Podgorica, Montenegro – July 22, 2008 – The .ME Registry officially opened for live, real-time registrations July 17, 2008 and was met with huge international demand. More than 50,000 new domain names were registered in the first two days, with the first “liveâ€? name registered being: yusu.me.
“While English speaking countries led the way in registration volume, many non-English speaking countries such as Germany, China, and France made a strong showing,â€? said Predrag Lesic, the registry’s executive director. “We believe this bodes well for the international success of .ME as the only domain that is all about YOU! .ME is a domain space that offers personalized names for your products and services, or your personal presence on the web, including email, in a more generic way than any other.â€?
Top 10 Countries of .ME Registration by Percentage:
1. United States 50 %
2. United Kingdom 11%
3. Germany 9%
4. Canada 5%
5. China 3%
6. France 3%
7. Netherlands 2%
8. Australia 1.5%
9. Israel 1%
10. Spain 1%
“The .ME registry performed extremely well and was able to accommodate the high demand for .ME domain names,â€? said Ram Mohan, Afilias’ Chief Technology Officer. “Afilias’ registry system performed reliably, recording new create requests in under 21 milliseconds and processing more than 5,000 names in the first minute of open registration. In total, the registry seamlessly accommodated more than 60 registrars vying for .ME names.â€?
The registration process for .ME began in May with the Sunrise period for trademark holders. Land Rush for the general public to register names began in June. In total more than 30,000 domains were applied for in Sunrise and Land Rush periods, and more than 50,000 new registrations were adding in the initial days of live, real-time registration.