Here's the The Lowdown
from DN Journal,
updated daily
to
fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name industry.
The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson.
ICANN
Gives .Pro Green Light to Offer 1, 2 and 3-Character
Domains and .Mobi Launches a New "Resource
Center" Website
RegistryPro,
the operator of the .pro
TLD,
says it has reached an agreement with ICANN that
will allow them to release and allocate of one, two
and three-character domain names
starting
in the fourth quarter of this year. The registry said
availability of names like i.pro, pr.pro and
777.pro is expected to generate significant
interest from registrants.
The
extension could certainly use a boost as it has struggled
to find an audience since it was introduced in 2005.
Catherine
Sigmar, the general manager of RegistryPro, said
“We’re excited to make these unique .PRO domains
available to business and service professionals worldwide.
We’ve received over 4,000 emails about 1, 2 and
3-character .PRO names. This contract amendment allows
RegistryPro to answer this tremendous demand in the coming
months.”
Domains
with fewer than four characters have been available in
other gTLDs for several years. No information has been
released yet on how the new one to three character domains
will be allocated. The registry said details will be made
public soon. A complete list of .pro registrars is
available at http://registry.pro/professionals/find.shtml.
.Mobi
has also announced a new initiative - the creation
of a special "Resource Center" at mobiDomain.com.
.Mobi Director of PR and Communications Vance
Hedderel said a .com address was used because
the resource center is
a site intended to be used on PCs (the address
re-directs to a folder at mtld.mobi which
should keep purists happy too).
With
the third anniversary of general .mobi
availability approaching Hedderel said "we
created this special “Resource Center” so that
investors in, and followers of, the .mobi domain
can get a fuller picture of:
who’s
using the domain
how
it’s being used
how
the domain remains relevant in a world of
iPhones & Palm Pres, and
how
to monetize .mobi domains.
Hedderel said they
would be continually adding to the site and if you
have suggestions for other features you would like
to see, there is a contact page so you can pass
them along to the registry.
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Lowdown, so please email [email protected]with any interesting information you might have. If possible,
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