DotAsia, the organisation responsible for the new .asia top level Internet domain says it has received 266,000 applications for registration of .asia domain names in the first 24 hours of its ‘landrush’ phase.
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Launch of .Asia is being undertaken in three main phases: sunrise, landrush and general availability. The sunrise phase was for organisations that have legitimate claims to .asia domains as Government bodies or based on existing brand names and trademarks to register their claims. During the landrush period anyone can apply for any .asia domain not allocated during the sunrise period, and if two or more applications are received for the same name, it will be auctioned to the highest bidder.
DotAsia says it received 266,663 applications in the first 24 hours of landrush, and about 28,000 names received more than one request for registration. Including applications received during sunrise and other earlier phases, it has received close to 300.000 applications. .asia is due to go live in mid March.
DotAsia has also instituted a Pioneers program in which applicants are invited to submit a brief proposal for the domain of their choice with the best proposal winning the right to operate that domain.
DotAsia has talked up the expected value of such domains saying: “Imagine the value and potential for names like www.music.asia, trade.asia, mobile.asia, football.asia”, and many more! The value of domain names have risen to staggering new heights in recent years. Vodka.com fetched $US3 million, diamond.com took in $US7.5 million and poker.com…Business.com, acquired in 1999 for $US7.5 million is now estimated to be worth $US300-$US400 million.
“The appreciation in value is not constricted to .com domains anymore. Poker.de was sold for close to $US1 million earlier this year, while Flowers.mobi auctioned for $US200,000. With the world’s fastest growing and largest online and offline market, .Asia domains are poised to command even higher values.”
If so they have got a long way to go to reach these dizzy heights. The highest price paid for a .asia domain name to date was $US20,5001 for ace.asia, and only 10 have fetched more than $US4000. Al ist of upcoming auctions can be found here.
The DotAsia Organisation (http://www.dotasia.org) is a membership-based not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Hong Kong. It was created in March of 2004 for the purpose of submitting a proposal to ICANN to operate a new TLD registry for the .asia top-level domain. It has appointed over 100 registries around the world that can accept applications for .asia names.
ICANN and DotAsia signed the .asia registry agreement on 6 December 2006 at the ICANN annual meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil following the ICANN board approving the designation of the .asia sponsored top-level domain on 18 October 2006. DotAsia is the first gTLD registry with a headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region.
Full Article at http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16850/53/
MELBOURNE, Feb. 19 / Instra Corporation’s
There will be a seminar on domain name law and regulation, and launch of the book “International Domain Name Law: ICANN and the UDRP”, in Melbourne on Wednesday 20 February for our Australian readers. 
by Enrico Schaefer
DotAsia has extended the Sunrise period for .ASIA domain names January 31 2008. This Sunrise period is for Sunrise 2b (General Marks), Sunrise 2c (Extended Protection) and Sunrise 3 (Registered Entity Names). The original closing date was January 15. This provides tardy brand owners with the last chance to protect their brand names in .Asia before the Landrush begins on February 20, 2008. 
P&O Ferries has appointed domain name management firm NetNames to advise the ferry operator on domain name strategy and to protect its brand online reports Net Imperative.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and MYNIC Berhad, the .my domain name registrar will be presenting MCMC-MYNIC Seminar & Exhibition – Southern Corridor Roadshow 2007 on 6th September 2007 (Thursday) at Persada Johor International Convention Centre in Johor Bahru with the theme “Get Online: Empower Yourself on the Internet”.