What is .asia?

.Asia is a new TLD that signals a presence in the Asia/Pacific region rather than a specific country. It is unrestricted, meaning anyone can register a .asia domain name . DotAsia Organization, Ltd. provides the registry services for this TLD.

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Why .asia?

A .asia domain name offers companies a way to tap into the fast-growing Asian economy and signal their commitment to the entire area, not just one country. This TLD is great for global companies expanding into the region and domestic companies that want to grow within the region.

With more than 60% of the world's population and hundreds of millions of Internet users in Asia, the Asia/Pacific region holds enormous potential for business growth. Plus, the new TLD offers an abundance of desirable domain names that have not yet been registered.

Also, .asia may contribute to better search engine rankings because it is a natural word, making it easy for your site to be indexed and searched.

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Why should I register with IntaServe?

While other companies have come and gone, IntaServe has established itself as a major player in the domain name registration arena with almost 10 years of experience. When you register with us, you get:

• Experience — IntaServe's history of successful domain name registrations and new TLD launches (eg. .eu and .mobi) assures you that your registration will be handled by seasoned professionals.

• Helps Meet Requirements — You're required to have a contact that is a legal entity in Asia to qualify for a .asia domain name. IntaServe can lend you a "local presence", satisfying .asia's Charter Eligibility Requirement for you.

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How can I register?

To register your .asia domain name, all you have to do is fill out a simple form on our Web site. Start by clicking here to search for your .asia domain name .

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When can I register for .asia?

You can register your .asia domain names now. This new TLD (top level domain) recently completed the entire sunrise through land rush cycle and has been available for general registration since March 26, 2008. Take a look at the schedule below for details.

All trademarks must be registered in one of the WIPO Standard ST.3 Locations. To view this list, please click here . For an explanation on the different types of registration periods, please click here .

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What are the different types of registrations, and what do they mean?

Sunrise Registration

Sunrise registration allowed trademark owners to protect the integrity of their names by registering them before they became available to the public. Sunrise registrations were the very first domain names submitted to the registry for live registration. If you have a trademark, or rights for the domain name you want to register this stage gave you the absolute best chance of beating the competition to your domain name.

Successfully validated applicants in higher-level sunrise periods got the right to use the domain name.

So, if 2 people applied for the same name, but one applied under Sunrise 2b (general registered mark) and the other applied under Sunrise 3 (organization), the general registered mark applicant got the name because 2b is a higher level sunrise period.

Land Rush Registration

This type of registration was for customers who did not have a trademark, but wanted to get the next best chance of successfully registering their domain name. When there were two or more applicants for the same domain name, applicants were entered into an auction .

Ongoing Registration

Ongoing registration requests were submitted for live registration once the registry fully opened, in the order they were received. The only exceptions were:

• The domain had already been successfully registered during the sunrise period.

• The domain had already been successfully registered during land rush.

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What information must I provide to apply during the trademark sunrise periods?

DotAsia Organization, Ltd. requires you to verify your ownership of a trademark to protect the integrity of all registered trademarks. To prove that you have rights to your trademark, you must provide the following information:

• Registered Mark — The exact word or phrase described by the registered mark for the domain name applied for.  State or local trademarks or service marks are not allowed. In general, the domain name applied for must be an exact match with the registered mark.  For example, if the registered trademark is abc, the domain name applied for must be abc.asia.

• Registration Number — Registration or serial number of the registered mark's current registration. This number must enable the verification agent to access the correct registration entry in the trademark registry or trademark office.

• Registration Locality — Country or location where the mark is registered.

• Application Date — Date the registered mark was applied for (corresponding to the registration number and locality specified).

• Registration Date — Date on which the registration of the registered mark becomes effective (this is not the priority date, but the day for which the mark is issued and registered).

• Registered Class   — Optional for Early Bird (SR2a) and Registered Mark (SR2b) sunrise applicants.  Mandatory for Extended Protection (SR2c) sunrise applicants. This is the class of the registered mark according to the 9th Edition of the Nice Classification System (eg., Mark for XYZ in Nice Class 28: Games may apply for XYZGames.asia). If more than one class has been registered, any one of the classes can be used.

• Nature of Entitlement — To prove you are the owner, co-owner or assignee of the trademark.

The registry (DotAsia Organization, Ltd.) may require that you submit additional documentary evidence for your sunrise application(s). If this is the case, you will be notified, and you will have 10 calendar days to submit this documentation.

