The number of 1&1 registered .ORG domains increased by over 30 percent over the past 12 months, suggesting an increase in web activity within the non-profit and charity sectors. With the availability of .ORG domains for only $6.99 per year – including a 5 page website, search engine submission and private registration- it has never been easier or more affordable to take a good cause to the web. 1&1 joins the .ORG Public Interest Registry (PIR) and its ‘World Voices’ campaign in recognizing the remarkable achievements of the .ORG community.

Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet Inc. remarked, ”While we have seen pleasing growth in all domain registrations worldwide, perhaps the most satisfying is the huge rise in .ORGs over the past year. Out of 1&1′s 10 million domains, some of the most innovative and productive websites are to be found in the .ORG community. Just as the Internet was intended, the web can be an amazing means for smaller groups to make a difference, and 1&1 will continue to work hard to help the non-profit sector use the Internet to maximum effect.”

While web adoption is most often analyzed in terms of small businesses and personal publishing activity, 1&1 reveals evidence to show that small scale non-profit and social activism websites are making impressive gains on the Internet. Between December of 2006, and December of 2007, the world’s largest web host registered over 70,000 .ORG domains, seeing a unique and impressive increase of 31 percent.

The availability of affordable, ‘out of the box’ web solutions has no doubt helped to accelerate the progress of non-profit, charity and social activism websites. In 2008, it can take as little as 30 minutes and a few clicks ‘to give a voice’ to a cause or activity, with the average user today having tools at their fingertips previously reserved to large organizations. For example, a $6.99 per year .ORG domain purchased from 1&1 includes a 5 page Website Builder website, custom email addresses and search engine submission – meaning a quality web presence for only a few dollars.

An example of an effective 1&1 registered .ORG website is the local New Jersey firefighter’s association website, www.NJBCFA.org. The website provides a community with information and increased support for the firefighters. Their .ORG domain gives the organization an internationally recognized emblem of legitimacy and non-profit status.

Ray DiPatri of the N.J.B.C.F.A noted, ”Our website has been vital for building support, sharing information and recruiting volunteers. This Firefighter Association has been meeting for over 90 years and our website will help recruit new and younger members. The .ORG domain name is an extension of our non-profit identity and conveys the spirit of volunteerism: doing without financial reward.” The N.J.B.C.F.A. website is a good example of how the .ORG community has used the web to connect a community and support a good cause.

Alexa Raad, CEO Public Interest Registry, added, ”The contributions of the .ORG community in recent years are amazing. They have not only helped to galvanize interest in various causes, but by adopting trends such as social networking, have given individuals unprecedented means to inspire, educate, collaborate, and ultimately change the world as we know it.”

The .ORG domain is a highly effective web identity because it transcends geographical boundaries and socio-political labels. .ORG is clearly a powerful tool in attracting support and participation for non-profit initiatives. The growth of 1&1.ORG registrations is significant in demonstrating a surge in the number of people and causes that are today empowered by the web. The availability of .ORG is representative of the original concept of the Internet – egalitarian and intended for honorable enterprises.

Ms. Raad added, ”The ‘World Voices’ Campaign is designed to highlight the contributions of the .ORG community as well as position .ORG, The Public Interest Registry, as a passionate steward of the namespace and a fierce advocate for the rights of its community.”

1&1 Internet Inc. is a subsidiary of United Internet, a public company with a market cap of $4 billion. 1&1 was established in 1988 with over 47,000 servers. 1&1′s global community is 7.07 million customer contracts. The company U.S. headquarters are located in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania.

1&1 web hosting, the world’s largest providers of Internet and web hosting services, the Germany-based Internet and web hosting provider has now big changes. 1&1 announced on Thursday, that Andreas Gauger is no more in his position as CEO and chairman of the board. And the new CEO will be Oliver Mauss.

Oliver Mauss was CEO of 1&1 Internet, also the company’s subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Spain and France; Mauss will be also in responsible to lead 1&1′s global web hosting operations.

Oliver Mauss worked for Vodafone Group for over a decade and recently as the global director of business product marketing. He also held positions in business development and product management at telecommunication companies such as o.tel.o and RWE Telliance.

In 1999, Oliver Gauger became chairman of the board after 1&1 Internet acquired Schlund + Partner, his German web hosting company,.

1&1 said in the company announcement.”Within a short time, Andreas Gauger has led 1&1 to become one of the world’s leading web hosts, by defining a standard for user-friendly and cost-effective web hosting solutions and by developing and directing 1&1′s successful international expansion strategy”.

Web hosting provider 1&1 started to offer virtual private server (VPS) plans, these plans are based on VIRTUOZZO virtualization and PLESK cpanel.

