DigitalBrandNews

DENIC to allow usage of the ß character
Starting 16 November 2010, the German registry (DENIC) will allow registration of the Latin “small letter sharp S” (ß) as an independent character in .de domain names. There is currently a Sunrise period that limits availability to owners of current domain names containing “ss” (the standard alternative to ß) which were registered before 26 October 2010. After this Sunrise period ends on 16 November, registrations with ß will be available to the general public on a first come, first served basis under standard .DE requirements.

.COM.UA
The Ukrainian registry launched IDNs for its .com.ua and .kiev.ua domains which includes a Sunrise phase.

Sunrise: Until November 17, 2010 Cyrillic IDNs in these extensions will be available (with corresponding documentation) for the owners of Cyrillic text trademarks registered in the Ukraine and trademarks acknowledged as well-known in the Ukraine.

General Availability:
•    November 19 – December 19, 2010 Cyrillic IDN registrations will be open to the general public under the standard requirements for .com.ua and .kiev.ua. However, during this time the minimum registration period will be for 10 years.
•    From December 21, 2010 IDN names will be available to the general public under standard requirements.

Standard requirements for .com.ua and .kiev.ua do not require any local presence or trademark rights and domains can be registered for 1-2 years.

.فلسطين (.FALASTEEN)
.فلسطين (.Falasteen) is the IDN ccTLD representing the Palestinian Territories. This is being released as an Arabic version of the ASCII ccTLD .PS. Both the string and TLD must be written in Arabic when registering IDN domain names.

Sunrise: Until November 30, 2010 it will be possible to apply for domain names under .فلسطين (.Falasteen) with a matching trademark in Arabic registered in the Palestinian Territories or a matching company name if the company is registered under the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy.  Applications will also be considered from “famous companies and organizations”. However, priority will be given to those with registered trademarks.

General Availability: From January 1, 2011 registrations will be available to the general public under the same requirements as .PS (no local presence or trademark requirements).

Among the high visibility companies that have acquired unique domain names for marketing purposes is Overstock which acquired “O.co”, reportedly paying $350,000 for the shortened URL.  In addition to Overstock, other recognizable brands including  Amazon, Apple, Google, and Twitter “T.co” have registered .CO domain names.

.CO is being promoted as an alternative to .com, and with Google announcing it intends to treat it as a “global” domain, .co may fare well in this regard.  With international recognition by business community as an abbreviation for “Company,” “Corporation” and “Commerce, the domain has provided many companies with the opportunity to register their primary brand as a viable domain name.  For others it’s a very attractive short domain.

Recently .CO Registration hit 466,246, as compared to over 100,000,000 .com domains.

dotMasr the Egyptian IDN registry announces sunrise for  مصر (.Egypt)

Beginning August 22, 2010 the Egyptian IDN registry will launch the Sunrise phase for مصر (.Egypt).  During Sunrise only applications from businesses and organizations will be issued domain names in Arabic.

Based on limited information there will be two Sunrise phases followed by a Landrush phase

Sunrise:
Applicants will be required to submit the following documentation during the first Sunrise:
1.  Commercial Registration Certificate in Egypt  or A copy of the certificate of registration of a valid trademark (Must be Arabic character Trademark)
2.  Legalized Power of Attorney

The registry posted that in the second Sunrise phase, only one of the documents will be required.  No time frame has been provided regarding the second phase.

Landrush (no date specified):
The current information is that anyone can apply for an Egyptian IDN during Landrush. The only documentation required will be a legalized power of attorney.  However, the policy committee has not finalized the details and these could change.
Timing for  امارات. (.EMARAT) posted by  .ae Domain Administration (aeDA)

aeDA has announced proposed dates for the four launch phases of the IDN امارات. (.EMARAT).  Other than the proposed timing, no other information has been provided at this time.

Phase 1 (Government Phase):       opened 30 May 2010
Phase 2 (Trademark Owners in the UAE and other GCC countries):   from 27 September 2010
Phase 3 (Exclusive and Special Names):      from 15 November 2010
Phase 4 (General Availability):       from 11 December  2010

Landrush for .co  has started and will extend from June 21 through July 13. All trademark restrictions have been removed, allowing anyone to apply for available .co names. Duplicate applications will be decided by auction.

Single character .co domain names have been getting significant attention.  Twitter acquired t.co and will be developing this as their proprietary domain name shortener.  Ten bidders initially participated in the auction for e.co which was ultimately sold for $81,000. 
 
There are still opportunities to apply for prime keyword domain names to create memorable URLs for   micro-sites and advertising opportunity.

The launch of .co began March 1 with a Grandfather phase followed by a Sunrise Local A phase for holders of trademarks registered in Colombia. The Sunrise Global B phase for global trademark holders begins April 26 and extends through June 10.

In addition to being common abbreviation for company and corporation, a .co domain name can help increase website traffic. Using proprietary typographical analysis our research indicates that on average a .co domain name can generate 7% of the traffic of the equivalent .com domain name. In many cases this will make it well worth the cost of adding a number of .co domains to your portfolio. The estimates are based on website averages for domain name type-in behavior and analysis of typographical errors.

Due to the resemblance to .com and other popular associations companies may need to consider securing their brand as a defensive registration since .co will become available to the general public in the landrush and general availability phases.

Companies interested in application for any phase can submit their domain name requests now and we’ll handle submission for the appropriate phase. For more information and terms and conditions, contact your client services manager.

Launch Details:

• Sunrise phase B: 26 April 2010 through 10 June 2010. Applicants must have an active trademark registered in a trademark office or registry that corresponds to a state or entity described in the WIPO Standard ST.3 code on or before 30 July 2008. Applications for domains with multiple qualified applicants will go to auction.
• Landrush phase: 21 June 2010 through 13 July 2010. During landrush, applications are open to the general public. Multiple applications for the same domain will go to auction.
• General availability: commences 20 July 2010. Domains will be available on a first-come first-serve basis.

The launch of .co began March 1 with a Grandfather phase for existing third level domain holders. This phase has ended and now begins the Sunrise periods for trademark holders. Sunrise phase A begins April 1 and extends through April 20.

In addition to “co” being common abbreviation for company and corporation, having a .co domain name can help increase website traffic. Using proprietary typographical analysis, our research indicates that on average a .co domain name can generate 7% of the traffic of the equivalent .com domain name. In many cases this will make it well worth the cost of adding a number of .co domains to your portfolio. The estimates are based on website averages for domain name type-in behavior and analysis of typographical errors.

Due to the resemblance to .com and other popular associations, companies may want to consider securing their brand as a defensive registration since .co will become available to the general public in the landrush and general availability phases. Companies interested in application for any phase can submit their domain name requests now and we’ll handle submission for the appropriate phase.