As part of its drive to strengthen .MOBI awareness, registry dotMobi is releasing some 650 previously reserved city names. But it's not giving them away. We asked dotMobi for details…
After a successful trial run with the Helsinki.mobi website, more city .MOBI names will be release in August
You may have heard that starting August 20th, cities around the world that have their names on the .MOBI reserved names list will be able to apply for use of that name.
You may also have read that the names will be given away to applicants, at which stage you'll be wondering why a registry like dotMobi, the guys behind the .MOBI domain, would short-circuit their accredited registrars and start selling domains direct, albeit special ones like these city domains?
Read on, and you may just end up wondering why some people don't check their facts before running a story!
Cities only
Applications can only be sent by suitable entities like city governments for example. Successful applicants will be asked to sign a contract dotMobi and pledge to put up a mobile-device-compliant website under the domain name within 60 days of receiving it.
The initiative follows a trial started in May which saw Finnish Capital Helsinki's investment promotion agency partner with dotMobi to create the information website Helsinki.mobi.
This trial was deemed a success and now cities around the world can get their .MOBI name.
City names are not free
But not for free. We contacted dotMobi and asked them how this was going to work. They confirmed that although the release of city names from the reserved list is only for the benefit of the relevant city authorities, they will still be required to register their names like any other domain owner.
"Registrations for successful applicants will take place through accredited dotMobi registrars," explained Caroline Greer, dotMobi's director of Policy and Industry Relations.. "The names will be charged at the standard registration price and will be renewed at the standard renewal price charged by the registrar. Renewal of the domain depends on the applicant continuing to meet his content obligations as set out in the contract."
No pressure
City authorities will be under no pressure to register their names "or else". DotMobi has clearly opted to stay away from any potential infringement issues, setting no deadline for the application process which will "continue indefinitely".
"The reason for not having a closing date is in recognition of the fact that some Government entities will be slower to move than others," says Greer. A good call, especially considering the sensitive nature of place names with both local governments and ICANN.
So even if cities don't claim their names, don't expect anyone else to get them. "We have no plans at the present time to allocate City Names outside of Government entities," Greer confirms.
And don't expect any other .MOBI reserved names to be release anytime soon either. "We have no announced plans for any other reserved names at present," says Greer.
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