February 27th, 2009 shadmin
Due to changes of prices at the registrar a couple of months ago, starting from today we are updating our dot cn domain name pricing to RMB75 per year (about USD11.20 at current exchange rate).
We previously used to offer .cn domain names at RMB50 for the first year then RMB75 afterwards. Now the standard price will be applied from the first year of registration.
On the other hand, we are reducing the prices for .hk and .com.hk domain names to RMB280 (USD42), and RMB500 for two years. We used to offer them at RMB400 and 350 per year respectively. Please note that a Hong Kong business license is still required to apply for a .com.hk domain name.
Posted in Domain Names, Service Update | Comments Off on New prices for China and Hong Kong domain names
December 22nd, 2008 shadmin
It seems that the ICANN is finally taking the domain tasting problem seriously. Less than six months after charging a 20 cents fee on domain refunds for domain returned within the five day grace period, new limits are now set for each registrar in terms of domains that can be returned monthly. Under the new rules, domain registrars can only return 50 domains or 10% of registered domains, whichever is greater, each month within the 5 day grace period and get a full refund.
This should help dramatically reduce the domain tasting issues that have been harming the industry, as registrars will enable more controls over the domainers who have been using that tactic to generate advertising revenues.
Posted in Domain Names, International | Comments Off on New limits on domain refund by the ICANN
April 28th, 2008 shadmin
In a circular notice sent to local registrars, the CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) has sent a reminder that blocking customers who wanted to move to another registrar was unlawful.
Indeed, “domain holding” or “domain ransom” is quite a widespread issue in mainland China, with hosts refusing to release customers domains when they wish to change of company. As a web hosting company, we have been again and again confronted with customers who wanted to move to us from a local Chinese hosting firm (due to poor performance, email delivery issues, high costs etc.), just to find out that the old company is rejecting any assistance in terms of transferring the domain to us. In many cases clients who didn’t want to lose their well-marketed domain names ended up staying with that old company they weren’t satisfied with. The only option in many cases were to keep the domain with the registrar then change the DNS to us only for web hosting/email hosting.
The CNNIC rules are clear in terms of domain transfer: customers CAN freely transfer their domains as long as they are 60 days old and over 15 days away from their expiration date. The domain should not be involved in any dispute and there should not be any outstanding fees to pay to the registrar at the moment the transfer is requested. The registrar is obligated to provide demanding customers with the auth code within three (3) working days. The losing registrar shouldn’t in any case ask for additional fees to authorize the transfer.
If you are about to register a domain name or start a website in China, you should take the following measures in order to avoid finding yourself in such situation: 1. Make sure to use a reputable host who has a clear policy in terms of domain transfer. SinoHosting.net for instance make sure to register all clients domain names under their own names, and they are 100% guaranteed to be able to transfer away if required. 2. If you move a lot, it makes sense to keep your domain registration company different from the actual web hosting company. It might cost a few dollars at most but it may save your business from losing its most important asset.
The litigation process involving the CNNIC or even the Chinese courts for domain names can be very long. Make sure to start from the right foot when you develop an online presence in China.
Posted in Domain Names | Comments Off on Chinese registrars required not to block customers who want to transfer away
March 25th, 2008 shadmin
The dot cn domain names in February have passed the 10 million mark in February this year according to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). This is yet another proof of the booming Internet industry in China, with an estimated 210 million Internet users, and growing.
The dot de (Germany) is the only other ccTLD to have over 10 million registrations. The dot au (Australia) has just passed the one million mark recently, with the dot es (Spain) and dot ca (Canada) expected to make it very soon.
SinoHosting.net offers dot cn domain names at RMB50, or free with most of our hosting plans. Protect your brand or get into the Chinese market by securing your .cn domain name today.
Posted in Domain Names | Comments Off on Chinese .cn domain names now over 10 millions
February 18th, 2008 shadmin
I have been rather astonished to read this report where after “investigations” an ICANN-sponsorized panel found no evidence of domain snatching…
Now I KNOW and many people do as know of the existence of this practice. Almost monthly we have clients who, after conducting a WHOIS look up for a domain, find the domain registered when they come back a few days later to get it registered. Most of these domains are so particular that the possibility of a coincidence just needs to be be dismissed. If that were a coincidence, why almost all those domains are registered by domainers, or for the luckiest, released to public domain after five days? There is clearly some malpractice going on there.
