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On May 17, 2006, dotMobi announced that the first and only Internet address created for mobile phones, .mobi, will be available through 16 of the top 20 domain name registrars worldwide. Starting May 22, members of select mobile industry associations have had an opportunity to register their trademark names as a .mobi domain. Since June 12, trademark holders have been able to register their trademarks as .mobi names and individual users can start filing for registration starting August 28.

"The .mobi initiative gives users and search engines the ability to easily identify sites specifically designed for mobile phones," said Bob Parsons, CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com. "Internet-enabled mobile devices have become quite popular the past few years. In order to get the full experience of browsing with these mobile devices, it is only natural they get their own domain extension."

The list of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) accredited registrars for .mobi domain names can be found on the dotMobi Web site at http://pc.mtld.mobi/switched/findaregistrar.html.

"The .mobi Internet address brings the ease of accessing the Internet from the PC to mobile phones everywhere," said Jens Wagner, CEO of Key-Systems GmbH. "This clearly indicates Internet sites and applications that are designed for consumers on the go."

To make creating Web sites for mobile Internet functional and reliable, the dotMobi Switch On!™ Guide for Web Development contains rules and best practices based on open standards. Designed for content developers and service providers, the guide ensures that their Web sites can be viewed and navigated by any mobile phone.

"We are very excited about selling the .mobi domains. This represents significant new opportunities for innovation in the design of easily accessible web sites relevant to mobile users," said Dr. Bruce Tonkin, CTO of Melbourne IT. "The full potential of access to information and services on the Internet by mobile users has not yet been achieved. This is an opportunity to establish a new top level domain name space, with a well
understood purpose, that may eventually rival .com as a globally recognized domain name space."

dotMobi Backed by Industry

Backed by many of the world's leading mobile operators, handset manufacturers and software developers, dotMobi (the informal name of mTLD mobile Top Level Domain, Ltd.) was designated as the official worldwide registry for the .mobi domain by ICANN in July 2005.

dotMobi is working closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), registrars, copyright bodies and site owners to ensure that trademarks are properly protected during the sunrise period.

For more information on .mobi domains and registration information, visit http://mtld.mobi.

About dotMobi

Headquartered in Dublin, dotMobi - a wholly owned subsidiary of Afilias Limited - is a worldwide leader in enabling the development & discovery of quality mobile content through innovative services, in turn helping businesses and individuals reach the world's billions of mobile phone users. dotMobi spurs mobile industry innovation by giving content providers the tools they need to ensure the Web will work on mobile phones with speed, accuracy and relevant content. (Learn More)

Related topics: DNS, Domain Names, Registry Services, ICANN, Mobile, Top-Level Domains