.网址

Status:	Proposed
Language:	Chinese (Hans/Simplified)
Translates to:	website/net address
Type:	IDN gTLD
Category:	Technology
Priority #:	15 - Top Level Domain Holdings 28 -Hu Yi Global
More information:

.网址 is an IDN gTLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program.

Current Applicants

1. Hu Yi Global
2. Top Level Domain Holdings

TLDH & $15mm Auction Funding

On February 26 2013, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. announced that it had entered into a funding agreement worth $15 million to be used in the case of auction for a specific unnamed TLD. The investor will not receive ownership of the TLD but a share of future revenues. TLDH did not name the TLD that the funds are directed for, and it is in 11 head to head contentions and 12 featuring more than one contender.

Application Details

Top Level Domain Holdings

Excerpted from Applicant Response to Question # 18 in TLD Application:

"The goal of the .网址 (“website” in Chinese) top-level domain is to provide general use second-level names in Chinese. Organizations, small and large businesses, entrepreneurs and others can use .网址 to establish their Chinese-language identity on the Internet.

The number of Internet users in China is growing fast. In 2010, there were 420,000,000 users in China on the world wide web compared to 22,500,000 about a decade before. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.slideshare.net⁄HWH2⁄country-project-jonas, accessed 4-2-2012). That number rose in 2011 to 513 million Chinese Internet users, making the Chinese Internet population the highest in the world. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.them.pro⁄China-Internet-Statistics-Infographic). Further, there were 6 trillion RMB (worth approximately $945,180,000) ecommerce transactions as well as 190 million online shoppers. (Source: http:⁄⁄www.them.pro⁄China-Internet-Statistics-Infographic, accessed 4-2-2012)

The .网址 top-level domain will provide this growing base of Internet users with a pool of good and inexpensive Chinese-language second level names

[..]

We specifically examined more restrictive registration policies, such as limiting registration to members of organizations with a specific tie to websites. We rejected such limitations because they would interfere with .网址’s primary mission, purpose and goals--which is to encourage as many registrants as possible to associate themselves with websites for any legal purpose."

Hu Yi Global

Excerpted from Applicant Response to Question # 18 in TLD Application:

"The mission of the .网址 (“网址” in simplified Chinese is the equivalent to the English term “web address”) gTLD Registry is to provide leading gTLD registry services to Chinese speaking Internet users worldwide through a Chinese IDN TLD that represents the most widely recognized term used to refer to web addresses in Chinese, therefore providing users the most convenient way to remember and navigate to websites in their native Chinese language.

There are over 500 million Chinese speaking Internet users worldwide. Among these Chinese speaking users and the general population, the term “网址” (“web address” in English) is the most recognized term referring to web addresses. For the majority of novice or new Chinese speaking Internet users, other web address terms such as “IP address,” “domain name,” or other terms are not known, but the term “网址” (“web address” in English) is commonly used when searching for web pages. Since many Chinese speaking Internet users have trouble remembering and spelling English and⁄or ASCII character domains such as “google.com,” they currently have no better choice than to rely on what are popularly referred to as “web address directories” or search engines to help them navigate to the web page(s) they want to visit. According to a comprehensive study on Chinese Internet user’s habits conducted by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), it was found that 94.45% of Chinese Internet users surveyed expressed a strong willingness to use native Chinese language IDNs to navigate to web pages. We hope that by introducing the “.网址” (“web address” in English) gTLD, we can enable Chinese speaking Internet users to conveniently use their native language to utilize the Internet.

[..]

Hu Yi Global, founded in 2001, has over 100,000 customers and is one of Hong Kong’s largest Internet Addressing and Intellectual Property Protection service providers.

Hu Yi Global provides Internet Addressing and Intellectual Property Protection services to businesses worldwide and aims to develop the best, most innovative, high productivity and convenient platform over a highly efficiency network together with an intellectual property rights protection automation system.

Hu Yi Global’s sister company, Guangdong Hu Yi Science Co. Ltd.(Guangdong Hu Yi) located in Guangzhou, China, also founded and majority owned by Mr. Xiongwei Huang, is a provider of Internet Addressing and Intellectual Property Protection services. Guangdong Hu Yi currently has over 30 subsidiaries around mainland China and over 2,000 employees including 1,800 sales persons. It is one of China’s largest Internet Addressing and Intellectual Property Protection services providers with close to 500,000 customers. Guangdong Hu Yi is CNNIC accredited for .CN domain registrations, and Chinese Domain Names. It is also accredited by KNET for Internet Keywords and Wireless Keywords. It’s primary service and product offerings include: Internet addressing resources such as domain names, Internet Keywords, Wireless Keywords, Intellectual Property Protection services such as trademark and copyright registration, and patent registration and protection. Guangdong Bangxin International Intellectual Property Co. Ltd., another subsidiary of Guangdong Hu Yi, is a specialized Intellectual Property Rights related service platform and is a member of the China Chapter of The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), the International Trademark Association (INTA), the China Trademark Association and other industry organizations."

Top-Level Domain

Internationalized Domain Name

International Trademark Association