I apologize for “Apple World Today” being offline for over 48 hours. You can thank ICANN and Dreamhost for that. 

On Thursday afternoon, March 17, I went to post articles on the website and was greeted by this message: “You have reached a domain that was pending verification per ICANN rules but has since been verified. It may take 24 to 48 hours for the website to come back online.”

What the heck? When Steve Sande semi-retired around six months ago, I assumed control and ownership of “Apple World Today.” I’ve been running it since then, so I was taken aback when I saw the note from ICANN. 

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for “coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the network’s stable and secure operation.” If “Apple World Today” is any indication, they’re not doing a very good job.

I then contacted Dreamhost. a Los Angeles-based web hosting provider and domain name registrar. That’s where AWT domains are registered; Dreamhost also hosts our site’s email services. A support rep said ICANN can “do this kind of thing to ensure that the person owning the site is who they say they are.  So, you just follow the directions on the site and wait for the email.” There was no instructions on the site for me to follow, so there was no email.

I complained again to Dreamhost. This time a rep told me that a different story: that the appleworld.today domain is still on another account (Steve’s I presume) and hasn’t been verified yet. Steve says did that when the site was transferred to my name. He has the transfer ticket to prove it. 

Steve contacted Dreamhost, told them about the error and was told that the website was be back up and running Saturday, March 19.

So I apologize profusely for “disappearing” on you. But the situation has been beyond my control — and I’ve been working on it and stressing over it since Thursday.



Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today