Issue 187 - 13th May 2005

General domain name news

.tw (Taiwan)

Second-level .tw domains will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis from 1st September. This will be preceded by a period where existing registrants at the third level will be able to obtain the equivalent second-level domain - this process is nick-named 'grandfathering'. There will also be a period of pre-registration for trademark holders, domestic government organisations and educational institutions. More information on the pre-registration periods will follow in the next few weeks.

.pk (Pakistan)

It is expected that the sunrise period for .pk trademark domains will start on 15th June. N3 Lite will confirm details shortly.

.br (Brazil) IDNs

From 9th May, the Brazilian registry will begin to accept domain name registrations containing some Portuguese language characters - those being the accented vowels (à,á,â,ã,é,ê,í,ó,ô,õ,ú,ü) and cedilla (ç) only.

Similarly to the 'grandfathering' concept, it will be a requirement for registrants of .br Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) to have previously registered the 'equivalent' non-internationalised domain. The equivalent version means that which has the accented vowels and cedilla replaced by non-accented versions.

Orders for .br can be placed now at www.netnames.com.

Introduction of annual renewal for .ar (Argentina)

The Argentinian registry have announced that starting 1st May, all .ar domain names will have to be renewed on a yearly basis or face automatic deletion. The renewal period will start one month before the expiration of the domain name and end on the expiration date. Domain names not renewed during this period will be deleted from the registry.

A further change to existing rules is that a local presence will be required, but NetNames will be able to provide this service for customers.

Registrants of .ar who have not already done so should contact NetNames in order to pay their renewal fee. Platinum Service clients should contact their account manager; other clients should phone +44 (0 )870 458 9400.

NetNames at INTA 2005 - stand 322

NetNames will be hosting a stand at the International Trademark Association's (INTA) Annual Meeting, which is being held at the San Diego Convention Center, 111 West Harbor Drive, San Diego, California from 14th-18th May. If you are going to be there, do come and visit us at stand 322.