World Press Freedom Day, but also a vigil of individual liberties

This is a month of contrasts, where the liberty of the Press is honoured, while at the same time the French government is working to pass a bill that goes against the notion of liberty, but is doing so in its name. Though some may see us as alarmist, many are those that, like ourselves, are worried about the consequences that this law might have if it is declared constitutional.Aside from all this, life goes on, and promos abound at the end of this newsletter, including great promos on popular French extensions. You will also find our usual calendar of new gTLD releases.

1. World Press Freedom Day

There are celebration days for just about everything now. However there
are some that are more important than others. May 3rd was World Press
Freedom Day. This year, it took on a particular importance, since the
word «freedom» has been on everyone's lips recently and is the subject of
many debates that are capital to us, and which call into question
fundamental rights in this period of the opening up of the world thanks
to the internet.

To celebrate this day, and in association with the .PRESS registry, we
are having a promo on the new .PRESS extension, at €14 excl. VAT under A
rates, for every 1-year creation (instead of €69.20 excl. VAT), until
the end of the month of May.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-03/3977-press_freedom_day/

2. In contrast, the new French surveillance law

On May 5th, the French National Assembly moved forward on the new French
surveillance law project — something that we have been actively working
against since the beginning of April. This bill excludes the
surveillance procedures from judicial oversight and therefore creates a
real breach in the fundamental principles of democracy.

The text will, at present, be sent to the Senate, where it will be
examined in June before being submitted to the Joint Committee of the
Two Chambers. It is only following this negotiation that it will be
presented to the Constitutional Council and subsequently voted on, when
it would take effect.

We will continue working side-by-side with the association «La
Quadrature du Net» and the #nipigeonsniespions movement on this topic,
to try and get the bill modified so that it better respects fundamental
liberties. Internally, we will continue to look for technical solutions
that will provide you with the ability to chose le geographic location
where your data is stored.
www.laquadrature.net/en/french-national-assembly-approves-mass-surveillance-of-french-citizens

3. May new gTLD release calendar

Here's our calendar of expected domain releases for the month of May, 2015.
As usual, it is not exhaustive, and is subject to change as we receive
additional information from the registries:

Tuesday, May 12:
.design (GoLive)

Sunday, May 17:
.bingo (3-day Landrush)
.chat (3-day Landrush)
.style (3-day Landrush)
.tennis (3-day Landrush)

Monday, May 18:
.bank (Sunrise)

Tuesday, May 19:
.jewelry (Sunrise)
.show (Sunrise)
.team (Sunrise)

Wednesday, May 20:
.bingo (GoLive)
.chat (GoLive)
.style (GoLive)
.tennis (GoLive)

Thursday, May 21:
.irish (Landrush)

Sunday, May 24:
.apartments (Landrush 3 jours)

Wednesday, May 27:
.apartments (GoLive)

Sunday, May 31:
.casino (3-day Landrush)
.football (3-day Landrush)
.school (3-day Landrush)

4. Multi-year promo for .FR (and other AFNIC-managed domains)

With highly-awaited arrival of the ability to register .FR domains for
more than one year at a time, we have decided to put in place a promo
for the entire month of May for every .FR created for 5 years or more,
with a price of €9 excl. VAT per year instead of the usual €12 excl. VAT
under A rates. We are also providing a rebate of 10% (via the promo
code: FR5PLUS) on refunds for 5-years or more for existing .FR domains.
More details on this promo are available at:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-11/4040-multi-year_.fr_domain_promo/

6. -50% on .AT domains for May and June

The official extension of Australia is being offered at half-price for
all 1-year creations during the month of May and June 2015, in all price
rates.
More information is available at:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-11/4043-.at_at_half_price/

7. Promo roundup

Here is a reminder of domain name promos that are currently under way:

.MX domains will be on promo at -66% for all creations for one year and
in all price rates through May 16.
More on this at:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-11/4046-.mx_at_66_off_until_mid-may/

The .CO.COM is having a promo of 60% off all price rates, for all
creations (1 to 10 years) through June 30. The price of a CO.COM during
this period is €11.76 excl. VAT per year instead of €29.39 excl. VAT
under A rates.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-04-10/3764-promo_on_.co.com/

The .XYZ is currently in promotion for new 1-year creations at the very
affordable price of €4 excl VAT under A rates, instead of €10.48 excl.
VAT through June 30th.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-11/4049-.xyz_domains_at_4_excl_vat/

The .ME is on sale until the end of the year, at 40% off the normal price
for one-year creations. This means a .ME for €9.60 excl. VAT instead of €16
under A rates.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-05-12/4094-promo_.me_at_40_off/

The .SCIENCE promo has been prolonged until May 24th, and you therefore
have a bit more time to benefit from this extension at only €3 excl. VAT
for 1-year creations.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-02-23/3420-golivepromo_.science/

Asia is in in the spotlight for the first half of 2015 thanks to a -50%
promo on .ASIA and .IN until July 1st, with creations for .ASIA at €9
excl. VAT instead of €18 excl. VAT and .IN at €6.25 excl. VAT instead of
€12.50 under A rates.
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-01-05/3000-promo_.asia_and_.in_at_half_price/

.CLUB is offering an incredible promo until the end of 2015, at €8.26
excl. VAT instead of €10.33 under A rates:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-01-05/2996-promo_.club_at_20_off/

Uniregistry is offering 50% off on .gift, .hiphop, .hosting, .link,
.pics and .property through the end of June:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-04-10/3758-6_promos_including_.link/

The RightSide registry is offering a discount of 25% off the price of a
one-year creation on TLDs in the following list: .ACTOR, .AUCTION,
.CONSULTING, .DANCE, .HAUS, .IMMOBILIEN, .KAUFEN, .MODA, .PUB, .REVIEWS,
.SOCIAL until the end of June:
www.gandi.net/news/en/2015-02-04/3255-promo_.auction_.immobilien_.dance_.reviews_.kaufen_.social_.actor_.consulting_.haus_.pub_.moda/