September 2009 Archives

As an internet business it is only natural that we would be concerned with the development of policies that affect our sector.

Earlier today ICANN's agreement with the US government came to an end. It has been replaced with a new document which paves the way for the future - a bright future which is truly global in nature.

As founder and Managing Director of Blacknight, which is also an ICANN accredited registrar, I welcome the signing of the new document - the Affirmation of Commitments. I welcome ICANN and the US Department of Commerce's commitment to a "multi-stakeholder, private sector led, bottom-up policy development model for DNS technical coordination that acts for the benefit of global Internet users".

This new document severes the close link between ICANN and the US government, while reinforcing and affirming the organisation's role in the development of a truly global organisation that will work in the public interest.

What many people may not realise is that the US government held, until earlier today, an overly important role in the governance and control of the internet. 

The JPA (Joint Project Agreement) did provide for government oversight of ICANN, however it was oversight by one government only - the US government.

While it is only natural that the US government would wish to have a degree of oversight of such an important resource, it is also fundamentally important that such oversight reflect the global nature of the internet.

The new document also strengthen the global and multi-cultural and multi-lingual facet of the internet.

The internet is far too important a resource to have been left in the hands of a single government or cultural ideology.

The recognition of the importance of IDNs underlines this very clearly.

With the wider introduction of non-Latin (ASCII) character sets into the DNS system people of all races, cultures and creeds will be in a much better position to truly participate in what has to be a global community.

We in Ireland are on the outer edges of Europe, but the Internet has allowed businesses, such as ours, to actively compete in global markets.

With the signing of this new agreement we look forward to policy development that reflects the diverse legal and cultural frameworks that need to interact and be respected within ICANN and internet policies.

We look forward to working with a stronger and more transparently accountable ICANN.

This step furthers the innovation and growth of a global internet.

We hope that with the post-JPA agreement in place ICANN, its staff and members of the ICANN community will now be able to focus their energies and resources on the introduction of new TLDs.
It is time for ICANN to "take the bull by the horns" and provide a concrete timeline for their introduction without further delay.

Here at Blacknight we take domains very seriously.
 
It's a very serious business.

We were shocked and horrified when we heard stories circulating in the "underground" about cash strapped kitties having to go to great lengths to get low cost domains.

So in order to save the kitties we introduced yet another domain promotion!

This time round the discount is on .eu domain registration.***

It does NOT apply to .eu domain transfers.

Why do this?

It's for the kitties, didn't we already tell you?

Seriously though, as you may have noticed we've been running quite a few special offers recently.

We know that people are worried about costs and want to get as much value as possible. We've always tried to pass on savings to our clients where possible, so this is not something new. 

You can find a full list of promotions here (bear in mind some may have expired)

To help promote the growth of .eu domains we're running a very attractive promotion for new registrations starting tomorrow, October 1st 2009.

How much will a new .eu domain cost?

New registrations will be a mere €2.95

How long is the promotion running for?

From October 1st 2009 until December 31st 2009 we are slashing the price on .eu domain registration.

Is there a discount on .eu domain transfers?

No

Can I register a .eu for more than one year?

No. The .eu registry only allows 1 year domain registration

Does the discount promotion apply to renewals?

No. The discount promotion is for new registrations only


So the cost for a one year .eu registration will be only €2.95 ex-VAT.

Blacknight is Ireland's largest Eurid registrar and offers more domain extensions than any other Irish company.


***Ok - this may not all be true, but the bit about the promotion is

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• Putting The Accent Back Into Domains - IDNs In EU (blacknight.com)
• European Hosting Giant Launches Huge Sale on .mobi and .im Domain Names (blacknight.com)

Machen Sie bei der mobilen Revolution mit und erwerben Sie einen .mobi-Domain-Namen oder bündeln Sie Ihre soziale Kommunikation im Netz auf einer .im-Domain.


Carlow, Irland, 23. September 2009 - Blacknight Solutions, Irlands bestbewerteter und am schnellsten  wachsender Domain-Registrar und Hosting Provider, hat den weltweiten Verkauf der .mobi- und .im-Domains gestartet. Bei noch nie da gewesenen Niedrig-Preisen können Geschäftsleute und Privatpersonen gleichermaßen im mobilen Web präsent sein.