Now the domain tasting part. To justify not levying the 20 cents for domain returned, the same reports says that “many parties complained that the fee would penalize legitimate returns, such as ones to correct typos”. First, how many registrants do know at the first place that they can return domains within five days, and how many actually have this option from the registrar or reseller they purchase the domain from? Second, I believe that the incidence of charging 20 cents to someone who registered a domain in error, can completely be justified if at the same time it prevents or limits the companies involved in organized domain tasting, registering millions of domains, keeping them for five days with ads on them, returning them (and getting back their money) while keeping the better one (those which showed some traffic potential during the “tasting” period)…
Posted in Domain Names, International | Comments Off on No domain snatching? ICANN guys please wake up
December 26th, 2007 shadmin
Based on Verisign’s quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief, the Chinese country coded Top Level Domain (dot cn) has passed the dot uk (Britain) to become the second largest worldwide. Germany’s dot de remains the top ccTLD. Now the six largest TLDs are, in that order, .com, .de, .net, .cn, .uk and .org.
The number of ccTLDs has grown to 54.6 million by the end of the third quarter of 07, a 38% increase yoy, and the surge in Chinese Domain Names registrations this year has played an important part of that.
To read the full report, click here
Posted in Domain Names | Comments Off on Chinese dot cn extension now second ccTLD globally
December 11th, 2007 shadmin
Many voices in the blogosphere have reported a new scheme of scam involving generally a Chinese domain registration firm asking for people to register some domain names through them because “a third party” was trying to register them. An example would be a dot.com domain owner who would receive an unsolicited email from those bogus companies because of someone else trying to register some .cn versions of the same website, so they wanted the company owner to register these domains first with them to “protect their trademarks”.
There is no such a thing as a registrar contacting a company because a third party was trying to register a similar domain name. Chinese domain name can be registered both in China and overseas and immediately, provided that they are available at the very moment the search is conducted. On the other hand a domain name doesn’t automatically make a trademark owner unless related to a brand which has been properly registered with the country’s relevant organizations, and in which case the trademark would apply solely to that specific country.
Make sure not to fall for this scam. Nevertheless, if you have China-related operations or expect to be involved with China in the near future, it would make sense to register and park the Chinese extensions (.cn and .com.cn would do) of your domain if available, to avoid it being snapped by domainers, competitors or even scammers as the ones we just mentioned.
Below an email correspondence received by a client (whose website is www.shanghai-tv.com.cn) that would give you a clearer pictures of what is going on.
From: Liza <Liza@netinchina.org.cn>
Subject: Shanghai-tv-Intellectual property rights (TO CEO)
Dear CEO,
We are the domain name registration organization in China, which mainly deal with international company’s in china. We have something important need to confirm with your company.
On the Dec 10, 2007, we received an application formally. One company named ” Viva International Holdings Ltd” wanted to register following
Domain names:
shanghai-tv.cc
shanghai-tv.cn
shanghai-tv.com.hk
shanghai-tv.com.tw
shanghai-tv.hk
shanghai-tv.info
shanghai-tv.net
shanghai-tv.net.cn
shanghai-tv.org.cn
shanghai-tv.tm
shanghai-tv.tv
shanghai-tv.tw
Internet brand keyword:
Shanghai-tv
through our body.
After our initial examination, we found that the keywords and domain names applied for registration are as same as your company’s name and trademark. At presentwe are dealing with it. If you do not know this company, we doubt that they have other aims to buy these domain names. Now we have not finished the registration of Viva company yet, in order to deal with this issue better, Please contact us by telephone or email as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Liza Ding
_________________________
China Net Technology Limited
Tel:+(852)-3059-3057
Fax:+(852)-3059-3080
Email: Liza@netinchina.org.cn
Web: Link Removed
Posted in Domain Names | 212 Comments »
