The PW Registry Corporation (www.pwregistry.pw), the public trustee of the .pw domain, announced on November 22 that Open Registrations for the .pw ccTLD begin on December 15, 2004. Internet users may choose a new spam-free email identity, via any Web browser, by entering their preferred identity and then adding .pw at the end. Trademark owners may block the registration of .pw domain names and .pw email addresses matching their trademark by filing PW Defensive Sponsorships. Trademark owners should submit their Defensive Sponsorships by December 13 to ensure their trademark is protected at the start of the .pw Open Registration period.
Tom Barrett, President of PW Registry, said that the .pw domain has a domain name dispute policy that trademark owners may utilize if they feel a .pw domain name violates their rights, and that potential infringement and dilution of brand names and famous trademarks in the .pw domain are better prevented via the PW Defensive Sponsorship Service. The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) is the exclusive domain name dispute provider for the .pw domain. HKIAC's exclusive dispute website for .pw is located at http://disputes.pwregistry.pw.
The .pw beta testing period will end on December 10. Users may still sign up for a free beta account by entering their desired address into their browser ending with a .pw. All beta users interested in converting their subscriptions must do so by December 10, provided that no Defensive Sponsorships exist for the second level domain.
The PW auction for premium Affiliate Sponsorships (http://auctions.pwregistry.pw) is still under way. In order to receive commissions for any sales starting December 15, the auction for a community domain covered by the Affiliate Sponsorship must have closed by December 13. Otherwise, commission tracking will begin on January 1, 2005.
