ZA.cities comes to town

From next month, Internet users will be able to apply for three new city top-level domains, offering businesses a unique and easily recognisable online identity.

The city top-level domain are dotJoburg (.joburg), dotCapetown (.capetown) and dotDurban (.durban).

A dotDurban, dotCapetown and dotJoburg domain name will definitely afford many businesses a unique and easily recognisable online identity” said Mr Vika Mpisane, CEO of ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA).

The ZA Central Registry (ZACR) has announced that it will be running a launch phase consisting of a parallel Sunrise and Landrush periods. At the end of the launch period all Sunrise applications, which are applications based on priority rights such as trademarks, will be delegated prior to Landrush applications.

The Sunrise period which runs for 90 days from 1 July 2014 will provide brand and trade mark owners with a priority opportunity to secure their trade mark specific new city top-level domain(s). Where there is contention between two equal applications, the domain will be referred to an internal auction process to determine the winner. As part of this launch, ZACR has developed a robust trademark protection system called the Mark Validation System, which can be accessed at www.MarkValidation.co.za.

The Landrush period is the first opportunity that the general public will get to apply for an Internet domain name using the new .durban, .joburg or .capetown suffix. This period does not employ the first-come, first-served basis principle, but will instead open an application window for 120 days, running concurrently with the Sunrise period, during which registration requests will be submitted for generic and premium domains.

The Landrush name phase will allow for the application of generic, high search and high value names such as business.joburg or hotels.capetown or even entertainment.durban.

“Then, after the Landrush phase the launch of general availability will follow, with businesses and members of the public registering their own .durban, .capetown and .joburg domain names on a first-come, first-served basis,” said Mr Mpisane.

Registration of names will follow the normal process where applicants will register names through their chosen accredited registrars. For more information on how to go about acquiring a .jobrug .capetown or .durban domain name, speak to your registrar to find out more.

The ZA Central Registry (ZACR), ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), and SA Department of Communication (DoC) share a collective vision in establishing and running a successful ZAdotCities registry operation for the benefit and pride of those who identify themselves with the cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

ZAdotCities domains all offer a unique platform for the promotion of locally based products and services. Small businesses could take advantage of this opportunity and maximize their product and brand’s online visibility. This is also a big opportunity to increase tourism by expanding the city’s brand names.

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