General Availability for .SX (the new ccTLD of the constituent country of Sint Maarten, which became autonomous on October 10, 2010) opens on November 15, 2012. Anyone will be able to register .SX domains regardless of location—and there are no local contact requirements. Registering in country domains is the best way to optimize your naming strategy and strengthen your domain portfolio.

If you have any questions about the .SX extension or would like to check the availability of a .SX domain name, please contact your Safenames account manager. You may also contact the Safenames in the UK +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1.703.574.5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Chinese Registry (.CN) is now offering ASCII.IDN domain names (e.g., domain. 中国) for the .CN extension. Previously, .CN domains could only be registered as ASCII.ASCII or IDN.IDN. For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

This launch presents an opportunity for brand owners to register their international brand name with a true Chinese extension. The new ASCII.中国 domain names are launching in 3 phases:

1. Sunrise 1 Phase—September 16 through October 11, 2012: Priority phase for trademark holders; trademarks of Mainland China and trademarks outside of China are eligible; in the event that multiple applications are received for the same domain name, domain will be allocated on a first come first serve basis
2. Sunrise 2 phase—October 15 through October 22, 2012: Priority phase for existing holders of .CN domain names; the corresponding alphabetical and numerical .中国 domain names must be registered through the same registrar as the alphabetical and numerical .CN domain names
3. General Launch Phase—October 29, 2012: ASCII.中国 domain names registrations open to all individuals and organizations; available domain names will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis

If you have any questions about Chinese ASCII.IDN domains, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The Italian Registry(.IT) is now offering International Domain Names (IDNs) for the .IT extension. Previously, .IT domains could only be registered in the “Latin without diacritics” format, based solely on letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and the hyphen (-). For languages that include diacritics, IDNs are the best means of communication for domain holders because they reflect the pronunciation of their identity and/or their brand. And it allows domain holders to optimize their naming strategies.

Additionally, the .IT registry has expanded the Local Contact requirements to include any individuals and businesses in Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland, the Vatican, the Republic of San Marino, and Switzerland.

If you have any questions about Italian IDNs, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support in the UK at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net) or in the US at +1 703 574 5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

The .ASIA registry has announced that the IDN.Asia launch will begin in May 2011.  The initial launch of IDN.Asia will allow registrants to register .ASIA domains using in-language characters for Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese and Korean.

There will be a Sunrise Period for trademark holders. This will be followed by a Land Rush Period for registering premium names, and then a General Availability Period will begin. During the Sunrise and Land Rush periods domains that: (1) have been requested by two or more parties; and (2) have been verified, will be sent to a domain auction and awarded to the highest bidder. Domains requested by a single successful application will be allocated to the applicant, and no auction will be held.

.Asia IDN launch Timeline:

• Sunrise Application Period (70 days)

OPEN:  11 May 2011 (Wed, 12:00 UTC)

CLOSE:  20 July 2011 (Wed, 24:00 UTC)

•  Land Rush Application Period (70 days)

OPEN:  2 Aug 2011 (Tue, 12:00 UTC)

CLOSE:  11 Oct 2011 (Tue, 24:00 UTC)

If you would like to apply for a IDN.Asia or have any questions regarding the Sunrise Application process, please contact your Safenames account manager.

You may also contact the Safenames UK office at +44 1908 200022 and emeasales@safenames.net, or the Safenames US office at +1.703.574.5313 and nasales@safenames.net.

ICANN recently announced that the String Evaluations on proposed IDNs ccTLDs for Ukraine and Pakistan have passed.

Since the Fast Track Process was approved by the ICANN Board at its annual meeting in Seoul, South Korea on 30 October 2009, a total of 25 countries/territories requests have successfully passed through the String Evaluation. Of these, 17 countries/territories (represented by 27 IDN ccTLDs) are delegated in the DNS root zone; with the remainder either readying to apply, or actively applying for, delegation of the string.

If you have any questions regarding IDN.IDN ccTLDs, please contact your Safenames account manager.

You may also contact the Safenames UK office at +44 1908 200022 and emeasales@safenames.net, or the Safenames US office at +1.703.574.5313 and nasales@safenames.net

.HK (Hong Kong) IDN.IDN launches Priority Registration Period for existing registrants of .HK domains

The registry for .HK domains names, recently announced that anyone who has registered the ASCII or English version of a .HK domain name, can now register the equivalent domain name in a Chinese .HK extension .香港 during the Pre-Launch Priority Registration (PLPR) period from 22 February to 10 March, 2011.

The full Chinese .香港 Internationalize Domain Name will make it easier for your customers and prospective clients to remember your Web address and the IDN.IDN removes language barriers. By using both the .HK and .香港, you can increase the marketing potential of your brand in Hong Kong and China.

If you have any questions regarding new IDN.IDN for .HK, please contact your Safenames account manager.

You may also contact the Safenames UK office at +44 1908 200022 and emeasales@safenames.net, or the Safenames US office at +1.703.574.5313 and nasales@safenames.net