Zeitlich begrenzt können die Kunden eine .mobi-Domain für nur € 6,75 registrieren. Das ist der derzeit niedrigste Preis im Web. Sie können auch die redhot.im-Domain für nur € 4,95 registrieren, auch das ist ein toller Preis, wenn man dies mit den normalerweise üblichen Preisen von bis zu € 45 vergleicht.

Die .mobi-Domains sind bestens für Unternehmen geeignet, die auch in der mobilen Welt, dem Sektor im Web, der bei Weitem am schnellsten wächst, präsent sein wollen. Die .mobi-Domain bringt mobiles Internet auf iPhones, Blackberry's, Google Android phones und viele weitere. Mit einer .mobi-Endung können Sie ganz leicht Ihre mobile Website von Ihren sonstigen Webaktivitäten trennen.

„Wir sehen bei unseren Kunden eine ganze Menge von innovativen Einsatzmöglichkeiten für die .mobi-Domain", sagte Michele Neylon, Gründer und Managing Director von Blacknight. „Von Websites mit mobilen Themen bis hin zu kompletten Web 2.0 Unternehmen, wir waren beeindruckt von dem, was die Leute mit den .mobi-Domains gemacht haben."

Neben dem hervorragenden Absatz, den Blacknight mit .mobi hat, bietet das Unternehmen auch spezielle Konditionen bei den .im-Domains an. Diese sind besonders für das Erstellen von Online-Business-Cards oder für die Einrichtung einer zentralen Anlaufstelle, von der aus Sie leichten Zugang zu all Ihren sozialen Online-Aktivitäten haben, geeignet.

„Viele Leute benutzen .im-Domains, um ihre verschiednen sozialen Profile im Netz zu bündeln. Anstatt allen Leuten zu sagen, dass sie Sie in Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messenger usw. treffen können", so Herr Neylon, „brauchen Sie ihnen nur Ihre .im-Adresse zu geben und alle Ihre Online-Aktivitäten sind verlinkt.

Blacknight avanciert sehr schnell zu einem der weltweit führenden Webhoster und Domainregistrar  und weist eine steigende Geschäftsaktivität im europäischen Markt auf. Dem Unternehmen wurde vor kurzem die ICANN-Zulassung zugesprochen, wodurch es in andere Domain-Namen-Bereiche expandieren konnte.

„Wir haben uns immer darauf konzentriert, besten Kundenservice zu einem erschwinglichen Preis anzubieten", sagte Herr Neylon. „Wenn Sie ein Problem haben, können Sie uns leicht erreichen und wir freuen uns darauf, Ihnen zu helfen. Wir haben in einen tollen Kundenservice investiert, denn am Ende ist es das, was zählt.

.mobi-Preise in anderen Währungen (Wechselkurse vom 20. September 2009):

€ 6,75 / $ 9,91 USD / £ 6,11

.im-Preise in anderen Währungen (Wechselkurse vom 20. September 2009):

€ 4,95 / $ 7,27 USD /£ 4,48

Über Blacknight

Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd (Blacknight) wurde 2003 gegründet und ist zu100 % in irischem Besitz. Das Unternehmen hat sich darauf spezialisiert, Hosting und Colocation-Bedürfnisse im internationalen großen und kleinen Business zu bedienen.

Blacknight positioniert sich als führender Domainregistrar am europäischen Markt und hat im vergangenen Jahr die ICANN-Zulassung erhalten, was es dem Unternehmen erlaubt, bedeutende Preisersparnisse an seine Kunden weiterzugeben.

Die Server von Blacknight befinden sich in zwei der führenden Rechenzentren in Dublin, Irland. Das Unternehmen wächst mit zehntausenden auf den Servern gehosteten Domains sehr schnell. Es liefert einen zuverlässigen Service und bietet zudem Supportleistungen, die von keinem anderen Provider in der Industrie angeboten werden.

Unisciti alla rivoluzione mobile e acquista un dominio .mobi o centralizza le tue attività social media con un dominio .im.

