.casa

Status:	Delegated
Type:	Open
Category:	Real Estate
Website:	mmx.co
More information:

.casa is a GTLD that was proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The successful applicant is Top Level Domain Holdings. .casa was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 23rd September 2014, completing the successful application for the string.

Intended Use

Spanish word for house, .casa is a new generic top level domain targeted to real estate firms, contractors, decorators, home and family-related companies or interested individuals. The target audience for this TLD is the Spanish-speaking market.

Delegation Status

.casa was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 23rd September 2014, completing the successful application for the string.

Notable Users

A .casa domain name is a powerful branding tool that offers you an instant connection with the Spanish-speaking market. There are more than 560 million Spanish speakers worldwide, and every single one of them needs a home. A .casa address is perfect for any brand that wants to show their Spanish-speaking audience where homes can be found, enjoyed, and lived in.

.casa domain names offer a wide variety of opportunities. Companies from real estate firms to construction contractors can capitalize on the potential of .casa to make a clear connection between their brand and the idea of “home.” Since most people have positive associations with the term, a .casa domain name quickly and memorably links your brand to feelings of home and family, and thoughts of residence and investment.

Former Applicants

1. Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd.. It is one of 68 applications that the company has filed on its own behalf. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.
2. Donuts (Extra Way, LLC), a start-up registry operator, which invested $56 million just for application fees for 307 new gTLDs. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.

GoDaddy Withdraws

GoDaddy had originally applied for .casa, but in March 2013, the company announced that it was withdrawing its applications for .casa and .home, and only sticking with its Brand TLD application for .godaddy. It was noted that it was withdrawing its applications to focus on its core registrar business, thereby removing competition with competitive applicants it could work with as future registries and eliminating concerns that it will promote its own TLDs ahead of others'. The announcements were made at an event, Registry Days, meant to open a dialogue between the world's largest registrar and new gTLd applicants. The applications were withdrawn in time to receive a 70% refund for each of the $185,000 application fees.

Auction

In an August 2013 auction, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. prevailed as the winner. The total amount was not disclosed though the 8 total auctions that were cumulatively valued at $9.65 million.

Name Collision Issues

In October 2013 ICANN released their final assessment and mitigation plan for the Name Collision issue that was facing the New gTLD program. On 18 November 2013, ICANN announced the applied-for strings that were eligible for an alternative path towards delegation that would allow applicants to proceed without waiting for further mitigation research and plans to be published. 25 strings, including .casa, were not eligible for the alternative path, and will have to wait for more plans to be published before continuing towards delegation.

Contract Signed

On November 21, 2013 TLDH received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .casa after passing the Initial Evaluation.

Top-Level Domain