Directi has just announced that it will be launching the ccTLD .pw – “the Professional Web, as a generic and open TLD, during ICANN’s Toronto summit”.
.PW is the ccTLD for the island country of Palau
Bhavin Turakhia, Directi’s CEO is quoted the press release:
“The top generics are running in a depleted state. ”
“In over 70% of the cases, consumers are unable to obtain a name of first choice, and must settle for longer, less memorable names. Moreover, for these unattractive names, they will pay more and more each year as incumbent gTLDs continue to raise prices. .pw aims to meet the global demand for shorter, first choice names at a reasonable price.” said
“.pw will open up with a 68 day sunrise and will offer powerful Rights Protection Mechanisms, to ensure active protection for rights holders. We’ve been fighting a war against domain name abuse for many years. As the registry operator, we will leverage our experience in ensuring .pw comes to be known as a quality namespace.” added Business Head, Sandeep Ramchandani.
.pw will be powered by industry stalwarts CentralNic, who operate 27 global domain extensions. Integrated registrars can avail of a paperless and instant online signup process. .pw will support DNSSEC, IPv6, multiple IDNs and operate with a gTLDesque lifecycle.
“We’re excited about the launch” said Ramchandani. “Being an open TLD, .pw is truly global and offers first-choice names, affordably, in a reputed and secure namespace. We’ve backed our decade plus experience with best-in-class partners to provide a stellar experience and table tangible value for registrars and registrants.”
Specific details and the launch schedule will be published on the registry’s website (www.registry.pw) which goes live on October 13, 2012.”
About .pw – the Professional Web
.pw – the Professional Web is a TLD launched by the Directi Group in collaboration with partners. The .pw TLD has been opened globally to create a dedicated namespace for professionals and businesses to set up an online presence, with a first choice domain at a very affordable price point. .pw is powered by domain name veterans with industry standard best practices and policies.
where does that leave .pro?
.pw vs .pro?
I’d say this is good news for .pro if someone recognizes the opportunity here. It’s like the whole .mobi, .mobile thing, but for the professional space!
Directi according to their website owns resellerclub that just sold 11K .pro domains this past month. Yes, this is a very interesting article and I’m guessing .pw will be successful in a Burger king, McDonalds sort of way.
I don’t see it working. .me, .co, .pro at least all have some prior meaning to people in the english language. Ask someone what ‘PW’ stands for, and almost no one would say ‘professional web’. They are basically inventing an acronym and will have strong headwinds to make it fly, but at least they are getting it out before the tidal wave of new gtlds next year.
I’ll just stick with .TW, for “The Terrific Web.” Or something like that…
really? sorry but that one of the worst acronyms for a ccTLD. Besides .pro is far superior. I can see it as an openID url for passwords.