The Times asks whether .asia has been a success, with only around 31,000 businesses registering a .asia name. About ten times as many businesses had signed up to register a “.eu” domain name at the same point in its creation in 2006.Of course, comparing .eu and .asia is not quite comparing apples with apples, as there are significant differences in the procedures for the sunrise period.”Experts are now giving warning that lacklustre demand for internet addresses with the “.asia” suffix risks giving criminals the opportunity to register bogus sites that could be used to dupe consumers,” reports The Times.But as is also noted in the article, there is far less protection for companies’ trademarks and it is open season on the .asia domain name for cybersquatters, online speculators and competitors.”However, like other launches of new domains — such as the launch of .eu last year — the .asia plans have been overshadowed by concerns that con-artists will register trademarks to lure in unsuspecting online consumers or that speculators will snap up addresses to sell on to trademark-owners.”Critics have suggested that companies will stick with their existing country domains — such as .cn for China — and are being forced to register .asia names only to prevent criminals from doing so first.”The Times article is available at business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article3404073.ece