Kia ora 

It’s nearly time to down tools for the year. The Domain Name Commission is bookending the year by gathering together this week to review what went well, what could have gone better, and how we can provide better value in the New Year.

I am proud of the team’s work this year. In particular, we continue to respond to our domain name holders' queries and provide assistance where necessary. The increase in providers merging can leave domain holders confused about who their provider is, and it’s rewarding to put them on the right track. The Commission has also put significant energy into pursuing alternative resolution options for conflicted domain names and domain disputes. Through iterative processes, we’ve learned a lot about our community of stakeholders’ needs and how we can provide better access to justice. We will release more information on our findings in the New Year.

Thank you to all our stakeholders who help us work towards our goal of making the domain name space in Aotearoa fair for everyone and something we can all be proud of.

Wishing everyone a restful and peaceful holiday season.

Updates from the team

#ShopSafeNZ 

Last week we ran our #ShopSafeNZ campaign to help New Zealanders pick up on some tell-tale signs of a fake online store. We were proud to also do a handy fact sheet with Netsafe. Check out the tips on our website. 

The Commission also has a handy link to businesses and organisations which post about the latest scams targeting their brands. 

Conflicted domain names - Pilot wrap up

The conflicted names Online Dispute Resolution pilot has now concluded and we’ve been analysing the data and feedback that we received. It has been a challenge to re-engage with parties who have held rights for so long and may not really recall why they were interested in obtaining the domain name directly at the second level. It’s been rewarding and interesting to learn where people are at with their conflicted domain names and to assist 180 parties or so to resolve their conflict (in 90 conflicts). We’ll be publishing more about what we learned in the New Year. 

Online dispute resolution for standard domain name disputes continues to be piloted in 2023. Check it out the Domain Name Disputes ODR hub on our website. 

Interesting news and media 

• Passive holding insufficient without evidence of targeting 
• Deliveroo Wants Illegal Weed Business Dispenseroo to Hand Over Its Domain Name 
• Delhi High Court passes ex-parte order protecting trademark 'Apna' in suit against fraudulent websites
• Malicious website blocking mandated by govt
• New InternetNZ grant open 
• Social Media Admins On The Frontlines Of Hate Speech | Newsroom

Feedback 

And, as always, please give us feedback via email info@dnc.org.nz or on Twitter (@nzdnc). What topics do you want to hear more about, what bullet above is your favourite? What do you want more or less of?