Registering under other TLDs
| There is no doubt that ICANN has moved much too slowly in creating new TLDs, and in managing the present ones. They are years behind. There may be new ones in January 2001, but it is still not certain. In the meantime, registrars for specific country codes have been doing their best to convince people to register under their country code domains as well. They are not advertised as country code TLDs, but that is what they are. Possibly the first was .cc (Cocos Island), followed by .ws (Samoa), advertised as World Site, .hm (heard and McDonald islands), advertised as Home Site, and others. Moldavia/Moldava, holder of the .md domain, registers doctors at a hefty premium. Network Solutions is authorized for several countries, and they try to convince people to register under each, at $199 each. That's almost $600 per country per year, as they recommend registering under the .com. .net. and .org domains with the country code appended. That would be thousands of dollars a year to register your domain name under every possible permutation for every country they represent. Is it worth it? For small and medium size businesses, we don't think so. The money can be much better spent elsewhere. Some of these registrars will point out that major corporations like Intel are registering under country code domains and suggesting you do so as well. It might make sense for corporations like Intel. They have trademarks like Pentium to protect and registering the domains is cheaper than legal costs over a trademark infringement. It also helps protect their reputation by ensuring that they retain control over any domain with the name Pentium or Intel in it. They also have the money to afford these multiple registrations. For small businesses, however, it would make more sense to register under some of the forthcoming TLDs than bother with the country code TLDs that are a solution in search of a problem. They are a source of income for small countries rather than a legitimate need for businesses. Any hope of them establishing themselves will be dashed by the new TLD's due in a few months (January 2001), and at much more affordable rates. | |
| Registering under other TLDs can be found in the following categories: Domain Names |