Issue 203 - 6 January 2006

2nd-level .pk (Pakistan) domains now available to non-trademark holders

.pk was made available to non-trademark holders on 31 December. Until 10 January, applications will be queued, then processed in a randomised fashion by the registry. After 10 January, applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

To apply for .pk, go to www.netnames.com now.

Launch of 2nd-level .vn (Vietnam) moved to April

Sunrise applications for .vn will not be allocated until April of this year. The registry have stated that the sunrise period will no longer be unrestricted - although any party can apply, priority will be given to holders of Vietnamese trademarks. From 1 April .vn will become available on an unrestricted, first-come, first-served basis.

Both Vietnamese trademark holders and other parties can apply for .vn now at www.netnames.com.

.cat (Catalan) entered into root

.cat, a Top Level Domain (TLD) specifically for the Catalan community, has been entered into the DNS root, meaning that although not yet 'live' it can function as a domain name. It is thought that registration will commence at some point in 2006. In addition to this, it is reported that Catalans are also keen to have .ct as a country-code TLD.

This is one of a recent batch of domain extensions based upon geographical location, yet not associated with the concept of nationality, which have either gone live (.eu) or been approved by ICANN (.asia). Additionally, towards the end of last year it was reported that a German businessman was lobbying ICANN to create the first city TLD - .berlin.