.微博
| Status: | Proposed |
| Language: | Chinese (Hans/Simplified) |
| Translates to: | microblogging |
| Type: | IDN gTLD |
| Category: | Technology |
| Priority #: | 45 - Sina Corporation 98 - Tencent Holdings Limited |
More information: 
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.微博 is an IDN gTLD being proposed in ICANN's New gTLD Program. 微博, or weibo, refers to microblogging.
Current Applicants
- Sina Corporation - Currently runs Weibo.com[1]
- Tencent Holdings Limited.[2]
Application Details
Sina Corporation
Excerpted from Sina Corporations response to question #18 in TLD application:
"SINA Corporation (NASDAQ ticker: SINA) is an online media company and Mobile Value Added Service (MVAS) provider in the Peopleʹs Republic of China and for the global Chinese communities. With a branded network of localized websites targeting Greater China and overseas Chinese, the Company provides services mainly through SINA.com (online news and content), Weibo.com (microblog) and SINA Mobile (MVAS). Through these businesses and properties and other business lines, SINA offers an array of services including region-focused online portals, MVAS, microblog, blog, video and music streaming, photo sharing, online games, email, search, classified listings, fee-based services, e-commerce and enterprise e-solutions. The Company generates the majority of its revenues from online advertising and MVAS offerings and, to a lesser extent, from fee-based services.
As of end of 2011, the aggregated number of daily unique visitors to SINA websites is around 70 millon people, with daily page views of exceeding 2 billion hits. SINA websites are able to reach in average of approximately 400 million Internet users per month. As of March 2012, www.sina.com.cn is one of the top 20 websites in the world, and one of the top 5 websites in China, according to Alexa.com .
Besides the above mentioned websites and channels, SINA’s Weibo.com (Weibo ⁄ 微博), a microblogging and social network platform launched in August 2009, has enabled its users to follow the hottest topics being discussed online as well as discussions related to people they know. As of end of 2011, Weibo has reached more than 300 Million registered users globally. More than 86 million Weibo entries are published every day. Weibo users consist of celebrities, commercial enterprises, government entities and grass root Internet users, who may send feeds in the form of text (up to 140 Chinese characters) and multimedia (photo, video and music) content to their opted-in followers. 96 out of Top 100 most popular government Weibo accounts are active through Weibo microblogging platform, according to E-Government Research Center, CAG (http:⁄⁄www.chinaegov.org⁄publicfiles⁄business⁄htmlfiles⁄ChinaEgovForum⁄wbpg⁄index.html). In addition, Weibo may be accessed through mobile Internet and mobile applications, such as those built for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Designed as a multi-device product, Weibo enables Chinese communities to participate in open discussions on PCs and mobile devices around the world, allowing easier and more frequent interactions, expediting the spread of information and elevating the social media and networking experience to a different level. As of April 2011, SINA started to use “Weibo.com” domain name and expect to invest 160 million during 2012 on infrastructure and market development for the Weibo businesses. According to Alexa.com, Weibo.com ranks as one of the Top 30 websites in the world and one of the Top 10 in China.
SINA Corporation, a Cayman Islands corporation, was founded in March 1999 through the merger of Beijing SINA Information Technology Co. Ltd. and California-based SINANET.com. In April 2000, the Company completed its initial public offering and was listed on the NASDAQ market. With more than 4,000 employees now, SINA is headquartered in Shanghai, China and the principle place of operations is located in Beijing, China. SINA has offices throughout mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the U.S. Its latest corporation and financial information can be found at http:⁄⁄corp.sina.com.cn⁄eng⁄sina_index_eng.htm
Potential Business Models Initially, .微博 can be only registered (e.g. example.微博) by SINA itself, therefore SINA is the only eligible registrant. SINA plans to adopt this approach and expects to maintain it for 3 years from the launch of the “.微博” registry service. Such approach will be regularly evaluated and adjusted if appropriate and necessary. Depending a various internal and external factors, including market demand and user expectation, SINA may consider a phased roll-out approach for a broader commercial marketplace but will do so after the conclusion of the initial 3-year period. This defensive and conservative approach shall meet the purpose of trademark protection, minimize potential technological, marketing and operational risks, and allow ample time for SINA’s management to evaluate best possible and long-term strategy of utilizing .微博 TLD prominently.
SINA is also analyzing the definition of “eligible registrants” and the potential use case options on the type of domain name that is permitted for registration and by whom. To the best of SINA’s knowledge as a registry operator, the eligible registrants may include the following: -- a subsidiary or branch company -- an official or frequently-used name of the department or business unit -- a channel, service, product, event, or campaign -- a member of Board, Staff, affiliated person, partner or collaborator -- Other entity, sub-group, or personnel to be further defined"[3]
References
- ↑ Weibo.comRetrieved 16 Jan 2013
- ↑ Reveal Day 13 June 2012 – New gTLD Applied-For Strings
- ↑ Application Download from gTLDresult.ICANN.orgRetrieved 16 Jan 2013