Taiwan, Daily Economic Times, 4 December 1999 -- The Chinese Domain Name Space is now open for registration, with local enterprises racing against each other to register Chinese Domain Names in both the simplified or traditional forms.

TimeNet has been officially appointed a Registrar for Singapore's i-DNS.net International Pte Ltd, to promote the Internationalized Domain Name System (i-DNS). Registration is now open. TimeNet Vice-President Cai QiYan said, i-DNS could possibly become the world standard for Chinese Domain Name Space in a short span of time. As a headstart, TimeNet has beaten other foreign enterprises to become the official registrar for the first Chinese Domain Name System.

From October 98 to February this year, i-DNS has been test bedded regionally, involving countries like Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong, China, India and Japan.

Cai QiYan mentioned that, as a member of 'TWNIC', TimeNet has already seen more than 500 MNC's, with Coca Cola and such likes, around the world registering in all 36 different languages at the same time. With even China.com having already registered 'china.com' and 'taiwan.com' in both the simplified and traditional forms, this technology is not something to be scoffed at.

Cai stated that the coding for both the simplified and traditional forms of the Chinese characters is the same in Unicode. A domain name registered under the simplified characters, will automatically have its traditional form likewise registered, and vice versa. This means that no matter what form registrants input their domain names in, there can only be one 'ChinaAir.com' in Chinese. If TimeNet had not been fast in obtaining the rights to this service, many of the important Domain Names Spaces would have already been snapped up by foreign enterprises. This would seriously affect the competitiveness of Taiwanese firms on the Internet in the future.

TimeNet is providing this service to facilitate the registration of important Domain Names for Taiwanese enterprises, at the same time taking strict preventive measures to prevent foreign opportunists from over-registering the Domain Names.

To date, TimeNet has already secured up to over 10000 Chinese Domain Names needed by local enterprises. During the first month of registration, only commercial 'for-profit' profitable organizations can apply for Domain Names under '.com' in Chinese. At the same time, for the case of yet-to-be-registered or reserved Domain Name Spaces, applicants are to submit the Company's business registration license, and to only apply for Domain Names that coincide with the Company's name or acceptable initials. However, this protective measure will be nullified after the first month of registration. From the second month onwards, personal Domain Names will be opened for registration, and will not be limited to Domain Names that coincide with the Company's name. Registration will be processed on a first-come-first-serve basis.

In the event of two companies with the same name applying for the same Domain Name during the first month of registration, priority will be given to the applicant who completes the registration procedures first. The registration fees for each Chinese Domain Name (simplified and traditional forms will be considered as the same) constitute a first-time registration fee of NT500 and a yearly subscription of NT1200 to be paid in two-yearly payments.

Despite the understanding that uses of the Chinese Domain Names will still be limited for the next few months, many local enterprises and web servers have already registered for their respective Domain Name Spaces after receiving news of this service. It could be that the future global Chinese market wants to avoid the problem of cyber-squatting. Past experience with wrangling over disputed English Domain Names have taught one and all a lesson.

For registration details and on-line registration, refer to http://www.timenet.net.



Chinese Domain Name Space Essential for Chinese Market
Good websites will attract more surfers

Chinese Domain Name Space is the latest trend in the global Chinese Market.

Chinese is the most important non-English language on the Internet with a base population numbering 1 billion. The future of the market cannot do without Chinese Domain Names.

Internet users have soared during recent years, with a projection of Chinese web-users rising to more than 20 million next year! Within the next couple of years, the global Chinese population of more than a billion also looks set on jumping into the world of the Internet. This immense business opportunity is already getting investors' attention.

English is not the common language among this 1 billion population, and English Domain Names are certainly not easy to remember by their standards. Each Chinese can at most remember around ten major English Domain Names, but if it were in their mother language Chinese, this number would most certainly multiply. Therefore using Chinese Domain Names to access their desired website would be absolutely essential.

Most people in Taiwan know McDonald's, but how many can actually spell 'McDonald's'? Probably less than 1%. A search on the search machine may yield ten possible sites, but no guaranteed hits. If a Chinese Domain Name is used, just keying in , in Chinese would link you straight to the official site. If you are a Chinese looking for a website to purchase office stationery, again not many might get the traditional spelling right. A search on the web will produce over a hundred links that get you nowhere! But if you can just type in , you might well hit upon the leading retailers in the industry.

The convenience of Chinese Domain Names will offer the best search method for Chinese in the near future. A good Domain Name will bring in the masses to the Chinese market, much more than a English Domain Name would, and is representative of the scope of business of a company.

A Chinese Domain Name that is easy to remember, will cut down on massive advertising budgets. And with both the simplified and traditional forms regarded as common Domain Names, you could very well get the attention of the 1-billion market population with just one click.

Breaking Through Technical Constraints
Getting the Support from APNG

Chairman of the Research Committee, Cabinet Minister Wei Qilin said at the press conference that it was a gratifying experience for TimeNet to have participated in the i-DNS research project. He spoke at length on the initial technical difficulties and the eventual approval from the Asia Pacific Network Group (APNG). He ended his interview by expressing his desire to his committee to get 'rdec.gov.tw" registered soon.

TimeNet held a press conference announcing its appointment as official registrar for Singapore's I-DNS.net International Pte Ltd. Registration for global Chinese Domain Names is now open.

The Influence of Domain Names
A Domain Name that is easy to remember and pronounce

A Domain Name is a trademark on the Internet, and has great impact on a company. Companies have spent tons of money on acquiring a good Domain Name. And with the Internet fast undergoing a multi-faceted development, a Domain Name is no longer just a link to search for a website, more and more Domain Names are representative of the enterprises, even crucial to the operations of a business.

A Domain Name that is easy to remember and easy to pronounce, or represent a certain idea, plays a very crucial role for a website or even the success of an enterprise. Analysts might will recognize that 'china.com' might in fact have a higher value than that of many enterprises in China. And such examples abound in the world of Internet. Many web servers may even own up to the fact that their websites offer nothing much, but their Domain Names are the crux of what little success they enjoy.

When English Domain Names were first opened for registration, many enterprises missed the opportunity of registering their own company's Domain Names. And the price to re-acquire these Domain Name from cyber-squatters were astronomical! With the development of the Internet and the growth of the enterprise, prices normally escalate to even greater levels and as such, companies normally end up paying insane amounts to re-purchase rights to Domain Names. TimeNet spent US$20,000 to purchase the Domain Name it is using now. That goes to show that Domain Names have already become a trademark for enterprises on the Internet.

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