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China’s .Cn to Quickly Lose Status as Top Country Code Domain Name

February 24, 2010.cn, .de, Domaining, Domainnamewire, Policy & Law, cnnicComments Off

From “anything goes” to “nothing goes”, changes to .Cn registration enforcement will reduce the number of .cn domain names.

China’s domain name strategy has always perplexed me. For a country known for censoring just about everything, I found it odd that the country was essentially giving away .Cn domain names for about 14 cents.

The low cost catapulted China above Germany for the most registered country code top level domain name, a status that China once again regained in the fourth quarter of last year according to VeriSign’s latest market report. (At last count, .de has nearly 13.5 million domains registered. Numbers from CNNIC for the end of last year show a similar number of .cn domains.)

But then early this year, China suddenly realized it had a problem. .Cn was out of control. So .Cn registry CNNIC announced it would crack down on individuals registering domains, and forbid non-Chinese registrars from offering .cn.

This certainly put a damper on sales. Now comes word that people wishing to register a .cn domain name will need to show photo ID, and perhaps meet in person with their registrar. And, no surprise here, PCWorld is reporting that “Applicants must also submit other information and a description of their site’s content, including anything that needs ‘advance or special approval.’” It’s all under the guise of censoring porn.

And so the quick rise of .cn will also be a quick fall. .De, welcome back to the #1 spot.

© DomainNameWire.com 2009.

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Sedo 1 and 2 Character .De Domain Name Auction Ends Today

October 22, 2009.de, Domain Sales, Domaining, Domainnamewire, denic, sedoComments Off

.De auction ends today.

Sedo’s one and two character .de domain name “pre-auction” ends at noon Eastern today. .De is the country code for Germany, and is arguably the most successful country code domain name on the web.

.De registry DENIC is releasing one and two character domains, as well as other domains that previously were not allowed to be registered (such as those containing only digits). It announced the change on October 15, leaving just a week for organizations to work on plans to acquire the domains as they become available on October 23.

Instead of auctioning the domains off, DENIC is releasing them on a first-come, first-served basis. That’s where Sedo comes in. The company, which is based in Germany, is holding an auction before the release of the domains. It has then teamed up with a number of registrars to try to grab the names that receive bids as they become available. If Sedo’s partner registrars are unsuccessful during the “drop”, Sedo will attempt to acquire the domain name in the secondary market on the high bidder’s behalf.

As of late last night, many domains had already crossed into the five figure (EUR) range in the auction.

Bidding is available here.

© DomainNameWire.com 2009.

Review and rate domain name parking companies at Parking Judge.

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  3. .De Domain Name Auction Melts Sedo’s Servers

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