.Asia Domain Name Registration Starts for Trademark Holders
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MEDIA ADVISORY:
Hong Kong, 8 October 2007 – DotAsia Organisation Ltd., a not-for-profit organisation responsible for operating the .Asia top-level domain registry [TLD], is expecting a positive response among organisations keen on registering their preferred and registered domain names when it officially opens the first two stages of Sunrise period on Tuesday, 9 October, 2007. DotAsia’s over 110 accredited registrars around the world will start accepting priority registrations from registered trademarks and service marks holders as well as governments in the region until end of the month.
DotAsia announced the Sunrise period schedule in June, divided into three distinct phases to ensure the stable and orderly introduction of the .Asia extension. Since then, the Organisation received substantial number of inquiries from different companies in various industry sectors around the world on how they can register their preferred domain names. The DotAsia team also went on an extensive world tour between August and September to meet with interested corporations. The world tour covered more than 20 cities around the world, including San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, New York, London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Brussels, Paris, Amman, New Delhi, Mumbai, Melbourne, Beijing, Xiamen, Shanghai, Xi’an, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Beyond in person meetings, DotAsia also participated in more than 15 web seminars and conference calls to promote and explain the .Asia Sunrise process to brand owners around the world.
“We tried our best to reach out to the community and received positive feedback from all those we have met. Brand owners worldwide appreciate DotAsia’s efforts in the Sunrise process to provide them a calm and fair alternative compared with the previous chaotic rushes for domains when a registry opens,” said Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia Organisation.
The official opening of .Asia registration this week will usher a new era in the region, with an Internet platform that provides value for companies from the region as well as enterprises looking to expand to Asia.
“We strongly believe that a .Asia domain name will provide value for business worldwide to speak and show their commitment to the Asia market, and for companies in Asia to establish a globally recognized and regionally significant presence online,” said Chung. “Beyond just brand protection, .Asia domain can be an asset to an enterprise’s corporate identity and can be utilized as a portal or gateway to the whole Asia market. Even for companies who may already have a presence in some specific countries in the region, .Asia provides value for showing commitment for the rest of Asia.”
Sunrise period is divided into three phases. Sunrise 1 (SR1) is for Governmental Reserved Names, and Sunrise 2 (SR2) provides priority for registered trademarks and service marks holders to register their corresponding domains, in which the process is further broken down into SR2a, SR2b and SR2c. Sunrise 3 (SR3) allows companies in the region to protect and use their name with the .Asia domain.
SR2b, SR2c and SR3 will commence on November 13, 2007, and close on January 15, 2008. Priorities for each phase will be maintained.
“Our registrars in the region will play key roles to our success. Companies in Asia have often lost out in previous domain launches, we hope to kick-start the .Asia registry with Asia companies from China, Japan, Korea, India and other countries in the region, taking the lead,” said Ching Chiao, Vice President of Community Relations, DotAsia.
DotAsia has also established a solid infrastructure to support the Sunrise and Landrush periods. It has forged partnerships with Deloitte Touche Belgium and AGIP (Abu- Ghazaleh Intellectual Property) to oversee the process of screening all applications for domain names during the Sunrise period for trademark owners and businesses.
Companies and organisations interested in obtaining a .Asia extension can visit www.registry.asia for more information.
About DotAsia Organisation
The DotAsia Organisation is the Sponsoring Organisation and Registry Operator for the .ASIA Sponsored Generic Top Level Domain. DotAsia is a not-for-profit, communitybased organisation incorporated in Hong Kong. Asia has developed into a global force in the international commercial, political and cultural network. The .ASIA domain aspires to embrace this dynamism in the Asia Century to become a nucleus, intersection and breeding ground for Internet activity and development in the region.
This press release is issued on behalf of DotAsia by Edelman PR. For further information, please contact:
Romy T. Arambulo
Edelman
Tel: (852) 2837 4727
Fax: (852) 2804 1303
Email: romy.arambulo@edelman.com