Congratulations today to StartingDot who sold its portfolio of new gTLDs to Afilias. The 3 new gTLDs (.SKI - .ARCHI and .BIO) were sold for an undisclosed amount and I bet that it will be "less restricted" to register a ".archi" domain name in a close future. Here is why, the .ARCHI FAQs state:
CAN ANYONE REGISTER A .ARCHI DOMAIN?Basically, it means that you must belong to the group of Architects to register a domain name ending in ".archi" and if you don't, you're not supposed to be able to buy one (even if you can at most accredited Registrar). I suspect this is going to change for two reasons:
No, in order to register a .ARCHI domain name, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:
- being an individual professional architect or an architecture firm registered as a member of the International Union of Architects (“UIA”) Member Section. The current list of UIA Member Sections and Allied Member Section is available on the UIA website or;
Learn more about who can register a .ARCHI domain by reading our Domain Name Policy.
- being an architecture-related organization (such as schools, museums, professional media, etc.) listed on a dedicated list defined by the APAC (i.e., Archi Policy Advisory Committee which is the supervising and regulatory body of the .ARCHI Domain) in collaboration with the UIA and available here.
- Afilias usually sells new domain names with no restriction;
- The link to the .ARCHI Domain Name Policy is broken ;-);
- The Press Release says: "...should enable all 3 of these TLDs to reach their full potential" and this tells a lot.
Is it really a problem if such domain names can be registered by anyone who wants one? I personally don't think so. I even think that selling the portfolio of TLDs now is the best moment to do it since the StartingDot's team has built the .ARCHI's credibility insisting on presenting the .ARCHI new gTLD as the only option for Architects. If Afilias now offers other Registrants to acquire a ".archi" domain name for another use...
Another interesting thing about this acquisition is this little sentence in the press release: "Other Registry Operators interesting in talking with Afilias should contact us at WeBuyTLDs@Afilias.INFO". We don't talk about buying domain names here, we talk about buying complete Registries: a real business today.
News:
- Dispute - Hugo Boss recovers domain in cybersquatting dispute (hugoboss.site);
- Press Release - Registry acquires Premium TLDs .ARCHI, .BIO and .SKI;
- Registration volumes:
- New gTLDs related to CITIES;
- New gTLDs related to CATERING;
(the .PAMPEREDCHEF new gTLD was added to the report) - New gTLDs related to PHOTOGRAPHY.
- Virgin Loses URS On The Domain Name VirginMedia.vip;
- African brands wiped off the map as ICANN flips the kill switch on 10 gTLDs;
- New Internet Security Domains Debut;
- Photos & Highlights from the 1st Domain Startup Summit in Santa Monica, California.
Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements
