Update on CentralNic gTLDs

RNS Number : 5131D

CentralNic Group PLC

31 March 2014

 



Press Release

31 March 2014

CentralNic Group plc

("CentralNic" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Update on CentralNic gTLDs

.ink Top-Level Domains launches today and auction dates announced

CentralNic Group plc (AIM:CNIC), the internet platform business which earns revenues from the registration and renewal of domain names, is pleased to provide an update on generic Top-Level Domains ("gTLDs"), during this important era for the Internet.

NEW LAUNCH: .INK PREMIERES ON 31 MARCH

CentralNic is pleased to report that the .ink gTLD will be available for trademark owners to acquire from 31 March 2014, and for anyone wishing to secure a .ink domain from 5 June 2014.  Pre-launch research has identified three considerable markets for .ink domain names:

(1) the tattoo industry, which generates $2.3 billion in the US alone, where 40% of the population aged 26-44 have "ink";

(2) the ink industry, with printer ink alone a $17 billion industry globally; and

(3) the press, from the 150 million blogs to the 6000 newspapers published every day.

CentralNic CEO Ben Crawford commented: "With .ink, domain names are becoming cool. Whether you have ink on your skin or ink in your veins, a .ink domain name will mark you as being an individual not content to be labelled with vanilla domain endings like .com and .co.uk."

ADDITIONAL DOMAINS PREPARING FOR LAUNCH

CentralNic's clients have an additional 24 new TLDs that are currently in the contracting process with ICANN.  These fall into two categories:

1. TLDs to be retailed through registrars. These domains include: .bar, .college, .contact, .fans, .feedback, .pid, and .rest - the global domain for restaurants. It was announced last week that CentralNic has won a new contract from one of the leading applicants Radix to be exclusive distributor for the domains .website, .host, .space and .press.

2. Sixteen "DotBrand" TLDs for corporations obtaining their own business names as Top-Level Domains so as to create their own branded universe of websites. CentralNic's "DotBrand" clients include Global 1000 enterprises such as Saudi Telecom, Qatar Telecom, Etisalat and Kuwait Finance House, as well as media and entertainment leaders The Guardian (.theguardian) and the world's leading talent agency, William Morris Endeavor.

Ben Crawford commented: "We are excited to be rolling out such a strong line-up of new TLDs to provide new websites with meaningful alternatives to the traditional endings, where very few good domains remain available."

24 DOMAINS GOING TO AUCTION

CentralNic's clients have applied for an additional 24 TLDs that have passed ICANN initial evaluation and are now in the contention resolution process.  These TLDS, including .app, .blog, .cafe, .chat, .forum, .golf, .law, .love, .mail, .news, and .school, are due to go to auction from July 2014 to February 2015, according to the following schedule.

CentralNic CEO, Ben Crawford commenting on the auctions said: "Together with our partners, we have a substantial funds to ensure that a large number of the auctions go our way, and we secure some of the best domains remaining to distribute exclusively on our platform."

-Ends-

For further information:

CentralNic Group plc
Ben Crawford (CEO)	[phone]
Abchurch Communications
Jamie Hooper / Olivia Stuart Taylor	[phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

About CentralNic Group plc 

CentralNic owns and operates a proprietary platform over which domain names are distributed to over 83% of the world's registrars - entities such as GoDaddy and Network Solutions that retail domain names directly to the public. The Company is already the exclusive global distributor for domains using 30 different domain extensions, including .la (for domains such as http://intel.la), and .uk.com (for domains such as http://avon.uk.com).

CentralNic was selected as the Registry Service Provider and distributor for 60 applications for new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) - a program devised by the domain industry regulator ICANN to supplement the existing TLDs such as .com and .co.uk with new domain extensions. The list of new gTLDs that will make exclusive use of CentralNic's platform include: .wiki, .bar, .college, .rest, .ink, .feedback, .contact and .xyz.

·     CentralNic (LSE: CNIC) is a leading provider of registry services to the global market for domain names and is headquartered in London. The Company has developed a proprietary platform for powering and distributing domain names, and is the exclusive global distributor for domains using 58 different domain extensions. These include .la (for domains such as http://intel.la), .uk.com (for domains such as http://avon.uk.com), and .us.com (for domains such as http://activia.us.com).

·     CentralNic's distribution network includes 1500 registrars - entities such as GoDaddy and Network Solutions in over 80 countries that retail domain names directly to the public and wholesale them through an additional network of over 100,000 resellers. End users register these domain names as an address for their websites, as a defensive measure to protect their brands online, as a method of capturing internet traffic and achieving desired rankings on search engines, and as an investment.

·     CentralNic distributes domains on behalf of their clients - rights-holders or "registries" - on a revenue share basis. CentralNic-distributed domains use an annual registration fee model, paid in advance by the end users, providing a predictable annuity revenue stream for both CentralNic and its clients.

·     Prior to the Radix contract, CentralNic was already selected as the Registry Service Provider and distributor for over 60 applications for new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) - a program devised by the domain industry regulator ICANN to supplement the existing TLDs such as .com and .co.uk with new domain extensions in the most significant change to the internet since its inception.

·     CentralNic is itself the rights holder for 24 domain extensions, including .us.com, .eu.com, .uk.com, .ru.com and .cn.com. It therefore retains 100% of the wholesale revenues for domains using those domain extensions.

·     CentralNic is the owner of a portfolio of premium domain names including 18 two-letter .com domains including http://us.com and http://uk.com.

·     In addition to its growth as a global distributor of domain names, the Directors believe that there is potential for CentralNic to also become a significant retailer of domain names direct to end users, and CentralNic has already obtained the necessary accreditations, built the technology, signed initial contracts and commenced trading as a domain name retailer.

All Group information and news can be found at http://www.centralnic.com

 

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