Nominet, the registry for UK (United Kingdom) domains, has proposed a new service called direct.uk, which is primarily for businesses that are located in the UK or are doing business in the UK. This new domain name registration option would potentially offer shorter domain names registered at the second level (i.e., www.yourbusiness.uk) and a comprehensive bundle of security features (which have not yet been identified). Nominet is currently seeking input from all stakeholders on the potential introduction of this new service.

If you have any questions about the potential launch of .uk 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). We will keep you posted as new information is released on this impending launch.

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 grandfather period for “eco.br” began yesterday, July 5, 2012 and will be open through September 3rd, 2012. If you have already registered a domain name for your brand in com.br, emp.br, net.br, or org.br, you can now register that same domain name with the new eco.br extension. This domain extension is specifically for businesses, organizations, and/or individuals that are focused on, or are involved in, environmentally friendly initiatives within Brazil. If the same eco.br domain name is requested by more than one registrant, the domain will be awarded to the registrant with the .BR domain that has the oldest registration date.

If you have any questions about this new extension or would like to register your eco.br domain name, 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 registry for .uk domain names (co.uk, .org.uk, me.uk, gov.uk and ac.uk) is lifting the current ‘2-year minimum’ registration/renewal term requirement for all .uk domain names and offering more flexible registration options. Until now, you had to register or renew these domains for a minimum of two years and the only term options were 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 years. Effective May 1, 2012 you can register and/or renew .uk domain names for any term, up to 10 years (i.e., 1, 2, 3…10), just as you can for .COM domains.

If you have any questions about these changes or would like to register a .uk domain name, please contact your Safenames Account Manager or contact Safenames Customer Support at +44 1908 200022 (emeasales@safenames.net), or the Safenames US office at +1.703.574.5313 (nasales@safenames.net).

TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center) have implemented a new regulation for .ORG.TW domains.  The new policy is in place for the Renewal and Transfer of .ORG.TW domain names in addition to the creation of new .ORG.TW names.

This policy requires that the Registrant of .ORG.TW domain names shall be a non-profit organization legally registered under the laws of Taiwan.  The only exception is for foreign non-profit organizations that provide supporting documentation of their non-profit status under the competent laws of their jurisdiction, and if the Domain Name Committee of TWNIC approves such documentation.  If you already hold a .ORG.TW domain you will have to prove your non-profit status.

Registrants seeking to CREATE, RENEW or TRANSFER their .ORG.TW domain names need to provide the following documentation:

• Supporting Documentation of the legal status of the Registrant.  This has to be a non-profit organization.

• A written application with the description of the type of transaction. (new, renew, transfer.)

• The length of the renewal with a maximum of 10 years.  Please note that if the domain is only renewed for 1 year, the Registrant will need to re-submit a similar application next year in order to renew for additional years.

• A description of how your organization will use the .ORG.TW domain name.

If you have any questions about .ORG.TW domains or would like to check the availability of an .ORG.TW domain name, please contact your Safenames account manager.