Carlow, Irlanda - 23 Settembre 2009 - Blacknight Solutions, il registrar e hosting provider più quotato e in maggior espansione in Irlanda, ha lanciato un'offerta a livello mondiale sui domini .mobi e .im.

Aziende e privati possono ora farsi un nome anche sul mobile web a prezzi senza precedenti.
Per un tempo limitato infatti i clienti possono registrare un dominio .mobi per soli €6,75, attualmente il miglior prezzo sul web.

Inoltre é possibile registrare anche il gettonatissimo dominio .im per soli €4,95, un risparmio enorme se comparato con i prezzi correnti che si aggirano sui €45.

I domini .mobi sono particolarmente indicati per aziende che vogliono espandere la loro presenza al mondo mobile - di gran lunga il settore a maggior crescita della rete. Il dominio .mobi vi permette di rivolgervi all'universo degli iPhone, dei Blackberry, dei telefoni Google Android e di molti altri. Con un'estensione .mobi potete facilmente mantenere il vostro sito web mobile separato dalle vostre principali operazioni in rete.

"Stiamo assistendo a un gran numero di innovativi utilizzi del dominio .mobi da parte dei nostri clienti," dice Michele Neylon, fondatore e Amministratore Delegato di Blacknight. "Da siti web di tematica mobile a intere società Web 2.0, siamo rimasti impressionati da ciò che la gente è stata in grado di fare con dei domini .mobi."

Oltre all'offerta lanciata sui .mobi, Blacknight sta anche proponendo un'offerta speciale sui domini .im, particolarmente indicati per creare un biglietto da visita online o per creare uno spazio di facile accesso a tutti i vostri profili social media online.

"Molte persone stanno utilizzando i domini .im per aggregare tutti i loro profili social media. Cosí invece di dire a tutti quelli che incontri di trovarti su Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messenger, ecc.." 
spiegava Mr Neylon. "L'unica cosa da fare è dar loro il tuo indirizzo .im che sarà collegato con tutte le tue attività online."

Blacknight sta rapidamente diventando uno dei leader tra i webhosts e tra i domain registrars a livello mondiale, con una crescente attività  sul mercato europeo. Recentemente è l´acquisizione dell´accreditamento con ICANN ha permesso loro di espandersi anche ad altri nomi dominio.

"Il nostro obiettivo è sempre stato quello di offrire il miglior servizio ad un prezzo accessibile," spiega il Sig. Neylon. "In caso di problemi é facile contattarci, e per noi sarà un piacere aiutarvi. Abbiamo fatto un grande investimento in un´assistenza al cliente di alto livello, perché in fondo è quello che realmente fa la differenza."

Prezzi di vendita .mobi in altre valute (basate sul tasso di cambio del 20 Settembre 2009):

€6,75/$9.91 USD/£6,11

Prezzi di vendita .im in altre valute (basate sul tasso di cambio del 20 Settembre 2009):

€4,95/$7,27 USD/£4,48

Alcuni dati su Blacknight

Fondata nel 2003, Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd (Blacknight) è una società a capitale 100% irlandese specializzata nel dare una risposta alle più svariate necessità di hosting e di co- location di aziende in ogni parte del mondo.

Blacknight sta rapidamente posizionandosi come leader sul Mercato Europeo tra i registrars di domini e l'anno scorso ha completato l´accreditamento ICANN, grazie al quale é stato possibile passare risparmi notevoli ai clienti sulle estensioni a dominio piú popolari.

I server Blacknight sono localizzati a Dublino presso due dei principali data centers dell'Irlanda. Blacknight sta crescendo con passi da gigante con decine di migliaia di domini ospitati sui propri server. 
Blacknight Offre un servizio affidabile affiancato da un'assistenza unica tra i provider del settore.

It's probably pretty obvious from previous posts here that we have an interest in the new TLD process. (ICANN's plan to open up the domain market more by allowing organisations to run new domain extensions)

Earlier this week ICANN CEO, Rod Beckstrom, was sent a letter signed by a wide variety of companies, including us, urging ICANN to move forward with the new TLD process NOW.

Why?

Put simply, there's no valid reason to delay, however there are plenty of valid reasons why further delays are a bad thing.

