The ZACR (ZA Central Registry) has launched several African Geographic Top Level Domains (gTLDs).
They are:
- .capetown
- .durban
- .joburg
- .africa (currently under review)
The process in short consisted of:
- Sunrise application period (90 days)
- Land Rush application period (120 days)
- Processes started 1 July 2014 and ran together
SUNRISE APPLICATIONS (FOR TRADEMARK HOLDERS ONLY)
- Window of 90 days (starting 1 July 2014)
- Businesses can claim a domain name associated with their brand, like nike.joburg or mcdonalds.capetown
- At the end of the 90 days, uncontended applications will be registered
- Others will follow an auction process
- A Sunrise application does not guarantee a successful registration
- Trademarks must be validated by a trademark clearinghouse
LANDRUSH: (FOR NAMES THAT CAN’T BE TRADEMARKED OR NON-TRADEMARK HOLDERS)
- Applicants can pre-register their interest in popular domain names
- Where they do not have a trademark or where the name being applied for is a generic name eg. hotels.capetown
- Runs concurrent with Sunrise applications
- Window of 120 days (starting 1 July 2014)
- At the end of the 120 days, uncontended applications will be registered
- Others will follow an auction process
- A Landrush application does not guarantee a successful registration
GENERAL AVAILABILITY
I can hardly wait for this one. There are several domains I want to register for myself and clients.
- This period follows Sunrise and Landrush periods
- Starts on 1 November 2014
- New gTLD is available on a “first-come, first-served” basis to the general public
- Any entity or individual can register a new gTLD
If you want more information you can contact me here, or visit ZACR’s website here