General Availability opens tomorrow for .XXX domains. If you did not get the .XXX domains you wanted during the Sunrise or Landrush period(s), now is the time to register them.

What you need to know.

• General Availability is open to all businesses and individuals on a first come, first served basis.
• Any member of the adult Sponsored Community can apply without pre-existing rights or qualifications unlike in the previous launch periods.
• Members of the adult Sponsored Community—verification is done at the ICM Registry before sites will resolve.
• Non-members of the adult Sponsored Community—there is no verification and/or requirements, but these .XXX domain names will not resolve.

If you would like to register a .XXX domain(s) log in to the Safenames IDP today. If you have any questions about .XXX, please contact Safenames customer support at +44-1-908-200022 or +1-703-574-5313.

The Landrush registration period for .XXX domains opened today (November 8, 2011). If you did not get the .XXX domains you wanted during Sunrise A because you did not have a registered trademark or qualify as a grandfathered site, now is the time to order the .XXX names you want.

The Details:

• The Landrush Period is open only to members of the sponsored community or companies that are conducting business within the sponsored community
• Landrush is not first come, first served.  At the end of the eighteen day Landrush period, any .XXX domain names with a single applicant will be automatically registered to the requestor.  Any .XXX domain names with more than one applicant will be placed into a closed auction between the parties who submitted a Landrush order 
• You can register domains as keywords related to your business—and many great .XXX domains are still available
• Landrush ends on November 25, 2011

To submit your .XXX order request log in to the Safenames IDP today. If you have any questions about .XXX, contact your Safenames account manager or call Safenames customer service at +44-1-908-200022 or +1-703-574-5313.

The Russian registry has decided to begin accepting new registration requests for COM.RU domains after suspending operations for COM.RU over the past several years. The re-launch of COM.RU will begin on October 25, 2011 with an Open Registration Period and any business or individual may place a registration request at that time. If you were unable to get your brand in .RU before, or if you have a new request, don’t miss this opportunity to get the COM.RU that you want.

Safenames is currently accepting pre-orders for this country code domain extension (ccTLD) and will submit the orders on October 25th, 2011. Here is what you need to know:

• There are no local presence or trademark requirements and there are no restrictions on COM.RU domains
• Open registration orders will be fulfilled by the registry on a first-come, first-serve basis
• If there is more than one application for the same domain, the name will go to auction and you will be notified about the auction process
• The registration fees are non-refundable during the pre-order registration phase

If you have any questions about COM.RU, contact your Safenames account manager or call Safenames customer service at +44-1-908-200022 or +1-703-574-5313. Existing customers can order within their Safenames account.

COM.DE—Germany’s new TLD—is now available for General Registration. There are no local contact or German residency requirements, and anyone can register a COM.DE domain name. If you are doing business, or are planning to do business in Germany, now is the time to get your COM.DE.

If you have any questions about COM.DE, contact your Safenames account manager or call Safenames customer service at +44-1-908-200022 or +1-703-574-5313. Existing customers can register within their Safenames account: https://idp.safenames.com/login.aspx.

If you receive an e-mail or a postal letter entitled “Final Notice of Domain Listing”—or a similar renewal notice from an unknown company—please disregard it; it’s a scam. The sender is attempting to get you to unknowingly transfer your domain(s) to another registrar or worse, steal your money. There are so many (too many to list) domain name related scams circulating the Internet these days, targeting unsuspecting registrants. Scammers are mining the WHOIS database searching for businesses and individuals that will pay for “expiring” (wink, wink) domain names—and these people pay because they simply don’t know any better and are afraid their domains will actually expire. It’s important to disregard any correspondence you receive that includes language such as “domain name search engine registration,” “search engine registration,” or “must renew.” All legitimate domain name renewal communications will come directly from your registrar. If you are a Safenames customer your account is likely on auto-renew and no action is required for the renewal of your domains. If you ever have any questions about materials/correspondence you receive, contact your Safenames account manager or call Safenames customer service at +44-1-908-200022 or +1-703-574-5313.

If you received an e-mail from a Chinese company stating that another company has inquired about registering your brand in country code domains like .CN, .TW, or .HK, — YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  We have received many calls from customers who are concerned about these types of e-mails because thy often find their way to an executive’s inbox. “Selling fear” is a common tactic used by these dubious companies.  In fact, even registrars are not immune to these deceptive e-mails.  Safenames just received the following e-mail:

=====================================================

Dear Manager,

(If you are not in charge of this please transfer this email to your President or appropriate person, thanks)

We are a Network Service Company which is the domain name registration center in Shanghai, China. On June 27, 2011, we received an application from Hanxing company requested “safenames” as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names. But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it’s necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China?

Kind regards,

Bruce Cheng

Bruce Cheng

Registration Department Manager 

Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road, 
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China

Tel: +86 216191 8696 Mobile: +86 182219 51605 Fax: +86 216191 8697

Web: www.yiguangov.org
========================================================

What Should I Do If I receive a this email or a similar one? 

First, do not panic.  Second, do not contact the registrar sending the e-mail.  Another company is not actually “applying” to register a domain name with your brand.  Cyber squatting is a common practice in the .CN, .HK, and .TW top-level domains.   Domains are registered at the time they are ordered; there is no application period.  Unlike the Sunrise Period of a newly launched TLD, there is no approval process to give trademark holders a chance for a domain that has been ordered. 

Is There Anything Positive about These E-mails?

Yes, this e-mail is an excellent reminder to protect your online brand(s) and review your company’s domain registration practices.  You should contact your Safenames account manager to review your global domain name strategy and decide if registering additional country code domains would allow you to improve the marketing of your products and services regionally and protect your global web traffic.    

If you would like to discuss a global domain strategy, you may 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.