You can read the letter in its entirety here (PDF). There's more coverage here.

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• Rod Beckstrom Announced as New ICANN CEO (blacknight.com)

It's always both an honour and a humbling experience to be nominated for an award. To make it past the initial round of nominations is incredible.
So, I'm delighted to see that we have been shortlisted for this year's  Realex Irish Web Awards under the "Best eCommerce / Services" category.

Similar to last year, the calibre of the entries is impressive, so getting as far as the shortlist is an honour.

The full shortlist includes several of our clients, so we wish them well.

See you on the night!

Uniu-vos a la revolució mòbil tot adquirint un nom de domini .mobi o centralitzeu les vostres activitats en xarxes socials amb un domini .im.


Carlow, Irlanda - 23 de setembre de 2009 - Blacknight Solutions, el proveïdor d'hostatge i registre de dominis més ben valorat i de més ràpid creixement a Irlanda, ha llançat una campanya de venda a nivell mundial dels noms de domini .mobi i .im. Gràcies als seus preus inigualables, les empreses i els particulars podran deixar la seva empremta a la xarxa mòbil.


Durant un període limitat de temps, els clients podran registrar un domini .mobi per només €6,75 - el preu més baix que es pot trobar avui a la xarxa. També podran registrar el nom de domini .im nou de trinca per només €4,95 - la qual cosa suposa un gran estalvi si ho comparem amb els preus actuals, que estan prop dels  €45.


Els dominis .mobi són ideals per a empreses que vulguin ampliar la seva presencia al món mòbil - de llarg el sector de més ràpid creixement a la xarxa. El domini .mobi us permetrà de concentrar els telèfons d'iPhone, Blackberry i Google Android i molt més. Amb una extensió .mobi, fàcilment podreu mantenir la vostra web mòbil separada de les vostres operacions principals a la xarxa.


 "Estem veient molts usos innovadors del domini .mobi entre els nostres clients," va dir Michele Neylon, fundador i Director General de Blacknight. "Des de pagines web dedicades a la xarxa mòbil fins companyies totalment web 2.0, ens ha sorprès el que la gent ha estat capaç de fer amb els dominis .mobi."


A més a més de la gran campanya de venda de .mobi, Blacknight també està duent a terme una campanya especial de venda de dominis .im, que són ideals per crear una targeta de visita virtual o per crear un espai per tenir fàcil accés a tots els vostres perfils en xarxes socials virtuals.


"Molta gent està utilitzant dominis .im per centralitzar tots els seus perfils en xarxes socials de manera que, en lloc de dir a tots els coneguts que us visitin a Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messenger, etc." va dir el Sr. Neylon "L'únic que heu de fer és donar-los la vostra adreça .im i allà hi trobaran enllaços a totes les vostres activitats virtuals."

Blacknight s'està convertint ràpidament en una de les empreses líder en allotjament de pagines web i de registre de dominis -en expansió al mercat europeu. Se'ls va concedir recentment l'homologació ICANN, que els ha permès d'expandir-se en altres espais de noms de dominis.


"El nostre objectiu sempre ha estat proporcionar el millor servei d'atenció al client a un preu assequible," va dir el Sr. Neylon. "Si teniu algun problema, sempre us podeu posar en contacte amb nosaltres, que estarem encantats d'ajudar-vos. Hem invertit en un gran servei d'atenció al client - perquè, al cap i a la fi, això és el que importa."


El preu de venda de .mobi en altres divises (segons  els tipus de canvi del dia 20 de setembre de 2009):

€6,75/$9,91 USD/£6,11

El preu de venda en altres divises (segons els tipus de canvi del dia 20 de setembre de 2009):

€4,95/$7,27 USD/£4,48

Sobre Blacknight


Fundada l'any 2003, Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd (Blacknight) és una empresa 100% irlandesa especialitzada en atendre les necessitats d'allotjament i d'establiment conjunt de les empreses, grans i petites, a nivell mundial.


Blacknight s'està convertint en l'empresa líder en registre de dominis al mercat europeu, i va obtenir l'homologació ICANN l'any passat, la qual cosa els permet d'oferir al seus clients un significatiu estalvi de preu.