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Are there specific countries where my trademark must be registered within in order to apply for .asia during the sunrise periods?

Yes, in order for your application to qualify when registering during the sunrise periods, your trademark must be registered in one of the following 226 countries:

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What information is required from me when I apply during the organization sunrise periods?

To be eligible for a domain name during this sunrise period, DotAsia Organization, Ltd. requires information to protect you from unauthorized persons using an entity name that you own the rights to. Please note your entity must be registered with an appropriate authority (eg., business registries, company registries, society registries, cooperative registries, etc.) in one of the corresponding localities within the DotAsia community.  While preregistering, you will be asked the following information:

• Entity Name — The name of a legal entity, company name, name of an organization, partnership or a natural person. The domain name applied for must correspond with the name of the applicant entity as registered. 

• Registration Number — Registration number of the registered entity.

• Registration Locality — Country or locality within the DotAsia community where the registered entity is registered.

• Application Date —  Date on which the registered entity applied for registration.

• Registration Date — Date on which the registered entity was formally established.

• Form of Entity — The type of entity you are, such as a corporation or nonprofit organization.

The registry (DotAsia Organization, Ltd.) will require that you submit documentary evidence for your organization sunrise application(s). If this is the case, you will be notified by the registry, and you will have 10 calendar days to submit this documentation.

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What is the .asia Charter Eligibility Requirement?

The Charter Eligibility Requirement makes a legal entity in one of the eligible ICANN-designated Asia/Pacific countries a prerequisite for .asia registration. This legal entity is called the Charter Eligibility Declaration contact, or CED contact. The CED contact may be a natural person or a juristic entity (such as a corporation). A natural person can be a person with an Asian passport or citizenship ID but does not necessarily have to be living in Asia. A juristic entity can consist of a corporation, companies, cooperatives, partnerships, collectives, government bodies, states, sovereigns, municipalities, political parties, trade unions, trusts, estates, associations, societies or institutions. For a list of ICANN-designated Asia/Pacific countries, please click here . IntaServe can help you fulfill this requirement. To find out more, please click here .

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If I do not have a contact located in Asia to fulfill the charter eligibility requirement, what should I do? What is IntaServe's local presence service?

IntaServe understands that not everyone who wants to enter the Asian market has a representative or juristic entity located in Asia. IntaServe can assist you in satisfying the charter eligibility requirement by lending you a “local presence”— saving you the trouble and expense.

You simply assign IntaServe to act as your CED contact during the sign up process, and you are immediately eligible to apply for a .asia domain. This mandatory requirement can be easily fulfilled for only $9.95/yr per domain name — another easy-to-use solution offered to you by IntaServe.

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What are the ICANN designated Asia-Pacific countries?

All of the following countries are designated by ICANN as Asia-Pacific countries. For more information about the charter eligibility requirement, please click here .

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What is the minimum registration period?

Under the sunrise and landrush registration periods, the minimum registration period is 2 years. Under the ongoing registration period, the minimum registration period is 1 year and you can register your .asia domain for 2, 3, 5, or up to 10 years.

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How long can my .asia domain name be?

The registry requires a minimum of 3 characters. The maximum permitted is 63 characters.

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What happens if there is more than one applicant for the same domain name?

Sunrise or Land Rush Period
Applications received during each of the different sunrise phases or land rush period will be treated as received at the same time. If there is only one applicant for a domain, it will be allocated to the applicant.

If there is more than one applicant for the same domain name, all applicants will be invited to bid for that domain in an auction. The highest bidder will get the domain name. Auctions start after the end date of the respective periods. You will be notified through email if you are entered in an auction.

Ongoing Registration Period
Applications received during the ongoing registration period will follow a first-come, first-served model.

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What is the auction style?

The .asia auctions use an English-style auction. This simply means that the highest bidder will receive the domain name.

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What type of bidding is allowed, and is there an automated auction in place?

There are two types of bidding:

1) Manual Bidding

Manual bidding requires you to monitor the auction. You submit your bid, and if someone outbids you, you will receive an email notification. You have 24 hours to submit a new bid to maintain the status as the highest bidder.

