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Danyll Wills

Hong Kong internet users will be able to register domain names ending in '.hk' from January 26.

The date had been set for the beginning of January, but the Hong Kong Domain Name Registration Co (HKDNR) delayed the launch, citing a need for public consultation.

Joseph Yu, chairman of the domain registry's parent company Hong Kong Internet Registration Corp (HKIRC), said the firm had to accommodate many views.

'We want to evaluate the wishes of people in Hong Kong and we want to come up with a set of policies that will appeal to a broad base of users,' he said.

'To respect the comments and views of a wider base of the public, we decided to give further time to look at the points they raised so that we could come up with an enhanced set of rules.'

Several businesses recently complained to the South China Morning Post that the process would cause confusion and force businesses to invest in new domains, benefiting only the HKDNR.

Mr Yu said the delay had not been caused by any particular group, adding that it was not the policy of the company to comment on individual criticisms or complaints. 'There is, of course, no guarantee that everybody will be satisfied,' he admitted. Similar policies had already begun in China and Taiwan, he said, and that had put some pressure on Hong Kong.

'China and Taiwan have recently launched '.cn' and '.tw' domains. People were coming up to me and asking why Hong Kong was not doing the same thing,' he said.

HKIRC chief executive Jonathan Shea said  the elaborate application process would  help prevent disputes.

'There are three phases. The first is priority registration for trademark holders. The second phase is pre-registration for our existing customers. And the third phase is called the 'sunrise period',' he said.

Priority would go to local trademark owners, he said. 'There may be more than one applying for the same name. We will first see if any is an existing customer, then we will give them the priority. If not, we do a random draw.'

Mr Shea admitted there  could be conflicts between owners of third-level domains. For example, the owners of abc.net.hk and abc.com.hk could both apply for abc.hk.

'Firstly, we shall determine if the third level is '.gov', in which case they have the priority. If one of the applicants is a statutory organisation under the laws of Hong Kong, then they will have the priority. If both are statutory, we will have to look at the commencement date of the third-level domain name.'

The sunrise period will be open to the public. At that point, conflicting applications will be decided by a random draw.

Despite complaints that the domain pricing of  $250 a year is expensive, Mr Yu said many companies would buy several domain names similar to their own to protect themselves against domain squatters. 'We are living in a technology environment that is constantly changing. A large company will get many domain names to protect its business and brand. This is true all over the world,' he said.

Mr Yu added that, to prevent fraud, some addresses would not be made available.

'We are still working on a list of names that cannot be used, what we are calling a 'reserved list'. If somebody wanted a name that had 'bank' in it or 'gov', or something like that, we must double check their credentials,' he said.

In recent weeks, a series of fake  websites have been closed down by authorities. Sites resembling those of DBS Bank, HSBC, the Bank of China and Schroder Investment Management have been launched to trick  unsuspecting users. The sites all used domain names similar to those of the legitimate firms.



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