Welcome to the LCNews
 
 
Dear %%%FNAME%%%, welcome to the November edition of LCNews. You have received this newsletter as a customer of Low Cost Names (LCN), The newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with the services and products that LCN offers.
 
We have added a new system on our website, the Ticketing System to assist you with technical problems and questions. It will enable you to solve those technical queries quickly and much more efficiently than ever.

Are all the best Domain Names already taken? Surely not! Find out if the Domain Name you have always wanted is now out there!

Remember, remember the fifth of November! The conspiracy and plot revealed. Bonfire night is nearly upon us, so take care and follow the Firework Safety code.

I hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and if you have any comments or suggestions please email feedback@lcn.com

Many thanks
 
LCN's Editor

IN THIS ISSUE...

New Ticketing System

We have added a new ticketing system to assist you with technical problems and questions. It will enable you to solve those technical queries quickly and much more efficiently than ever.

Visit the Contact section of the LCN website and you will find a new contact form. This form will enable us to not only have lots more information on your request to assist our Technical Support Team, but will also allow you to view our Frequently Asked Questions. Once you have completed the form and entered your question it will search and give you a list of FAQ’s relevant to the criteria you entered.

If however none of these FAQ’s help just continue and submit. You will now be given a ticket number and a Technical Support Advisor will respond and assist you. This Technical Support Advisor will continue to assist with any further emails regarding this question (Ticket Number), so you will deal with the same person until your query is resolved.

You can no longer email Technical Support direct you must use the new form provided and have a valid ticket number. This new system has been put in place to streamline Technical Support and provide you with a faster service.

.eu Registry

EURid signs Service Concession contract with EC to Operate .eu registry

On 12th October 2004, in Brussels, Fabio Colasanti, the Director General of the European Commission's Information Society DG, joined with EURid board members: Pierre Verbaeten, Franco Denoth and Anders Janson to sign the Service Concession Contract to operate the .eu registry.
 
The Commission will now formally notify ICANN of the selected registry operator allowing official negotiations to commence between EURid and ICANN to have .eu put in the root.
 
Although preparations for the launch of .eu can now go ahead, it does require 6-9 months after contractual matters are concluded in order to commence .eu registrations, starting with the 4-month sunrise period required by the European Commission's Public Policy Rules for .eu.
 
EURid is currently working on the initial Registration Policy for .eu to include rules for phased registration (the sunrise period), a Whois policy and Alternative Dispute Resolution for disputes over .eu names. As required under the terms of Regulation 733/2002, which provided the legal framework for .eu, EURid will be discussing with the European Commission and other relevant parties on this document.
 
EURid will also concentrate on finalising the .eu Registrar agreement and the Registrant Terms and Conditions which will be translated into all 20 official languages of the EU. Once .eu is in the root EURid will begin to accredit a network of .eu registrars across EURid who will be able to take pre-registrations from their clients in preparation for the .eu launch. A comprehensive timetable will also be made available providing dates for significant events in the run-up to going live.

Are all the best domain names already taken?

A lot of them were registered years ago BUT every day thousands of domains are surrendered by their owners who fail to renew or pay for the registration fees on their expiring domains. These domain names are made available again and this creates an opportunity for you to own a domain that may have been registered as long as two years ago! When a domain owner fails to pay the registration renewal fees on a domain, that domain is placed on hold for a short period of time. If the domain owner pays the outstanding registration fees while the expired domain is on hold, he/she regains control. If the fees are not paid before the on hold period ends, the domain is deleted from the master domain registry. Once deleted, the domain is just like any domain that is not registered; it is available for anyone to register.

Many “surrendered” domains are re-registered within days or even hours of being deleted, so don’t let your name expire and become available due to missing the deadline and not paying renewal fees.

For more information on Domain Names and the features you will receive visit LCN Domain Names.

Is there a domain name that you or your company are particularly interested in?

You can view the status of all domain names via the Whois database. This can be accessed via the LCN website http://www.lcn.com. Type the domain name into the search box and follow the links. If the domain name is available you can purchase it by adding it to your basket. If it is already taken you will be directed to the Whois database via a link where you can review the owners details, see when it was registered, which registrar agent registered it, and when it was last updated.

