Registration for .mp domain names extended

Saipan DataCom Inc., the registry for the newly available “.mp” top-level domain, has extended Sunrise Registration through Nov. 30, 2004. During Sunrise Registration, .mp domain names and the accompanying dotMP CS (Commercial Site) are available only to trademark and service mark owners. Open registration for dotMP CS and dotMP PS (Personal Site) will begin Dec. 1, 2004.

“Registrations have been brisk and companies and marketers are recognizing that dotMP presents a quick and effective way to get their brand and message on the mobile Internet,” said Saipan DataCom president, Gib Bintliff. “We received numerous requests for an extension and realized we needed to give trademark holders a little more time.”

An impressive group of companies have already registered .mp domains derived from their trademarks. Many of these companies are already using their mobile sites for marketing and promotion. Surf wear designer SOLJAH, and the Hard Rock Cafe recently combined radio ads and SOLJAH’s dotMP site (http://soljah.mp) to promote events targeting youth and to get feed back from their mobile visitors. “Setting up our mobile site was easy and our customers loved seeing it on their phones,” commented SOLJAH founder Alika Winter. “The response was great. Now we’re working up a new strategy for using soljah.mp in Japan. They’re crazy about their mobiles.”

The previously unavailable .mp extension is the only existing TLD dedicated solely as the address for mobile Internet sites and all .mp domain names include a hosted dotMP(TM) Commercial or Personal mobile Internet site. Unique dotMP mobile sites are automatically generated with registration of each .mp domain name. No site authoring or programming is required. Internal hosting and a proprietary device detection system ensure that all .mp second-level domain names (http://soljah.mp, for example) display properly on mobile phones around the world.

While the commercial version of dotMP serves as a marketing tool for business, dotMP PS (Personal Site) provides consumers with their own unique Internet addresses and their own hosted Web and mobile Internet sites. The consumer version also includes personalized Web-based Email, community and sharing features and direct photo uploads from camera phones. dotMP PS will be available starting Dec. 1, 2004. Pricing to be announced.

Saipan DataCom, Inc. is a Northern Mariana Islands corporation. The CNMI is a US commonwealth and .mp is the CNMI’s country-code TLD. The company has been the administrator and registry for the .mp TLD since 1996.