The smallest plan offer 500 GB of traffic per month, 128 MB of RAM, 10 GB of disk space and 500 email accounts with security features like server re-image and data backup, also this plan comes with one domain and 30 sub-domains.  Database wise the plan comes with unlimited data base with a nice site building tools like Premium Software Suite and Application Vault.

The largest plan comes with a limited time offer that make customer have the plan for only $1 setup fee, then its free for three months and after its $59.00 per month. This plan comes with 2,000 GB of traffic, 512 MB of RAM and 50 GB of disk space and with all other features that come with small plan. This plan is valid only with 12 month contract term.

Also 1&1 web hosting indicates that virtual private server (VPS) packages are only available to residents of the US and Canada.

1&1 web hosting, announced today that it has completed a comprehensive extension of its wide area network. An overall bandwidth of more than 120 gigabit/second is now available for its’s top-of-the-line data centers in Europe and the United States. For the first time, it is connected directly to a large Internet Exchange point outside of Europe at Equinix in Chicago. The development means that the external connectivity of the web host has tripled over the past twelve months.

The company states that in November, U.S. research company, Nemertes, warned in a well known study that Internet infrastructure might no longer supply the growing demands of private and business users over the next 3 to 5 years. Company further states that with its latest network upgrades and further measures planned for 2008, It feels well prepared for continuously growing demand.

1&1 web hosting also explained that besides the upgrade of its wide area network, it has also made changes to its underlying technology. Instead of Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, now Ethernet technology – well-known from corporate and home networks – is being utilized. “Ethernet can be handled more easily, and by switching to powerful routers from U.S. based manufacturer Foundry Networks, we can even save money,” comments Andreas Gauger. It further states that it benefits from an additional cost saving potential through the network extension, as data streams can be distributed optimally through new peerings and routing alternatives.

Andreas Gauger, chairman of the board of 1&1 Internet Inc., said, “With the upgrade of our Internet bandwidth, our millions of web hosting customers in Europe and the U.S. can be sure that their content will reach Internet users worldwide even faster and more reliably. As a result of multimedia applications like video streaming, the demand for bandwidth has grown enormously over the last few years.” The data volume transmitted from 1&1′s data centers has in fact nearly doubled over the past year from 3,500 Terabytes (3.5 million Gigabytes) in January 2007, to 6,500 Terabytes in December 2007.

“The continuous upgrade of 1&1′s data network shows that despite pessimistic forecasts from some, the boundaries of Internet growth have not yet been reached,” adds Gauger.

1&1 web hosting, an international provider is now offering three months free on home plan shared web hosting. The plan offers 2 free domain names, private domain registration, 100 sub-domain and can host up to 50 external domain names. All this come with 120 GB of space and 1200 GB of data transfer. Added to this, site builder tools, marketing center, communications and security features, all this with a price of $4.99 after the three free months.

1&1 web hosting started business in 1992 in Germany and quickly spread worldwide to become an international company. With about 40,000 servers, 6.39 million customers and 8.10 million domains, 1&1 becomes on of the biggest web hosting companies.

“It’s our goal to be first to market with innovative products at competitive prices without compromising strength and reliability. We started as a pioneer and we’ve never stopped working this way.” Said Andreas Gauger, 1&1 Chairman of the Board.

A way to improve the his web hosting services, Web hosting provider 1&1 has started a new service by offering the best in open source web building applications, this was announced lately. 1&1 web hosting, which bills itself as one of the world’s largest web hosting companies by known servers, is now offering a powerful open source web building tools which are fully developed, installed and almost ready to apply within a few steps.

1&1 web hosting provides a big range of applications including Joomla!, phpBB, TikiWiki, Moodle, Noah’s Classifieds, phpAdsNew and Mantis.

As the company announced, this platform considered as the first solution for installing these powerful open source tools within really a few steps, and also with automatic version updates, no intrusion from ads and with security patches.

“With Click-n- Build, we are proud to offer a significant advancement to web hosting. Open source software has always promised great results but has until now eluded a great number of non-technical users, explained Chairman of the 1&1 Internet Board, Andreas Gauger. Our new platform delivers great software within a few clicks, and allows every type of user the full benefit whilst 1&1 handles all of the technicalities. As the web becomes ever more competitive, these applications will enable 1&1 customer websites to remain dynamic and competitive.”

The 1&1 service is a “Click-n-Build”and is based upon the Application Packaging Standard (APS) which is developed by SWSoft, this standard is the first definitive standard for the purpose of integration of open source applications within a web hosting environment. This solution provides 1&1 web hosting users with a helpful, easy-to-use interface for adding source applications, removing and configuring web applications. “Click-n-Build” manages each installation, installs automatic security patches and provides latest version updates. In addition, it also removes the requirement for downloads, registrations and passwords.