Trademark holders who have not yet registered domains for the new .ASIA identity are risking the possibility of cybersquatting, advised Frederick Schiwek, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at EuroDNS (http://v2.eurodns.com), parent company of AsiaDNS (http://www.asiadns.com). Cybersquatting is the practice of registering and using a domain name containing someone’s trade name or a similar-sounding name with the intent of selling it back to the owner of the trademark or brand name at an inflated price.

“Basically, a cybersquatter holds your domain name hostage, and you usually have to pay that person quite a significant sum of money,” said Schiwek. “Complainants have legal recourse in some cases, but that also means headaches as well as financial pain. This is why Trademark holders should act now and register while they benefit from the head-start given by Sunrise Periods: It is safer and more cost-effective to head off cybersquatters by going through the domain registration process.” .ASIA is the new top-level domain that allows for domain names encompassing the entire Asia/Pacific region, from Turkey to Japan. The next phase of the “Sunrise” (SR) early registration process, the SR2b, SR2c and SR3 periods, launched on November 13, 2007. “Asia represents 60 percent of the world population and 45 percent of Internet users,” said Schiwek. “So these new domains provide the opportunity to reach millions of people in booming economies.” Interested parties can visit AsiaDNS.com or the recently redesigned EuroDNS Web site to determine if their preferred domains are still available. Applying for Sunrise validation involves a nonrefundable fee of 90 euros, while the annual fee for a .asia domain is 18 euros. Through a partnership with the discount travel site Asia.com, EuroDNS/AsiaDNS will also provide successful applicants with .asia.com third-level domains at no extra cost until the landrush phase of the Sunrise registration. “Almost two years ago, we witnessed an enormous run on .eu domains when they became available, and the same thing is happening right now with .asia.com domains,” said Schiwek. “Many trademark holders have protected their brand and business names by taking advantage of the ‘Sunrise’ registration period for the new .ASIA identity to claim appropriate top-level domains, but other businesses may find their rightful domains in competitors’ hands if they don’t act fast.” Potential registrants can sign up for their domains at http://www.asiadns.com or http://v2.eurodns.com. More information on the Sunrise phases can be found at http://v2.eurodns.com/documents/ASIA-Registration-Rules