Els servidors de Blacknight es troben a Dublín, a dos dels principals centres de dades d'Irlanda. Està creixent a pas de gegant amb desenes de milers de dominis allotjats als seus servidors. Proporcionen un servei de confiança recolzat per un servei d'atenció incomparable en qualsevol altre proveïdor del sector.


Informació de contacte per a la premsa:
marketing@blacknight.com
Michele Neylon
Director General
Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd
Unit 12A
Barrowside Business Park
Sleaty Road
Graiguecullen
Carlow
Irlanda


Int.: +353 (0)59 9183072
Regne Unit: +44 (0)844 484 9361
EUA: +1 213-233-1612

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• European Hosting Giant Launches Huge Sale on .mobi and .im Domain Names (blacknight.com)

Dołącz do mobilnej rewolucji nabywając domenę .mobi lub skup całą swoją aktywność społecznościową w jednej domenie .im.

 Carlow, Irlandia - 23 września 2009 - Blacknight Solutions, najlepszy i najdynamiczniej rozwijający się irlandzki rejestrator domen internetowych oraz dostawca usług hostingowych, rozpoczął globalną wyprzedaż domen .mobi i .im. Dzięki bezprecedensowo niskim cenom, firmy i osoby prywatne mogą odcisnąć swój ślad w mobilnej sieci. 

Przez ograniczony okres czasu, klienci mogą rejestrować domeny .mobi za jedyne 6.75 Euro - najniższą w w dniu dzisiejszym cenę na rynku. Mogą także zarejestrować jeszcze ciepłe domeny .im za jedyne 4.95 Euro - sporo oszczędzając w porównaniu do normalnych cen sięgających 45 Euro. 

Domeny .mobi to świetne narzędzie dla firm szukających możliwości ekspansji w krąg mobilnego internetu - zdecydowanie najdynamiczniej rozwijającego się sektora globalnej sieci. Domeny .mobi pozwalają na poszerzenie kręgu odbiorców o użytkowników telefonów komórkowych, takich jak iPhone, Blackberry urządzeń wyposażonych w system Google Android i innych. Dzięki domenie .mobi można łatwo oddzielić serwis przeznaczony dla urządzeń mobilnych od głównej działalności internetowej. 

"Nasi klienci mają coraz to nowe pomysły na wykorzystanie domen .mobi" mówi Michele Neylon, założyciel i dyrektor zarządzający Blacknight. "Zaczynając od serwisów przystosowanych do urządzeń mobilnych, po całe korporacje zajmujące się Web 2.0, jesteśmy pod wrażeniem tego, co są oni w stanie zrobić z domenami .mobi". 

Przy okazji wielkiej wyprzedaży domen .mobi, Blacknight prowadzi także promocję na domeny .im, świetnie nadające się do stworzenia internetowej wizytówki lub miejsca, dającego dostęp do wszystkich profili w serwisach społecznościowych.  

"Wiele osób wykorzystuje domeny .im, aby skupić w jednym miejscu całą ich aktywność w serwisach społecznościowych, zamiast odsyłać poznane osoby do Twittera, Facebooka czy komunikatora internetowego" mówi M. Neylon. "Wystarczy adres w domenie .im, pod którym znajdą się linki do całej Waszej aktywności internetowej".  

Blacknight szybko staje się jednym z wiodących światowych dostawców usług hostingowych i rejestratorów domen internetowych, z rosnącym zaangażowaniem na rynku europejskim. Firma otrzymała ostatnio akredytację ICANN, pozwalającą jej na rozszerzenie swojej oferty o kolejne domeny. 

"Naszym celem zawsze było oferowanie klientom jak najlepszych usług po najrozsądniejszych cenach", mówi M.Neylon. "Jeśli macie problemy, możecie na nas polegać, a my z przyjemnością pomożemy. Dużo zainwestowaliśmy w najlepszą obsługę klienta - w końcu tylko to się liczy". 

