Will .CO be the new .COM?

I really don’t know… associated globally with the words ‘Company’, ‘Corporation’ and ‘Commerce’ – the .CO domain is easy to recognise, simple to remember and flexible to use. Anyway – don’t miss out on this opportunity to grab your .CO domain!

Ready for Launch

.CO will be launched through a familiar process for domain names.

The so called Global Sunrise launch took place from 26 April to 10 June 2010, allowing trademark holders to apply for the .CO domain names.

Landrush took place from 21 June to 14 July 2010, open to anyone interested in registering certain high priority domain names.

General availability (now on!) will begin on 20 July 2010, opening the .CO domain for registrations on a first-come, first-served basis around the world.

• .CO addresses registered to date
• check .CO domain name availability
• whois .CO domain info

So where is .CO coming from?

.CO is officially the country-code domain for Colombia. Once only limited to Colombian companies, .CO will become available to use across the globe. The Colombian move is similar as the opening up of the .TV country-code domain by Tuvalu or .FM country-code domain by Federated States of Micronesia.

.CO in the news, what’s the buzz?

• WOW: New Record Of $53K For AutoGlass.co Highlights Another $500K In Land Rush .Co Auctions
• One Hundred Domain Names per Second Registered in .CO General Availability Phase
• Google approves .co domain for international use
• B52 Media, Bookmarks.com Buy Single Letter Domain E.CO For $81,000
• Twitter To Begin Wrapping All Links With Official t.co Link Shortener
• What’s in an (extension) name? .com vs .co …and why you should take notice.
• Domain.com expects surge of .CO domain registrations during the Landrush phase
• dot CO is the next address

.co.nz

commercial – the mostly used but officially meant for commercial organisations
385,459 active domains

.org.nz

not-for-profit organisations
25,167 active domains

.net.nz

officially meant for organisations directly related to the NZ Internet but nowadays a good second choice when the .co.nz extension is already taken
24,867 active domains

.school.nz

schools – primary, secondary and pre-schools and related organisations
3,117 active domains

.ac.nz

academic – tertiary educational institutions and related organisations
1,884 active domains

.gen.nz

general – individuals/organisations not covered elsewhere
1,361 active domains

.govt.nz

government – national, regional and local government organisations. A moderated domain name.
1,085 active domains

.geek.nz

geeks – computer freaks
1,078 active domains

.maori.nz

Māori people, groups, and organisations
646 active domains

.health.nz

registered practitioners and organisations providing health and disability services
134 active domains

.iwi.nz

traditional Māori tribe. A moderated domain name.
77 active domains

.mil.nz

military organisations of the NZ Government. A moderated domain name.
33 active domains

.cri.nz

Crown Research Institutes. A moderated domain name.
13 active domains

.parliament.nz

agencies and individuals who are part of the parliamentary system. A moderated domain name.
8 active domains

.bank.nz

bank – organisations registered as banks by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
no active domains

Five domain name extensions are moderated (restricted): .cri.nz, .govt.nz, .iwi.nz, .mil.nz and .parliament.nz meaning that applicants need to meet specific additional criteria before they can be registered.

Active domain counts as per June 2011 (source dnc)

Where do I find it?

You’ll find your UDAI in your domain name registration confirmation email.

What do I do with it?

Keep it secure! And only provide it when you want to change from domain name registrar.