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.pro escapes domain name hype
16 May 2003
Most people probably haven't heard of dot-pro, the latest global top-level domain (gTLD) which is currently in its pre-registration period and due to go live on July 1. The domain is reserved for professionals, and will be divided up into sub-domains based on various professions, with professionals able to register a domain within that. For example, a medical doctor could register www.[his name].med.pro.
Currently there are three professions included under the .pro domain: legal (law.pro, avocat.pro, bar.pro, recht.pro, and jur.pro), medical (med.pro) and accountancy (cpa.pro, aaa.pro, aca.pro, acct.pro). Further professions and second level names will be added if an industry group succeeds in a proposal process. This will involve detailing which profession the domain will be for, how it will be identified in the domain space and the workings of the Sub-Advisory Board which will administer the domain name.
Registration of domain names under .pro will be tightly controlled to avoid domain name speculation, the cause of much controversy in the domain name space.
"Globally [.pro] will be very low-key," Larry Bloch, CEO of NetRegistry told ZDNet Australia . "It's not something you can offer to every customer…there are some policy restrictions on who can apply." These restrictions would make the gTLD more expensive than others of its ilk, according to Bloch.
"I suspect there's going to be a lot less fanfare of .pro than there has been of other launches," said Bloch. He said Australia was seen as a leader in the domain space, as one of the few countries that has restrictions on its domain names similar to that imposed on .pro.
More details at: http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness/story/0,2000048590,20274595,00.htm
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