Commercially the right domain names will help improve the profile of your business and ensure you strengthen it on the Web. Domain names produce a feeling of professionalism. If you are trying to do business on the Web, a domain name is essential. There is a perception that sites hosted under their own domain names are more professional than free sites or ISP-hosted sites with long convoluted addresses. Ensure that your domain name is both memorable and enduring. For Hints & Tips on Choosing A Domain Name Click Here.

For a complete step-by-step guide on how to buy domain names with LCN Click Here.

UK hosts anti-spam summit

International anti-spam enforcement agencies met in London on Monday 11th October to work up a plan of action for tackling junk mail. The conference is billed as the "first international meeting of spam enforcers". Hosted by the Office of Fair Trading and the US Federal Trade Commission, the talk brought together consumer and data protection officers with telecoms execs from more than 20 countries. They also discussed how to tackle the online fraud and computer viruses.

Three years ago only one in ten messages were spam - now it's up to 60 per cent, according to anti-spam vendor Brightmail. An estimated 80 per cent of spam hitting the in-box of UK net users originates from overseas, underlining the importance of cross-border enforcement.

The Office of Fair Trading is keen to build on its successes to date in co-operating with its peers overseas. These include a joint investigation between the Office of Fair Trading and the US Federal Trade Commission into a UK-based firm called TLD Networks which spammed US consumers with a patriotic message in an attempt to con them into buying fake domain names.

In another case, the Office of Fair Trading teamed up with the Italian competition authority over a case that linked spam with modem hijacking. Italian consumers were targeted by junk mail sent by a UK company, directing recipients to a "cookery" website. This site contained malicious code. If this code was activated, a recipient's modem connections were redirected to a premium rate line. The company withdrew the website and closed its office’s following the Office of Fair Tradings intervention.

This conference included sessions on comparing the enforcement powers of different government agencies and departments, best practice on evidence collection, cooperation with the private sector, and devising a practical framework for international law enforcement action.

Remember, Remember the fifth of November

Remember, Remember the fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot

Guy Fawkes (1570-1606), born in York. A Protestant by birth, he became a Roman Catholic after the marriage of his widowed mother to a man of Catholic background and sympathies. In 1593 he enlisted in the Spanish army in Flanders and in 1596 participated in the capture of the city of Calais by the Spanish in their war with Henry IV of France. He became implicated with Thomas Winter and others in the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament as a protest against the anti-Roman Catholic laws.

The Gunpowder Plot

The conspiracy was to blow up King James I and the assembled two Houses of Parliament at the State Opening of Parliament in November 1605. It was the work of a small group of Roman Catholic gentry, mainly in the west Midlands, who were angry that James VI, king of Scotland, who had recently succeeded Queen Elizabeth I to the throne of England as James I, had not reversed her harsh policies towards their co-religionists. Catholics in England (no more than 5 per cent of the population) were subject to heavy penalties. The plotters hoped to exploit, in their attack, the widespread anti-Scottish feeling in England aroused by James’s numerous followers.

Robert Catesby, a 32-year-old Warwickshire country gentleman, who was an engaging and charismatic figure, but heavily in debt, persuaded his young cousin Thomas Winter, and his friends John Wright and Thomas Percy, to join him in the conspiracy. In Spain, Winter had met Guy Fawkes, a Yorkshire soldier in Spanish service. They planned to coordinate a rising in England when Spain could provide troops, but this so-called “Spanish treason” was vetoed by the government of Spain, anxious to restore friendly relations with the new regime in England. The conspirators then brought in other leading figures, principally Francis Tresham, Sir Everard Digby, and the brothers of Winter and Wright. They planned to place a large quantity of gunpowder under the Parliament building, and from May 1604 began to tunnel from a neighbouring house. Gunpowder was thought of then as a “devilish” invention, as destructive as nuclear warheads today.

