Dot Asia

Filed in archive Internet on October 17, 2007

According to the BBC, Asia is getting its own domain extension: dot asia.

Remember the days when there were basically only half a dozen or so Internet domain extensions? Dot com meant that it was a commercial site. Dot org meant the site belonged to a non-profit organization. There was dot net for Internet providers and dot gov for government agencies.




Country name extension eventually became available: dot au for Australia, dot uk for Great Britain, dot cn for China, dot jp for Japan...

The dot asia domain extension is available now for some agencies and companies. Governments can obtain addresses, so I won't be surprised to see official website addresses like "http://www.nepal.asia" or "http://www.srilanka.asia" popping up soon. Companies can also get their dot asia addresses now, so it probably won't be long before addresses like "http://tigerbeer.asia" or "http://AmbowEducationGroup.asia" show up.

Dot asia has been in the works since 2000. Official approval for the Dot Asia domain extension came a year ago. Registration will be opened to the general public in March 2008.

Content Sutra has documented some of the interest in dot asia names in India.