New Domain Name with co Suffix is Released
14 February 2010
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has announced that it plans to release hundreds of new TLD (Top Level Domains) suffixes in the foreseeable future. The newest one, set for initial release in April, is .co.
The US non-profit, ICANN, has coordinated the addressing system used on the internet for the last ten years for the .aero, .biz, .com, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .net, .org, and .pro TLDs, and it administers accreditation of domain name registrars for these suffixes. Here’s how the ICANN domain name application process works:
Sunrise period
Persons or organisations that hold a particular trademark may apply for domain names matching their trademark during this initial period.
Landrush period
Those who want a domain name for which they expect there to be fierce competition, such as “ads. co” or “vacation.co” can pay a premium to apply for such names during this period. Auctions are held for high-value names.
General availability
All remaining domain names become available during this period on a first-come, first-served basis at a fixed rate.
The sunrise period for new .co names opens April of this year and lasts through June, followed by the next two phases. To get in at the beginning of one of the registration phases, you should search sources daily for precise release dates, providers and prices. Only a select few registration companies will be offering the .co names.
It remains to be seen what benefit, if any, users will derive from the .co class of names. Unfortunately, Columbia already uses .co as its country domain, so there will certainly be some confusions to resolve right up front.
It will also be confusing to know whether one should duplicate their .com name with a .co name. They are so much alike that many business people may consider it prudent to do so just to cover all the typo possibilities for their domain name. You would certainly want someone who types in 'yourbusiness.co' to get Your Business, even if your address is 'yourbusiness.com'.
