Sunrise For Germany’s .SAARLAND Commences 17 July

The sunrise period for the .saarland gTLD commences at 10:00 UTC on 17 July. Saarland is a German state in the south west of the country with just over a million inhabitants and is Germany’s smallest state, apart from its three city states.

At the same time as the commencement of the Sunrise period, .saarland Founders Program, in which interested parties can apply for .saarland domains who have an innovative idea on how to use the domain begins.

“We are very happy that the project can start now after a two-year application process for the operation of .saarland”, said Alexander Siffrin, CEO of the dotSaarland GmbH, the registry of .saarland.

During the Sunrise period that ends on 15 September, brand owners have the possibility to apply for a domain name corresponding to their trademark (Sunrise A). As well, Saarland companies, associations, and corporate bodies/institutions under public law (Sunrise B) may apply for domains corresponding to their official name. Thus, these groups will receive privileged access to their domain name.

Applications for the Founders Programme ends on 16 August. Applications will be judged by an independent panel, which has been chosen by the nonprofit dotSaarland association.

When General Availability commences on 30 October, .saarland domains will become available for registration by all interested parties in accordance with the “first come, first served” principle. Pre-orders for the General Availability of .saarland domains can already be submitted with several registrars.

The dotSaarland GmbH has developed guidelines to register .saarland domain names for different groups of interested parties, including companies, self-employed persons and private persons. The guidelines are available for download at nic.saarland along with further information such as registration policies and launch phases.