Kevin Murphy of Domain Incite, former ICANN CEO Paul Twomey, and Aflias' own Roland LaPlante and Ram Mohan.[21]

The winning extension was .know, which was billed as a platform for an online knowledge base. The two runners up were .sec, for secure websites and file transfers, and .med, for verified medical professionals.[22]

In December 2011, Afilias publicly warned brand owners that it could be ten years after the first new gTLD application period opens in January 2011, before a second round is opened. Afilias cited the batching and delay process that will surely follow, and also the typically slow ICANN process.[23]

ISOC Sponsorship[edit | edit source]

Afilias is a sponsor of a component of ISOC's Next Generation Leaders Programme, which is an academic and field-based program, launched in 2010 in conjunction with the DiploFoundation, intended to further the skills of promising Internet professionals and individuals working in Internet governance. Afilias specifically sponsors a fellowship with the IETF, a part of the academic portion of the NGL program.[24]

Opposition to SOPA[edit | edit source]

In January 2012, Afilias put a sponsored post on CircleID highlighting their opposition to SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act being considered by the U.S. Congress at that time. They noted that they do support intellectual property protections, but still regard SOPA as a threat to the integrity of the Internet. Their reasons for opposing SOPA include: the threat it poses to DNSSEC, given that ISPs would suddenly be required to interrupt the security protocol's chain of command to block or suspend domains in violation of its copyright protections; the ease at which a user could still resolve a blocked site, given that it would be the local ISP's responsibility to block infringing domains; and the many opportunities and loopholes the legislation would create for Internet criminals.[25]

Interesting facts about Afilias[edit | edit source]

Arabic Internet users get native language e-mail thanks to Afilias and .jo registry

On October 29, 2010, Afilias and the National Information Technology Center of Jordan announced that thanks to Afilias' IDN technology, the .jo registry managed to send an e-mail between two completely internationalized e-mail addresses in the Arabic language.[26]

Increased DNS security thanks to Afilias Afilias has managed to implement DNSSEC for many of its ccTLDs and gTLDs. Its .org TLD was secured with DNSSEC in 2009, making it the first open TLD to implement these important security measures.[27] On October 5th, 2010 it initiated the new security measures for .vc (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), .lc (St. Lucia), .hn (Honduras), .bz (Belize) and .ag (Antigua and Barbuda).[28] It has continued to transition to DNSSEC-secured TLDs.

New gTLDs[edit | edit source]

In November 2011, Afilias announced that it was going to apply for both simplified and traditional Chinese IDNs for the translation of its .info domain under ICANN's new gTLD policy. This followed an announcement by their competitor Verisign that they intended to pursue IDN translations of their own .com domain.[29]

On June 12, 2012, the company confirmed its application for a total of 305 new gTLDs; 170 of the applications are Brand TLDs, 18 IDNs, 4 Community gTLDs, 4 geographical TLDs, and the remaining 211 TLDs were applied for as Generic TLDs. Roland LaPlante, Afilias Senior Vice President and CMO, said that the company's gTLD applications are more concentrated on European strings since the company is based in the region, though its clients also come from North America and the Asia Pacific.[30]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Afilias About Us
  2. ↑ Afilias Limited Acquires .Mobi Domain Registry and Expands Market Leadership, Afilias.info.
  3. ↑ Afilias acquires Services Corporation dot Pro, CircleID.com. Published 2012 January 17.
  4. ↑ Afilias Acquires .Pro Operator RegistryPro. Domain Incite.
  5. ↑ Afilias Bringing Hundreds of New Top Level Domains to the Internet, CircleID.com Published 2012 June 12.
  6. ↑ CircleID analysis of Donuts/Afilias transaction
  7. ↑ Donuts acquires Afilias
  8. ↑ Afilias Mobile
  9. ↑ Info, Afilias.info.
  10. ↑ Osbr.ca
  11. ↑ IDNnews.com
  12. ↑ Afilias Releases info Domain 2010 Annual Report, Info.info.
  13. ↑ Afilias and Go Daddy To Hold Second Info Auction, DomainNameWire.comPublished 8 Jan 2013, Retrieved 9 Jan 2013
  14. ↑ Global Registry Services. Afilias.
  15. ↑ Afilias XXX 200k Domains Under Management a Look Inside the Numbers, TheDomains.com. Published 2012 January 18.
  16. ↑ Afilias Doubles Pro Registrations in a Year, DomainIncite.comPublished 22 Jan 2013, Retrieved 23 Jan 2013
  17. ↑ Afilias Releases info Domain 2010 Annual Report, info.info
  18. ↑ Press Release, May 29, Sedo.com Retrieved 29 May 2013
  19. ↑ Afilias blames security crackdown for massive drop in .info domains, Domain Incite Retrieved 13 Sept 2013
  20. ↑ Afilias Wants Registrar ownership bands lifted, Domain Incite Retrieved 19 Sept 2013
  21. ↑ Win 5,000 for your new gTLD idea, DomainIncite.com.
  22. ↑ Here Are the Winners, Afilias.info.
  23. ↑ Afilias Could Be 10 years Before Another new TLD Application Round Opens, DomainNameWire.com. Published 2011 December 2.
  24. ↑ Newsletter, ISOC.org
  25. ↑ Afilias Says No To SOPA, CircleID.com. Published 2012 January 7.
  26. ↑ Afilias and .JO Registry Bring Native Language E-mail to Arabic Internet Users, SFGate.com. Published 2010 October 29.
  27. ↑ [1], TheWhir.com. Published 2009 June 2.
  28. ↑ Afilias Increases DNS Security with DNSSEC, MyHostNews.com. Published 2010 October.
  29. ↑ Afilias to Apply for Chinese .info, DomainIncite.com
  30. ↑ Afilias Bringing Hundreds of New Top-Level Domains to the Internet, CircleID.com. Published 2012 June 12.

External links[edit | edit source]

Retrieved from "https://icannwiki.org/index.php?title=Afilias&oldid=1347048"