2) Automated Bidding (Proxy Bidding)

If you prefer not to constantly monitor the bidding process, you may choose to use the automated bidding function. This means that every time someone outbids you, the system will automatically enter a bid for you — at least one increment higher than the current bid. You may also set any increment amount you may wish, as long as it is higher than the registry's minimum amount. To prevent yourself from paying too much, you are able to set a maximum bid amount — which stops the system from automatically entering the bid for you.

Should your maximum amount be outbid, you have the opportunity to increase your maximum or leave the system as is. If you choose to leave the system as is, you will no longer have the opportunity to win the auction.

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How long does the auction run?

The auction is set to run for an initial period of seven days. For example, if the auction starts on Monday, the auction will end on the following Monday. Please note auctions will be scheduled to start on business days (Monday through Friday).

If there is a bid for an auction on the seventh day, the auction will continue to run beyond the initial seven days. An auction can only close when there has not been a change in the bid for 24 hours. This ensures that bidders from all time zones around the world have the opportunity to respond to an outbid message before the auction close.

Likewise, if there has not been a change in the auction for your domain name for 24 hours, the auction will close — even if the auction only lasts a couple of days.

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How will I be notified that I have been entered into an auction?

Once the auction is scheduled, you will receive a notification at least 10 days in advance of the auction start. The notification will be sent to the email address you designate as your OPN (Operations and Notification) contact. This email will contain your login information for your .asia auction account at Pool.com, the auction provider. You will be able to monitor your auction through this system. Throughout the auction process, you will also receive emails for auction start, auction outbid, auction lost and auction paid.

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What is the minimum bid?

As the auction progresses, the minimum bid will be the leading bid plus the incremental bid. For example, if the leading bid is $50 and the incremental bid is $10, the minimum bid you need to place is $60.

All auctions will start off at $0. Make sure you put in your bid then!

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What happens if I am outbid?

You will receive an email from Pool.com, the auction provider for .asia, notifying you that you have been outbid. To see what the leading bid is, log back into your .asia auction account, refresh your screen, and you will be able to see the leading bid. Make sure you enter a higher bid to ensure that you don't lose out!

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How many participants will take place in the auction?

In order for an auction to take place, there must be a minimum of two participants. There is not a maximum number of participants.

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What happens if there are no bidders?

The registry has two options: reschedule the auction or defer the release of this domain name. Make sure you bid for your domain name; otherwise someone else may bid at the last minute, and you'll lose your domain name.

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If I win the auction, how long do I have to make a payment?

The registry expects that they will allow up to 7 to 10 days to make this payment. The exact time frame is to be confirmed at a later point in time. Please note that your auction invoice will come from Pool.com, the auction provider for .asia.

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What if I am unable to make this payment in time?

This action is up to the registry, and not up to IntaServe. The registry may:

• Award the domain name to the next highest bidder

• Re-auction the domain name

• Choose a different course of action

To prevent loss of a domain name you rightfully won, IntaServe highly recommends that you make your payment on time.

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Why did I receive an email from Pool.com regarding my .asia domain name?

The registry uses Pool's auction platform to run .asia auctions. You will receive notifications from Pool regarding auction start, auction outbid, and auction invoice.

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How will I know if my preregistrations are successfully converted into live registrations?

You will be kept informed of your application status via email. You will receive an email:

• Prior to the launch of each registration period

• If your application is successful

• When your domain name has been activated

• If you have been entered into an auction

• If your application is unsuccessful

You can log into Account Intaface at any time to check the status of your application.

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How much does it cost?

The fees are as follows:

During sunrise 2 and 3, an application fee is charged. DotAsia Organization, Ltd. charges an application fee to cover the verification cost. You will only be charged the registration fee if you are successfully allotted the domain name. For applications submitted under the sunrise and land rush period, successfully allotted domain names will be charged a two year minimum registration fee. This two year minimum is a requirement set by the registry. For applications submitted under the ongoing registration period, the minimum registration period is only one year.

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What about charges, cancellations and refunds?

Charges

• The sunrise application fee is a one-time fee charged at the time the application is received.

• Annual registration fees and local presence fees are recurring.

Refunds

• Unfortunately, because we are charged by the registry for your domain name, we are unable to issue refunds for sunrise applications and annual registration fees. Refunds will not be issued for local presence service purchases.

Credits

• Should you choose to downgrade your application type (eg., from trademark sunrise to land rush), you will be issued a credit for the remaining amount — provided the cancellation notice was received before your application is submitted to the registry. This credit can be used toward any of our products and services.

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