Ceny domen .mobi w innych walutach (według kursu z 20 września 2009): 

6.75 Euro / 9.91 USD / 6.11 GBP 

Ceny domen .im w innych walutach (według kursu z 20 września 2009):

4.95 Euro/ 7.27 USD/ 4.48 GBP 

Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd (w skrócie Blacknight), założona w 2003 r., jest firmą o stuprocentowym irlandzkim kapitale, specjalizującą się w usługach hostingowych i kolokacji dla małego jak i globalnego biznesu. 

Blacknight to wiodący rejestrator domen na rynku europejskim. W roku ubiegłym uzyskał akredytację ICANN, dzięki której może oferować domeny po znacznie niższych cenach. 

Serwery Blacknight znajdują się w dwóch największych irlandzkich centrach danych w Dublinie. Liczba domen na nich utrzymywanych rośnie bardzo szybko. Firma zapewnia niezawodne usługi i pomoc techniczną, którym nie dorówna żaden inny dostawca w tej branży.

Join the mobile revolution by acquiring a .mobi domain name or centralize your social media activities with a .im domain.

Carlow, Ireland - September 22nd, 2009 - Blacknight Solutions, Ireland's best rated and fastest growing registrar and hosting provider, has launched a worldwide sale on .mobi and .im domain names. With unprecedented low pricing - businesses and individuals can make their mark on the mobile web.

For a limited time, customers can register for a .mobi domain for only €6.75 - the lowest price on the web today. They can also register the redhot .im domain name for only €4.95 - a huge savings when compared to everyday prices approaching €45.

.mobi domains are great for companies looking to expand their presence into the mobile world - by far the fastest growing sector in on the web. The .mobi domain allows you to target iPhone, Blackberry's, Google Android phones and much more. With a .mobi extension, you can easily keep your mobile website separate from your main web operations.

"We're seeing a lot of innovative uses for the .mobi domain amongst our customers," said Michele Neylon, founder and Managing Director of Blacknight. "From mobile themed websites to entire Web 2.0 companies, we've been impressed with what people have been able to do with .mobi domains."

In addition to the great sale they have on .mobi, Blacknight is also running a special on .im domains, which are great for creating an online business card or creating a place to have easy access to all your online social media profiles.

"Many people are using .im domains to centralize all their social media profiles, so instead of telling everyone you meet to visit you on Twitter, Facebook, Instant Messenger, etc," said Mr Neylon. "All you have to do is give them your .im address and it will have links to all your online activities."

Blacknight is quickly becoming one of the world's leading webhosts and domain registrars - with a growing business in the European Market Area. They were recently awarded ICANN accreditation which has allowed them to expand into other domain name spaces.

"Our focus has always been providing the best customer service at an affordable price," said Mr Neylon. "If you have a problem, you can easily get a hold of us and we'll be happy to help. We've invested in great customer service - because in the end, that's all that matters."

.mobi sale pricing in other currencies (based on exchange rates on September 20, 2009):

€6.75/$9.91 USD/£6.11

.im sale pricing in other currencies (based on exchange rates on September 20, 2009):

€4.95/$7.27 USD/£4.48

About Blacknight

Founded in 2003, Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd (Blacknight) is a 100% Irish owned company specializing in serving the hosting and co-location needs of business, both large and small worldwide.

Blacknight is positioning itself as the leading domain registrar in the European Market Area and has earned ICANN accreditation in the past year, which allows them to pass significant price savings onto their customers.

Blacknight servers are based in two of Ireland's leading data centers in Dublin. It's growing by leaps and bounds with tens of thousands of domains hosted on their servers. They provide reliable service backed up by support unmatched by any provider in the industry

Since we get asked about this so much I thought it would be worth our while doing a short overview

So here it is:



If you have any questions about IE registrations that aren't covered let us know so I cover them in a future screencast.

Over the last few weeks we've been working hard on launching a bunch of domain extensions on our own accreditation.

While the main focus of our attention has been on getting the more popular domain extensions up and running (ie. com / net / org / info / biz / mobi etc.,) we've also ended up getting accredited for quite a few other cctlds in the process.

So far this year we've launched:

• mobi
• info
• org
• tel
  
• cm (Cameroon)
  
• me (Montenegro)
  
• fm
• im (Isle of Man)
  
• be (Belgium)
  
• gg (Guernsey)
  
• je (Jersey)
  
• co.nl (alternate to .nl, which is for Netherlands)
  

We've also got accredited in quite a few other cctlds, but we haven't gone "live" with them as yet and we also have a few others in the "pipeline".

