With new domain extensions (like .web, .africa, .nyc etc) being imminent in 2013 or 2014, operators of existing domain systems are feverishly positioning themselves to maximize revenue from their current domain systems before the new ones are launched. Lots of attention are most likely to shift to the new domain extensions and the current generic and country domains (.com, .net, .org, .uk, .ng etc) would eventually have less clout since website owners would have over a thousand new domain extensions to choose from.
Whilst the amount of clout to be lost by today’s domain extensions are yet to be seen, operators of existing ones are leaving nothing to chance. One of the most profound re-action to the threat of irrelevance is .pro domain system. The .pro operators recently dropped their prices significantly and are becoming more open.
.pw is officially the country code top-level domain for the island of Palau. Palau is an island in the Pacific Ocean with a total population of just about 21,000 people. However, the domain operator is a leading Indian domain registrar DirectI. DirectI partnered CentralNic (a leading UK-based private domain registry), to offer .pw domains through a new .pw registry (registry.pw).
The outcome of the machinations is that .pw domain names will soon be offered via accredited .pw domain registrars, to a global audience. Whilst .pw is not the first country domain to be marketed as a generic domain open to anyone in the world, it is certainly the most aggressive in recent times. Registry.pw has worked hard to include some of the biggest domain registrars in the world, and currently has close to 100 domain registrars standing-by to market .pw domains.
.pw is marketed as standing for the Professional Web and is open to anyone in the world. Its Landrush phase starts today 18th February and lasts till 18th March 2013. General Availability will follow soon after Landrush, on 25th March 2013.
