BOSTON, June 1, 2004 – LAWFUEL – EnCirca, Inc. (www.encirca.com), accredited registrar for the .Pro Internet Domain, announces that open registrations for .Pro domain start at 1pm eastern time today.
“A scan of our pre-registration queue shows that customers
are applying for both their firm name as well as keywords
that describe the type of practice they have,” says Tom Barrett, President of EnCirca. “The .Pro domain allows lawyers, doctors and accountants to brand themselves on the internet and make sure they get found via the major search engines.”
The .Pro TLD is designed to give professionals both a distinctive and secure Internet presence for their Web site, email traffic and confidential transactions. Each live .Pro domain registration will include a digital certificate for authenticating communications and transactions. Professionals must undergo a verification process to validate their eligibility for using a .Pro name extension.
Initially, the .Pro domain will only be available to
doctors, lawyers and CPAs. But there are no restrictions on
the strings that can be registered. Registrants are not
limited to just the name of their practice. In addition,
they can register any generic string they wish.
“Professionals are now able to utilize the same security technology that the leading e-commerce websites use to interact with their customers,” said Barrett. “This is accomplished via digital certificates that encrypt all data communications involving client or patient information.”
.Pro is the last of the seven new domain extensions approved
by ICANN to be made available for public registrations.
After several delays, control of RegistryPro, the operator
of the domain was recently transferred to the Hostway Corporation. Hostway quickly committed the financial resources necessary to launch the domain to the public.
RegistryPro has implemented a phased release schedule for
the .Pro domain:
– Phase I: June 1: general availability of third-level
domains (xyz.law.pro, xyz.med.pro and xyz.cpa.pro).
Registrants must supply credentials as a US-licensed lawyer, doctor or accountant.
– Phase II: July 12: general availability of second level domains (xyz.pro). Registrants must supply credentials for two of the three professions (law, medicine or accounting).
In conjunction with the new second level offering,
RegistryPro has introduced a new defensive registration
product for trademark owners. The ProDefense product allows trademark owners to protect their intellectual property in the second level .pro domain. Trademark owners can still apply for defensive registrations as long as their desired string has not already been registered.
About EnCirca
Founded in 2001, EnCirca, Inc. (http://www.EnCirca.com) is
an accredited ICANN registrar for the .Pro registry. It provides domain name registration services to a wide range of businesses and consumers worldwide. Visit http://www.encirca.com for more information.
