From 25th July, Afilias, a consortium in charge of the .info
registry, has been accepting applications for domain names from
trade mark owners. However, Afilias has been widely criticised for
failing to manage the application process. As many as 25% of
applications are thought to be fraudulent or erroneous, according
to one report by DomeBase.com.
From tomorrow, the public at large will be allowed to register
domain names in the next phase of the .info roll-out, called the
Startup Period. During the Startup Period, Afilias will begin
processing the domain name requests sent to it by various
registrars around the world. To prevent preferential treatment of
any single registrar, Afilias says that registrations in the
Startup Period will not be processed in real time, nor on a
first-come, first-served basis.
Instead, Afilias will accept registrations over several
randomised rounds. After any remaining queues are processed, .info
domain names will become available for open registration in real
time, on a first-come, first-served basis. According to Afiilias,
real-time registrations are anticipated to begin on October 1,
2001.
Already, some registrars have been accepting “pre-registrations”
from the public for .info domain names. There is no guarantee of
success for those trying to register. Instead, the registrar
submits all pre-registrations to Afilias for processing to begin
tomorrow.
Meanwhile, ICANN, the body which handles the domain naming
system of the internet, said that .pro, the new top level domain
intended for use by professionals, such as lawyers, doctors and
accountants, will be delayed. The cause appears to be disagreement
among companies in the joint venture chosen to run the registry.
The expectation is that .pro names will not be available until next
year, several months later than ICANN had hoped all new domain
names would become operational.
