The .travel Registry has announced two important new changes to the Registry.

One and Two-Character Names Release: On August 5, 2010 the ICANN Board approved a proposal by .travel for the release of all one and two-character domain names. The Registry is now preparing a release program conforming to the terms of its proposal. The Registry anticipates that the release program will be announced late in September. Registrars and registrants will have ample opportunity to review the terms of the program before the first names are available for registration.

Important Policy Changes: The Registry and its travel industry representative body have approved two new policy changes. These changes will go into effect on September 20, 2010 after a 30-day notice period.

The first of these changes adds an industry sector to the list of those travel industry participants who are eligible to register a .travel domain name. This sector is “Creators and providers of travel and tourism products, services and content” This sector definition makes it easier to determine eligibility since it does not require that an applicant fit within named types, but rather identifies them by their travel-related activities.

The second change allows the Registry to provide incentives for use of .travel domain names. The Registry has not put in place a program of incentives, but while such a program is developed the Registry has suspended the requirement that .travel domain names must be used within 12 months of registration.

Contact EnCirca at support@encirca.com if you have any questions.

The first phase of this process will be a series of RFPs that are intended to be processed in distinct rounds. The purpose of this process is to provide third parties the opportunity to engage the .Jobs registry, Employ Media, regarding potential opportunities in the allocation of these names.

As a first step, companies are invited to submit a non-binding Expression of Interest (EOI) with the .Jobs registry.  These EOI’s are intended to be high level business concepts on how these domain names could be developed either individually or in bulk in ways to serve needs of the international human resource management community as defined in the .JOBS Charter.

The Expression of Interest (EOI) period is already underway and is intended to run through Tuesday, August 24, 2010, with an intended start date of the Request for Proposal (RFP) period beginning soon thereafter. It is not a requirement to submit an EOI to participate in the RFP.

More information is available at http://www.rfp.jobs.

More on the EnCirca’s .Job page at http://www.encirca.com/html/jobs-registration.shtml.

While some domains see competitive bidding, diapers.pro for example sold for $1304, most of the domains are closing at close to the minimum price.  These include some great generic and geographic names.

Examples of sold geo-domains include:

british.pro $49
ireland.pro $75
poland.pro $220
richmond.pro $250
ukraine.pro $300
germany.pro $500

Examples of sold generic domains include:
thin.pro $49
bread.pro $49
inbox.pro $49
rugs.pro $49
plasticsurgeon.pro $49
pasta.pro $50
chairs.pro $50
seafood.pro $50
leasing.pro $130
hybrid.pro $130
income.pro $226
candy.pro $500

Current .PRO auction lists are available from SnapNames or EnCirca.

It has been two years since the .ME landrush and we are seeing the first wave of renewals.  But we are also seeing some fairly good names not getting renewed:  Names like swimsuit.me, truthordare.me, justshow.me, counseling.me and smallbusiness.me.

So, is there an aftermarket for .ME names or will they be dropping everywhere?  If they drop, is it .ME or the poor economy?

Here is why you should consider protecting your brand and domain name investments by also securing the domain name in .ORG.

* Because you do not want someone else getting it and confusing your customers

* Because it is inexpensive to register and renew

* Because it is unrestricted and available to anyone to register

* Because as one of the original generic extensions, .ORG domains often rank the highest when searched in Google and other search engines

As one of the original top-level domains, over 8 million registrants have turned to .ORG.  For the past 25 years, .ORG has reshaped the online world by driving business, creating opportunities, advancing knowledge, and most importantly, building communities.

Simply put, .ORG is the domain of choice for companies, organizations, and individuals – all of whom share the belief that channeling passion toward a shared purpose is the foundation of success. People turn to .ORG to mobilize their communities, achieve a common goal, or pursue a shared cause. Why? Because .ORG provides the address online to inspire collaboration, educate communities, and express opinions. What’s more is that .ORG also conveys trust.

If someone else registers a .ORG domain matching your brand, your customers may become confused.  You can avoid this confusion by registering the .ORG domain yourself.

