How can I be the first to register a new top-level domain (.nyc)?

January 19, 2014 6:06 PM

My company is interested in securing some domains related to our business under the new .nyc top level domain. Some of them will be our companys' names, and others we would like are more general descriptions of our business and are likely to be highly sought after. I've registered for updates on the official site and I'll act right away as soon as I get any updates. What can I do beyond that to better my chances? Anywhere I can "pre-register"? Are there brokers for this sort of thing?
posted by brbmaroon to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

If you're talking about trademarks you want to register with the Trademark Clearinghouse. You can do that directly or go with a registrar who is acting as an agent. Once the .NYC sunrise period opens (it's not been announced yet) you'll be able to submit your application.

If you're not talking about trademarked terms then you'll want to keep an ear to the ground for landrush. During landrush you'll pay a premium over general availability, but this is the earliest you can get non-trademark terms. I've not heard whether or not the .NYC landrush will be first come/first serve or if it'll be an auction model.

Some registrars are accepting pre-registration, but that doesn't guarantee anything as competing orders can be submitted at other registrars. Some registrars will also be charging non-refundable applications fees during landrush. Be sure to read all terms and conditions to make sure you'll be able to get a FULL refund for any domain names that are not won.

.NYC lost their GM in November when he jumped ship to become the CEO at the recently announced .co.com. To my knowledge they have not replaced him and this is resulting in less than ideal communication coming out of their offices.

This is my gig, I run a registrar that will be selling .NYC, among several hundred other TLDs. I'm happy to help out with more detailed information based on your specific needs if you want to get in touch.
posted by FlamingBore at 6:27 PM on January 19, 2014

Also, I should mention - depending on the sorts of domain names that you're interested in, almost every registry is holding back a number (from a couple dozen to several thousand) premium generic domain names which they may sell by auction or price at a "buy it now" premium or in some other scheme to maximize profits.
posted by FlamingBore at 6:35 PM on January 19, 2014