Why are we doing this?

Simply put by running our own accreditation we can control the situation more and also pass on greater savings to our clients.

If there's an issue with a domain where we are directly accredited it's a lot easier for us to resolve it in a timely manner, whereas when we rely on someone else it can take time and cost more.

When I registered my first domain name about 10 years ago the average cost of a .com domain was about $35. Registering a .ie domain name wasn't really an option unless you were a company.

Nowadays the market has matured considerably. The retail market, which we cater for primarily, treats domains as commodities, so price is an important deciding factor. Registering a .com domain is no longer the cost of dinner, but maybe the cost of a cup of coffee and a croissant. I'd love to think that people choose registrars based on factors other than price, but that would be to deny reality. People are always going to be attracted by lower prices - service and other factors don't come into play for most of them.

With that in mind we've been doing our best to keep our prices as low as possible, while also retaining a reasonable margin.

In the coming weeks we hope to "go live" with .com and .net on our own accreditation, while we're also working on integrating several cctlds that we aren't currently offering.

So if there's a domain extension that you think we should be offering please let us know. We won't guarantee that we'll offer it, as many of the domain extensions either lack in automation or have quite restrictive rules. However we will look at each and every suggestion.

Keep an eye out for more special offers on domain name registrations - we're working hard to get as many deals as we can!

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As the only Irish company accredited for .cm (Cameroon) I'm delighted to announce that we are now offering .cm registrations.

If you may recall there were a few delays in the launch of dotcm (.cm - Cameroon), with the actual launch date only being announced a mere 48 hours ago.

DotCM (.cm) opened for general domain name registration this morning and we are happy to offer registrations via our site now.

Our current price is €80 ex-VAT for a one year registration.

So you can register your .cm domain name now!

As for pre-ordered domains - sunrise applications and other pre-launch registrations are now live.

I could wax lyrically about how .mobi was a really cool concept.

I could talk to you about their fantastic resource site, where you can get all sorts of really interesting and useful information on developing useful content and applications for the mobile web.

Or I could talk to you about nice and useful mobile websites that use the .mobi suffix.

Would you like me to do that?

Or would you prefer if I "cut to the chase"?

You probably want the "meat".

So, let's cut to the chase then ...

Starting today and for a limited time only we are slashing the price on .mobi domain names.

Registrations and transfers will be a mere €6.75 / year (ex-VAT).

I'm not sure if that's the cheapest price you'll find for a mobi domain name on the planet or not, but I know it must be one of the lowest prices you'll find anywhere.

If you find a lower price let me know - I won't offer to match it, but I'd love to see it!

If you've already got a .mobi with a competing registrar, then why not switch to us?

So get searching for available .mobi domains now!

Blacknight are the ONLY Irish company accredited for .mobi.

Got a question? Let us know either in the comments here, on Facebook or even on Twitter

Late yesterday afternoon we "put live" our .org accreditation.

DotOrg, which is run by Public Interest Registry, is quite a different concept to the more popular .com.

While .org can be registered by anyone and used for just about anything, the extension has always had a strong focus on non-commercial users eg. NGOs, foundations, research projects, open source advocacy etc., etc.

Sites using .org include:

Google.org
Apache Software Foundation
Greenpeace
Grassroots.org

You can get more information over on the PIR site.

On a personal note, I am delighted that we are now working with them directly, as their staff are always so incredibly helpful and open. You can follow them on Twitter too.
 

Due to staff holidays our accounts (billing) team will not be available between 1pm and 2pm for the next two weeks.

Our billing team will be available via email from 8am to 1pm and from 2pm to 6pm and via phone from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (all times are Dublin)

Sorry for any inconvenience, but unfortunately it's very hard to stop them taking holidays!

According to recently released figures from HosterStats.com, Blacknight is now Ireland's largest registrar and hosting provider.

The report which tracks nameserver activity shows that Blacknight now holds 15.45% of the Irish hosting market.