As an additional incentive, EnCirca is running a special $4.99 promotion in August for .ORG domains.  Click on the link below to see which of your domains are eligible for this promotion.

http://www.encirca.com/html/orgpromo.shtml

Contact EnCirca support at support@encirca.com if you have any questions.

The suffix .co is universally recognized as an abbreviation for company with 75 percent of respondents in a recent survey equating .co with “company”, “corporation,” or “commerce.”

Companies looking to protect their trademark internationally will want to move quickly to protect their brand because according to BrandFinance up to 70 percent of the world’s best brands will have applied for a ‘.co’ before the domain goes on sale today, July 20, 2010 at 2pm EDT.

Despite the massive interest by corporations in .co, there are still millions of domain available for individuals and companies. Registration is open to all. To secure your name, visit EnCirca’s .co domain page.

Celebrate the season with our new .US promotional offer!

All new .US names registered between July 1 and September 30, 2010 are only $4.99!

Over the last two months, .US has seen an increase in registrations of over 30 percent as compared to the prior six months.

Any citizen, business, organization or government agency with a bona fide presence in the United States can register a .US domain name.  .US domain names are very popular with individuals for applications like email, digital identity, and personal web sites.

For more information, visit EnCirca’s .US page.

For the first time the general public can obtain priority and keyword domains in the .CO name space. It’s a great opportunity for trademarks that may have missed Sunrise to obtain their names and extended marks –  as this is not a first come, first serve phase.

During Landrush between June 21 and July 16 (12:00 Noon EDT), anyone will be able to request a domain at a higher premium rate. In the case of more than one request for the same domain, an auction will be conducted.

The business case for owning a .co is clear – it’s an ideal platform for business and commerce – especially on an international basis. As a domain that recently had registration restrictions removed, there are millions of great domains available.

The suffix .co is universally recognized as an abbreviation for company. In a recent .co registry survey, 75 percent of respondents equated .co with “company”, “corporation,” or “commerce.” In fact, nearly 50 countries use .co as a second level domain name to depict just that, such as co.uk and co.jp.

To secure your name, visit EnCirca’s .co domain page.

According to the new policy from CNNIC, for newly registered domain names via oversea registrars and by oversea companies which have a branch in mainland China, the requirement of submitting MIIT ICP  recording number can be exempted under the circumstances listed below:

 1)       For non website usage purpose. Customer needs to submit “the letter of commitment of the usage of domain name for non website purpose”.

2)       Website server not in Mainland China. Customer needs to submit “the letter of commitment of the usage of domain name for website whose  server is not based in mainland China”.

 The letter of commitment should be submitted to update-info@cnnic.cn. After the name passes the CNNIC audit process, the domain name will start to resolve normally. 

Interested registrants can download the CNNIC Letter of Commitment from EnCirca’s .CN webpage.

Companies have just ten days to protect their trademarks before the landrush for the dot-co domain name.  EnCirca (www.encirca.com) will stop accepting applications on June 10 at 12:00 noon eastern standard time.

 .Co, a county-code domain name, is reinventing itself and will soon be available for unrestricted international use. The suffix .co is universally recognized as an abbreviation for company. In a recent .co registry survey, 75 percent of respondents equated .co with “company”, “corporation,” or “commerce.” In fact, nearly 50 countries use .co as a second level domain name to depict just that, such as co.uk and co.jp.

The business case for owning a .co is clear – it’s an ideal platform for business and commerce – especially on an international basis. As a domain that recently had registration restrictions removed, there are millions of great domains available. Companies looking to protect their trademark will need to move quickly to protect their brand and trademarks as .co will be open to all interested parties. By participating in the Sunrise period, you’ll have first dibs on your preferred name to help develop or secure your brand online.

So, don’t delay! Get in before the rush and reserve your trademark or brand name today with EnCirca. The Sunrise period for global trademark holders ends June 10th and is followed by Landrush for anyone interested in .co from June 21st through July 13th.

 To check out more about .co, visit EnCirca’s .co  domain page.