Later the cellars under the House of Lords became vacant, and Percy, a well-connected courtier, was able to rent them without arousing suspicion. He and Fawkes brought in 36 barrels of gunpowder under cover of darkness, and concealed them under firewood, to await the State Opening of Parliament in the autumn of 1605. The plotters planned to seize power after the deed, but needed to preserve leading Catholic figures. Consequently, Tresham sent a warning to his brother-in-law, Lord Monteagle, not to attend. Monteagle showed the warning letter to the government, however, and a search was made of the premises where the powder was stored. Fawkes was caught Early in the morning of 5th November 1605 with a 'slowmatch' to ignite the explosives. He was then tortured to extract the names of the other plotters. They, meanwhile, had fled to Holbeach House, on the Staffordshire borders, and were then captured, or, in the cases of Catesby and Percy, shot while resisting arrest. In January 1606 Fawkes and the others still alive were hanged, drawn, and quartered, the penalty for treason.

Had the plot succeeded, the royal family (including the heir to the throne), the members of the government, the bishops, and the judges might have perished. But it is difficult to see how, without foreign intervention on their behalf, the plotters could have taken over the country, which was solidly Protestant. The dramatic, last-minute discovery of a plot involving the potential destructive force of gunpowder had the opposite result. Catholics were further persecuted in England, and popular anti-Catholic feeling inflamed then and later.

from left to right, Thomas Bates, Robert Winter, Christopher Wright, John Wright, Thomas Percy,
Guy (or Guido) Fawkes, their leader Robert Catesby, and Thomas Winter.

Penny for the Guy

Children make life-sized effigies of Guy Fawkes which are called Guys, to put onto the bonfires. The English have been burning effigies to mark Guy Fawkes' treason for almost 400 years. The tradition started in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder plot failed. In these first bonfires, called 'bone fires' at the time, it wasn't an effigy of Guy Fawkes that was burned, but one of the Pope. It was not until 1806, two centuries later, that the people started burning effigies of Guy Fawkes instead.

Firework safety

Whether you are a young person watching a firework display or an adult organising a display, follow the safety code for a safer fireworks night.

Firework safety code:

• Only buy fireworks marked BS 7114
• Don’t drink alcohol if setting off fireworks
• Keep fireworks in a closed box
• Follow the instructions on each firework
• Light them at arm’s length
• Stand well back and never go near a firework that has been lit - even if it hasn't’t gone off, it could still explode
• Never put fireworks in your pocket or throw them
• Always supervise children around fireworks
• Light sparklers one at a time and wear gloves to hold them
• Never give sparklers to a child under five
• When your sparkler goes out, don’t touch it as it could still burn you
• Have a bucket of water handy to cool down the sparkler once it has burnt out.
• Keep pets indoors

In an emergency

• Cool the burn or scald with cold water for at least ten minutes
• Don't touch the burn or pull away any material stuck to it
• Cover the burn with clean, non-fluffy material to prevent infection - cling film is ideal
• If clothing catches fire, get the person to stop, drop to the floor and roll them in heavy material, such as a curtain
• Seek medical advice.

How to protect your pets

• Keep Dogs and Cats inside
• Close all windows and doors and block of Dog Cat flaps.
• Draw the curtains and maybe switch on the TV or Radio for distraction
• Cover bird cages
• Bring in Rabbit/Guinea Pig hutches (if you cannot do this turn it around so that it faces the fence and not the garden).
• Cover aviaries and hutches with a blanket or duvet (make sure there is ventilation).
• Give small animals extra bedding to hide in.
  

Fun Firework Facts

• Over 90% of fireworks sold in Britain still originate from China.
• A rocket can reach over 150 miles per hour
• The word for Firework in Japanese is "HANA-BI" which means Fireflower, "hana" means "flower" and "bi" means "fire“.
• A sparkler burns at a temperature over 15 times the boiling point of water (100 degrees).
• Why do you see the explosion before hearing it? The sound travels at 742 miles per hour, but light travels 670,616,625.6 miles per hour.

November Dates

Present

2nd November 2004: US Election day. Americans will be voting for either Bush or Kerry.

5th November 2004: Guy Fawkes (Bonfire and Fireworks Night).

Past

1st November 79: Pompeii buried by Mt Vesuvius

1st November 1952: The United States tested its first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific .

5th November 1605: The Gunpowder Plot failed as Guy Fawkes was captured before he could blow up the English Parliament.

9th November 1989: The Berlin Wall crumbled.

22nd November 1963: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

24th November 1963: Lee Harvey Oswald was killed.

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LCN would like to thank you in advance for your continued support.

Kind regards

The LCN Team