Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 22, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The generic top-level domain (TLD) is intended to serve as a pan-Asian platform for a total of 73 countries, similar to the .eu TLD for the European Union. The Asian TLD is launching with prominent support and is likely to have a pioneering role for the Internet.
In the so-called “Landrush” phase, which started yesterday, users from around the world can apply for Internet addresses under the .asia TLD without any restrictions whatsoever. “We wanted a common platform – from Asia, for Asia – where individuals and companies alike can reach the online community in Asia,” explains DotAsia CEO Edmon Chung. The Landrush marks the culmination of eight years of efforts in this direction. To drive interest in .asia domains, DotAsia is relying on Asian celebrities such as Indian cricket star Kapil Dev http://www.kapildev.asia or two-time Chinese Olympic champion in three-metre springboard diving Gao Min http://gaomin.asia. More than 700 well-known personalities from Hong Kong were also already said to have .asia domains.
Until January 31, 2008, .asia had had a “Sunrise” period consisting of a total of five phases, during which owners of brand names and companies were also already able to register domains. DotAsia reports more than 30,000 domain names applied for during the Sunrise period, with broadly diversified international interest. DotAsia states, for example, that domains are registered for Asian non-profit organisations such as http://www.AndyHuiCares.Asia or Asian branches of international companies.
For the Internet in general, .asia should be important as a pioneer in the field of new TLDs. Following the spring meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) http://www.icann.org in New Delhi in mid-February, an explosion in the number of TLDs is expected. The Internet’s .com era is likely to be nearing its end. “In a few years we will have 500, some even say 5,000, more TLDs,” comments Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Professor of Internet Policy and Regulation at Aarhus University http://www.au.dk and a member of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, on the occasion of Domain pulse http://www.domainpulse.at . This means a veritable explosion compared with the current total of more than 200 country-specific TLDS such as .de, .at and .ch, as well as around 30 other TLDs such as .com or .org.
The international tender for new domains is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2008, and the first new approvals are now expected for the beginning of 2009, somewhat earlier than was still assumed in October 2007 . Experts expect in particular the rapid registration of .africa as the African counterpart to Asian transregional TLD. City domains such as .berlin, .paris or .nyc are also likely to be unstoppable. However, if .asia does not achieve the expected success, this could dampen general enthusiasm.
The .eu TLD offers a comparison. Almost two years after the Landrush, it has reached more than 2.79 million registered domains, as shown by EURid’s statistics page http://status.eurid.eu. “Today, .eu is the third-largest European TLD after .de and .uk,” says Patrik Lindén, EURid Communications Manager, in an interview with pressetext. This demonstrates good acceptance of the pan-European domain.
