Sedo Partners with TLD Registry to Introduce First Broadly Applicable Chinese Character Domain Extensions
Sedo, the world’s largest marketplace and monetization provider announced a partnership with TLD Registry to launch first broadly applicable chinese character domain extensions – Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网)
You can read the press release after the jump:
“Sedo, the world’s largest domain marketplace and monetization provider, today announced a key strategic partnership with TLD Registry, the organization approved to run the first broadly applicable internationalized domain names (IDNs) in Chinese: Dot Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网). As part of the partnership, Sedo will operate launch auctions and manage the premium name programs for these two new top-level domains (TLDS).
“Not all IDNs make sense from a language point of view, but Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website are two linguistically correct and culturally relevant domain extensions”
“Not all IDNs make sense from a language point of view, but Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website are two linguistically correct and culturally relevant domain extensions,” said Arto Isokoski, CEO of TLD Registry. “Until now, we’ve had to rely on Anglicized extensions like .com or .cn, the country code domain for China, but now we can provide fully-Chinese domain names to the left and right of the dot. The world’s leading brands already use the Chinese Characters of ‘Dot Chinese Online’ and ‘Dot Chinese Website’ in their Chinese language brand and product, which fully validates our strategy for making them domain extensions. Sedo was the right strategic partner to help meet the demand we’ll see from businesses around the globe.”
The launch of Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website are part of an historic expansion of domain extensions being managed by the Internet’s governing body, ICANN. Hundreds of new extensions will be introduced to the Internet beginning in 2014, with IDNs such as Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website being given first priority.
“Non-English-language generic TLDs are brand new to the Internet and have the power to dominate with native speakers of all different languages,” said Tobias Flaitz, CEO of Sedo. “With Chinese in particular, there are thousands of multi-national companies looking to tap into the booming Chinese economy, not to mention the businesses operating in Chinatown sections of major cities around the world. By using these new domain names, companies gain instant credibility within Chinese markets and show respect for the language and local culture. With Sedo’s global presence and expertise, we can help these new domains launch successfully into the market.”
Sedo will manage sunrise and landrush auctions for Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website, as well as premium domain sales and premium auctions. The sunrise period, which gives trademark holders an opportunity to claim their marks, will begin on Friday, January 17, and run for 60 days, concluding on Monday, March 17. Following a two-day quiet period, the Landrush will begin on Thursday, March 20, making Dot Chinese Online and Dot Chinese Website domains available to the general public.
Anyone interested in Dot Chinese Online (.在线) or Dot Chinese Website (.中文网) domain names can read more and express their interest in specific names at www.sedo.com/DotChineseOnline and http://www.sedo.com/DotChineseWebsite.”
