Weekly Launch Guide May 23, 2022

Weekly Launch Guide May 23, 2022

There are no updates on domain launches or changes in policies this week. We are sending you the May 16th update as a reminder.

Phase & Extension
Launching in next 30 Days
Start Date Order Entry
Deadline Date
First-come First-served (FCFS) Suggested Users
Sunrise Registration Phase
.channel 3-May-2022 3-Jun-2022 Yes .channel domains are for brand owners looking to host or redirect to online strorefronts; digital and physical products.
Grandfather Registration Phase
.tz 1-Mar-2022 30-May-2022 No Owners of 3rd Level .TZ domains registered prior to 1-Mar-2022 are eligible to register top level .TZ domains in this phase.
Limited Registration Phase
.th 1-Jun-2022 28-Jul-2022 Yes This is the top level .th launch for customers looking to expand their brand in the Thailand domain name space.
Phase & Extension Launching In-Progress Start Date Order Entry
Deadline Date
First-come First-served (FCFS) Suggested Users
Other In-Progress Launches
.au 24-Mar-2022 16-Sep-2022 No Holders of existing third-level .au domains receive priority status for the corresponding top-level domain, and will be assigned a category for a Grandfather Phase.
.au 24-Mar-2022 16-Sep-2022 Yes Companies requesting a new .au domain, where there are no existing domains with priority rights.
Phase & Extension
Future Launch Phases
Start Date Order Entry
Deadline Date
First-come First-served (FCFS) Suggested Users
Future Launches
.au 20-Sep-2022 n/a Yes This phase is open to all interested registrants.
.tz 1-Jul-2022 TBD No Owners of 3rd Level .TZ domains are eligible to register top level .TZ domains in this phase.
.xn--4dbrk0ce TBD TBD No An IDN TLD for “Israel” which will be available for customers who wish to register a Hebrew domain name. Launch phases will grant priority to current IDN.IL owners prior to General Availability.

SPOTLIGHT

Donuts Block Coverage Change

The Donuts TLDs .CHARITY, .GIVES and .FOUNDATION were sold to PIR (the registry behind org, ngo, ong) and will be migrating to the new registry systems on June 1st ; After the reassignment, these TLDs will no longer be covered by the Donuts DPML blocking service.  All existing domains under these TLDs that are currently protected by a block will continue to remain protected for the duration of the remaining term of the DPML/DPML Plus subscription.  The equivalent domain names will be added to the PIR reserved list and block holders will have the option to transition the block into a domain registration. If you have any questions in regards to changes to the TLD coverage or would like to defensively register your brand string currently protected by the block, please reach out to your Strategic Account Manager or Customer Service Partner.

TREx Block Decommissioning

The Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) has announced its plans to decommission their TREx blocking service. Registration and renewals will no longer be possible at the Registry level. Existing blocks will continue to function without interruption until their respective expiration dates. After the expiration date, the TREx service will be discontinued. Please reach out to your Client Service Partner with any questions

.TH Top Level Launches for 2022

The Thai Network Information Center Foundation (THNIC Foundation) has announced  they will be holding three rounds of .th second level domain registration in 2022 on the following dates:

• Round 1: 1 February – 31 March 2022

• Round 2: 1 June – 31 July 2022

• Round 3: 1 October – 30 November 2022

Domain registrations may be of interest to Thai organizations and Thai trademark holders. Registrations are limited to exact match or abbreviations of the organization name or exact match of the trademark.

THNIC Foundation are donating registration fees to the Thai Internet Infrastructure Development Fund and THNIC Academy training projects. The funds will support the implementation of the Bangkok Neutral Internet Exchange, a major internet infrastructure development project in Thailand that focuses on enhancing data exchange within the country as well as supporting a project which aims at bringing internet access to local communities using advanced, low-cost technology even in the most remote areas.

Businesses and organizations interested in registering a .TH domain name should speak with their CSC strategic account manager or client service partner.

Turkey to Liberalize Domain Extension

Author: Christine Khalil

A little over three years ago, the Middle East Technical University (METU) and the Information Technologies and Communications Authority (ITCA) signed a new protocol agreeing to transfer authorization and management procedures related to Turkish country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) to a new system—TRABIS.

The full transfer from NIC.TR to TRABIS is expected to be completed by the end of January 2022; an exact date has not been released by the registry. Domain name applications, transfers, and domain name renewals will be taken over by TRABIS.

TRABIS will bring radical changes to the domain application process, renewals, and transfers. Domain extensions such as, .COM.TR, .ORG.TR, and .NET.TR will become non-restricted. With the launch of TRABIS, these ccTLDs will be registered first-come first-served without the requirement of supporting documents. At this point, no exact date has been announced by the registry.

Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a population of around 84 million, and they are attracting foreign investors from all over the world. Yet according to Netcraft, the .TR extension is also in the top 50 TLDs for cybercrime, and no formal dispute process has been put in place as of today, which means it’s harder to recover third-party domains. Therefore, the threat profile for these domain extensions will become higher than before.

Our recommendation is to evaluate your brands and secure critical domains in this namespace to prevent future cyberthreats.

Businesses and organizations interested in registering a .TR-related domain name as an opportunity, or even for defensive purposes, should speak with their CSC strategic account manager or client service partner.

Update: As of May 19, 2022 the Registry has yet to provide an exact date for the system transfer to TRABIS.

.CN Registry Verification Process Change

The .CN Registry (CNNIC) has announced that the changes to the real name verification process scheduled for 1st January 2022 have been postponed. CNNIC are yet to finalize the implementation date. The change will impact all domains under .CN (and all sub extensions),  .中国 (xn--fiqs8s),  .公司 (xn--55qx5d) and  .网络 (xn--io0a7i).  Real Name Verification was introduced by CNNIC in 2012, and all new registration since 2012 have completed real name verification, however domains registered prior to 2012 were not originally included in the process. When implemented CNNIC will prevent renewal, transfer or update ownership of domains which the registrant name has not completed the real name verification process. CSC is continuing to focus on completing the Real Name Verification for domains which were not originally included in the process.

Please reach out to your Customer Service Partner if you have any additional questions on the new process.