South Africans and other Africans will soon be able to register domain names under the proposed .africa domain name.
This is according to Donvay Wegierski, director of Werksmans Attorneys.
According to Mr. Wegierski, the .africa domain name will be launched by the end of the year. This will be the first time in the history of the internet that Africa will have their “˜own‘ domain name.
“œIt will present an opportunity to identify the African continent online for the first time. We expect many existing and new companies across the continent to to take up the .africa domain to show to the world where they are from,“ Wiegerski said.
He also emphasized that the .africa domain is another step in Africa‘s growth and development, and that the domain was specifically created “œby Africans for Africans“.
Wegierski said that the domain will launch in two phases. The first, called the “˜Sunrise‘ phase, will offer trademark owners first priority to register .africa domains for a certain period of time.
Wegierski added that this is the reason trademark owners should validate their trademarks at the Trademark Clearing House (TMCH). If they do not do so, they will not be able to take advantage of the “˜Sunrise‘ phase.
The second phase, called the “˜Landrush‘ phase, will subsequently open after the initial “˜Sunrise‘ phase. This phase will operate like most domain registries work nowadays; first come, first serve.
Although the procedure to register .africa domain names has not been disclosed officially, it is said that the .africa domain registry will be managed by UniForum who will be trading as ZA Central Registry or ZACR.
Luckily for South Africans and other Africans across the continent, Wegierski has said that the annual registration costs for the (soon to be) coveted .africa domain name will be reasonable.
Considering that locally, most .za domain names cost roughly between R250 and R300 to register and R200 to renew annually, we should hope to be looking at the same price for the .africa domain name.
The .africa domain name certainly is a step in the right direction to elevate Africa‘s online presence on a global scale – and with Google planning on bring internet to Africa in their balloons, it might be exactly what Africa needs.
Source: mybroadband.co.za
