.me
 | |
| Manager: | doMEn |
| Registrations: | 1,400,000 |
| Date Implemented: | 2007 |
| Type: | Open ccTLD |
More information: 
| |
.me is the ccTLD for Montenegro. It is an Open Use ccTLD.
Background[edit | edit source]
On September 11, 2007, the ICANN Board approved the delegation of the .me ccTLD to the government of Montenegro.[1] The operations at the time were handled by the Center of Information Systems (CIS) of the University of Montenegro.[2]
In November 2007, the government of Montenegro issued a Request for Proposal in search for a registry operator capable of managing .me as an Open Use ccTLD. doMEn, known as the .Me Registry, with its partners Afilias Limited, GoDaddy.com, Inc., and ME-net won the contract.[3] The new .me domain name space was re-launched and the Sunrise registration was held on July 17, 2008.[4]
Policies[edit | edit source]
Registrants are required to provide accurate and complete contact information including the administrative, technical and billing information. They can register a domain name for one year (minimum) up to 10 years and may renew automatically when the expiration date is reached. A registrant can also transfer their domain names from one registrar to another.[5]
Entities anywhere around the world are allowed to register second level domain name ( example: domainname.me) without restrictions while third-level domain names (example:domainname.net.me) are restricted to entities located in Montenegro and Me-net is the only registrar allowed to register the domain names. Third-level .me domain names include:[6]
- net.me
- org.me
- co.me
- its.me
- priv.me
The second-level domains edu.me, ac.me, and gov.me are restricted to use by institutions and entities within Montenegro. The University of Montenegro Center of Information Systems (CIS) handles the registration for edu.me, ac.me and gov.me sub-domains. .Me Registry uses a Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for domain name disputes, which are filed with the the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).[7]
Premium Names[edit | edit source]
On January 24, 2012, .Me Registry and Sedo announced a partnership to auction premium .me domain names, starting on February 2, 2012. Some of the premium domain names for auction included:[8]
- Hotel.Me
- Singles.Me
- Boats.Me
- Yoga.Me
- Creditcard.Me
- Gift.Me
- Movies.Me
- Webhosting.Me
- Friends.Me
Since that initial auction, .Me Registry has established criteria for selling reserved premium names to interested companies or individuals.[9]
Statistics[edit | edit source]
Based on a survey regarding the market share of TLD's among start-up companies founded from 2005 to 2011, 1.7% out of 1000 start-ups are using the TLD in 2011. Its market share among start-ups during the previous years were 0.20% (2008), 0.80% (2009) and 0.50% (2010) respectively.[10] The .me domain is a useful domain hack in English, where many phrases referring to the self can be constructed. It is also utilized for link shortening and analytics purposes.
As of April 2021, the .me domain had approximately 1.4 million registered domains.[11] .me domains are frequent subjects of WIPO proceedings, with 210 cases processed as of April 2021.[12]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Preliminary Report for Special Meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors
- ↑ IANA Report on Delegation of .me
- ↑ .Me Registry Profile
- ↑ Registration Begins for .me
- ↑ Domain.me - Registration Policies
- ↑ Available Names
- ↑ Dispute Policy
- ↑ Sedo And .ME Registry Partner To Auction Previously Unreleased Premium .Me Domain Names
- ↑ Domain.me - Premium Names
- ↑ Domain Incite - .me beating .co in startups?
- ↑ ccTLD Statistics, DomainNameStat.com
- ↑ WIPO Domain Name Dispute Statistics, ccTLDs