The top 5 list now reads as follows:

1. Blacknight
2. Hosting365.ie (Register365 nameserver)
3. Digiweb (including Novara ie. register.ie)
4. Letshost
5. IrishDomains

The Hosterstats figures are slightly different to those provided by webhosting.info, as WebHosting.info doesn't track ccTLDs (such as .ie, co.uk etc)

As you may recall, we're already the largest Eurid registrar, as well as being the only Irish ICANN accredited registrar.

It's been a very busy couple of months here and we've still got plenty of things in the pipeline, so keep an eye out for more news!

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For the last couple of days I've been in the lovely town of Bled, Slovenia, for the 2nd International Conference for ccTLD Registries and Registrars of CIS, Central and Eastern Europe which was organised by the .ru (Russia) registry.

The conference agenda covered a wide variety of topics and was very interesting. While some of the topics were about policy matters, others covered governance, security, marketing and the aftermarket.

Cctld registry operators ie. the organisations that manage country code domains, have very different ways of working. NASK, which runs .pl, for example, have embraced alternate business models and aren't afraid of domainers or the aftermarket, which makes a change.

While some domain extensions are completely "open", others have a variety of restrictions, so the presentations yesterday on how some countries are running their domain spaces was very revealing. Being able to actually speak directly to the people who run registry in person is a lot easier and productive than playing "email ping pong"!

It was also interesting to see how some of them, such as Latvia (.lv) view their role. The Latvian ccTLD operator, for example, has completely revamped their modus operandi in the last couple of years and is now looking at using social media etc., to reach out to its users.
 
From our perspective it was an excellent opportunity to meetup with some of the registry operators we already work with, such as .me (Montenegro), .eu (Eurid) and .mobi (Mtld) while being able to meet new potential partners is always a good thing.

As an English speaker it is all too easy to forget that for many people the Latin character set is completely foreign to them. Countries such as Bulgaria (.bg) are introducing internationalised domain names (IDNs), but they still have the awkward issue of switching from using Cyrillic characters to the Latin set to type in web addresses. So one of the hotter topics for delegates was the introduction of full IDN ccTLDs.

Thanks must go out to the .ru team who not only organised the entire event, but also treated us all like royalty since we got here.

Francesco from dotMobi has also posted an overview of the conference here.

If I hadn't warned people in advance I might feel mildly guilty about all these domain related announcements ..

If you're a regular reader you may have noticed that I have a small passion for the .tel namespace. I think the concept behind .tel is very cool and if there is enough "buy in" it could prove to be very revolutionary indeed. Of course it's not without its funny side!

As of yesterday evening we are now processing all new .tel domain registrations via our own ICANN accreditation. This means that you are dealing with us from start to finish.

Any new .tel domains will be managed via telhosting.blacknight.com and you'll get login details within a few minutes of registering the domain. We've also setup the system to automatically populate the domain with some basic NAPTR records so that it goes "llive" as quickly as possible.

Once your domain is registered and you have your telhosting login you can create your content and decide which contact details you want to share with whom.

If you're an iPhone user there are two apps you can get for .tel:

• my.tel - which allows you to manage your .tel easily from your mobile
• Superbook - which polls your iphone's address book for any .tel entries and then brings up the full contents (very cool!)

For Blackberry there's an app that integrates tightly with the address book, while Microsoft Outlook users can try this plugin.

Already have a .tel domain? You can easily integrate it with your existing website if you follow the instructions over here.

We said we'd organised a few special offers, so here's our next one...

From today, September 1st 2009 until the end of October 2009, we'll be offering a very deep discount on .im domain registration.

Want to register a .im domain?

The cost will be a mere €4.95 ex-vat for a one year registration (reduced from €45!) - discount applies during checkout.

The fine print:

Offer price applies to new registrations only.
Offer DOES NOT apply to:

• transfers
• renewals
• one or two character .im domains (premium)

The Isle of Man's cctld (.im) has been made quite popular by a variety of online services including the (in)famous URL shortener tr.im and popular software like Pidgin and Adium, that all use .im domain names

For many people the two letters "I" and "M" have come to signify "instant message"

You can also think of them as being "I'm" without the apostrophe ..

Let your imagination go !

Register a .im today!

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