.Asia Pioneer Domains Program ... Think Big! Think.Asia!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Pioneer Challenge Period for the Celebrity and Social Pioneer categories began on Monday, February 18, 2008 at 10:00AM GMT and ended on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 10:00AM GMT. For details of the Challenge Process, please click here, or refer to the WIPO website. For a completely listing of the domain names applied for through the Pioneer Domains Program, click here.

An Open Invitation for .Asia Pioneers!

The .Asia Pioneer Domains Program offers the ultimate first-mover advantage for brand development and e-commerce in Asia. Applicants are invited to submit a brief proposal for the domain of their choice. The best proposal wins the right to operate the best .Asia domains!

Breaking the mould of disinterested allocation of domains in a first-come-first-served race, the .Asia Pioneer Domains Program entrusts the most prestigious cyber real estate in .Asia to those who show genuine commitment to this community. The objective of the program is to immediately create active and relevant content on .Asia domains for the benefit of Internet users around the world. The program builds on the value of .Asia to provide a natural name for users to easily navigate and find the information they are looking for. Through the Pioneer Domains Program, DotAsia is giving out millions of dollars worth of domain names. What's a domain name worth?

Imagine the value and potential for names like “www.music.asia”, “trade.asia”, “mobile.asia”, “football.asia”, and many more! The value of domain names have risen to staggering new heights in recent years. Vodka.com fetched US$3 million, diamond.com took in US$7.5 million and poker.com, the current record holder was reportedly sold for over US$27 million. Business.com, acquired in 1999 for US$7.5 million is now estimated to be worth US$300-400 million. The appreciation in value is not constricted to .com domains anymore. Poker.de was sold for close to US$1 million earlier this year, while Flowers.mobi auctioned for US$200,000. With the world’s fastest growing and largest online and offline market, .Asia domains are poised to command even higher values.

To build .Asia into a thriving cyber community, DotAsia is looking for the help from pioneers and visionaries in the community. In return, we are offering the hottest cyber real estate in Asia to entrepreneurs, businesses and social enterprises who are committed to the region and the community. The Pioneer Domains Program is a golden opportunity for developers of cyberspace.

The .Asia Pioneer Domains Program

Recruitment COMPLETED
Applications posted for comments and voting at: http://www.icannwiki.org/DotAsia-Polling-Grid
WIPO Challenge Process: http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/gtld/asia/rules/index.html

The Pioneer Domains Program is originally organised into 3 categories:

Community Pioneers

Community Pioneers are invited to propose commonly used words and phrases (aka generic words) as .Asia names, such as “music.asia”, “trade.asia”, etc. Non-commercial initiatives may also apply as the Community Pioneers for names corresponding to their organisation.

Global Brand Pioneers

Through the Global Brand Pioneers category, DotAsia seeks to work closely with well established brand owners to develop active and relevant .Asia websites and services. While the .Asia Sunrise processes provide comprehensive protective measures for trademark owners, the Pioneer Domains Program offers proactive brand holders who are committed to the Asia community the .Asia domains that best matches their mark and businesses.

Partner Pioneers

Partners of DotAsia are encouraged to adopt and lend testimonials to the .Asia domains as Partner Pioneers. Accredited registrars, technology and service providers may utilize .Asia domain names for promoting the .Asia registry. DotAsia is also actively looking for partners in many other areas, and to offer to them the best .Asia domains that exemplify their affiliation to the Asia community.

Celebrity Pioneers

Sports, entertainment, literary, business, politics and other celebrities, groups and teams are invited to participate as Celebrity Pioneers. Celebrity names are often neglected in the startup of a new domain registry. Yet they are often highly vulnerable names as well. Through the Celebrity Pioneers program celebrities around the world with fans in Asia can utilize the .Asia domain for their next concert, movie or tour and protect their names.

Social Pioneers

Through the Social Pioneers category, DotAsia seeks to reach out to NGO (Non-Government Organisations), NPOs (Non-Profit Organisations), geographical indications and other social enterprises and initiatives to offer to them an opportunity to leverage the new .Asia domain to further their cause in Asia.