What is the Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association?
The Asia Pacific Top Level Domain Association, APTLD, is an organization for ccTLD (country-code top-level domain) registries in the Asia Pacific region. It operates as a forum for information exchange regarding technological and operational issues of domain name registries. APTLD also acts as an interface with other international Internet coordinating bodies, fostering and elevating the participation of Asia Pacific ccTLDs in these global forums and acting in the best interest of APTLD members in the global Internet policy-making process.
Markmonitor’s Commitment to the Asia Pacific Region
Markmonitor is committed to our involvement in the APAC internet community to interact with others in the industry, share our insights and expertise, and learn about new and innovative technology trends for the benefit of our customers. Recently, we applied to become an associate member of APTLD and were very happy to receive our acceptance in early 2025.
APTLD87: A Meeting of Internet Professionals in the Asia Pacific Region
As the Head of Markmonitor China, I had the opportunity to attend and represent Markmonitor at APTLD87, a meeting sponsored by the APTLD community. It was held in Hong Kong from February 10 to 13.
APTLD87 attracted over 166 participants, with 117 participants on-site, and provided a platform for all to share and exchange knowledge and information. It was definitely a great occasion, and I had the chance to meet so many registries across the Asia Pacific region, such as .vn, .jp, .bd, .id, .lk, .by, .kr, .in, .sg, .mn, .ru, and connect with incredible people.
On the training day before the start of the meeting, we heard about Knowledge-Sharing and Instantiating Norms for DNS and Naming Security, KINDNS, from Philip Paeps, a Hong Kong-based coach and recognized expert in operating system development, embedded software engineering, network operations, and security. One of the day’s highlights was the “Keep Calm and Crisis On” crisis management exercise delivered by Sophie Mitchell, the Chief Communications Officer at auDa, and Patrick Donaldson from Identity Digital. It provided the opportunity to experience a hypothetical technical crisis where the trainees were divided into five groups to discuss and come up with different solutions at different stages. It was a great learning process for crisis management knowledge and to experience different perspectives and approaches. The day concluded with a session on “Securing ccTLD Operations through ISO 27001.”
Days one and two of the meeting were packed with exciting and informative sessions covering the topics of moving critical services to the cloud, fraud and anti-fraud techniques, premium domains and aftermarkets, security techniques, and new types of attacks. I was honored to be part of the panel discussion, “Tiny Suffixes, Big Decisions: Pros and Cons of Open-Use ccTLDs.” It was an instructive and inspiring discussion where we learned of ccTLD registries’ stances and concerns regarding opening their registration requirements or keeping them closed. Some hybrid and open ccTLDs spoke of their measures to mitigate risks in managing domains.
The Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation, HKIRC, hosted APTLD87, an informative and engaging event. They made the three-day meeting a mixture of knowledge, information, excitement, and joy.
While there, Markmonitor was honored to receive the “2024 Active Engagement Award” from HKIRC for our collaborations and contributions to the APAC region.
APTLD88 Held in September 2025
APTLD holds meetings two times a year to share information and best practices, provide training, and for networking purposes. APTLD88 will be held in Belgrade, Serbia, in September, and we hope to see you there.
