The dot-pro public comment period is over and RegistryPro and ICANN have received overwhelming support for their proposed changes to the dot-pro registry. The public show of support takes dot-pro one step closer to enabling all licensed professionals from anywhere in the world to register dot-pro domain names that work just like dot-com domain names.
Dot-pro currently supports Lawyers, Medical Doctors, Accountants and Engineers. Examples of businesses and professions that will soon be eligible for dot-pro include: Architects, Dentists, Educators, Chiropractors, Veterinarians, Surveyors, Plumbers, Inspectors, Investment Advisors, Real Estate Brokers, Insurance Brokers, Nurses, Opticians, Optometrists, Podiatrists, Psychologists, Therapists, Social Workers, Building Contractors, Electricians, Patent and Trademark Examiners, Court Reporters, Police and Fire Safety Officers and any other profession where an official credential is required for a business or individual to offer services.
Qualified businesses and professionals can reserve their business names, trademarks, and personal names on a first-come, first-served basis prior to the rule changes using EnCirca's ProForwarding service (http://www.encirca.pro). Trademark owners may protect their intellectual property in advance of any rule changes by using EnCirca's ProForwarding service as well.
The comment period was created by ICANN to provide an opportunity for the Internet community to provide feedback on expanding the dot-pro domain to professionals throughout the world. ICANN has published a summary of the public comments. These findings will be used to inform the ICANN staff recommendation about the proposal to the Board of Directors. The dot-pro public comment summary is available at http://forum.icann.org/lists/rproproposal/msg00029.html.
"We enthusiastically support the proposed changes," says Thomas Barrett, President of EnCirca, the leading dot-pro registrar. "These long overdue changes will open the door for businesses representing over 1,100 licensed professions, from every country in the world, to be eligible to register a dot-pro domain name."
With these changes, there are no restrictions on what types of names a business may register. Businesses may register industry keywords, search engine terms, company names, trademarks or personal names. There is also no limit to how many dot-pro domain names an individual or company can register.
There are still some conditions to ensure dot-pro ownership remains more exclusive compared to dot-com domains. Under the new rules, any business or person recognized by a government agency or licensing body is eligible for dot-pro. However, there will be no verification of credentials conducted before the dot-pro names are used. Instead, the dot-pro registry will perform periodic audits of the registered names to check compliance.
About EnCirca
EnCirca was formed in 2001 and is accredited by ICANN and is the leading ICANN registrar for the dot-pro domain, operated by RegistryPro, an ICANN registry exclusively for professionals who wish to brand and promote themselves on the Internet. For more information, please visit http://encirca.com.