FAQ for .CN

1. Who is CNNIC?
2. What is the relationship between NeuStar and CNNIC?
3. Who runs the Registry?
4. Why did CNNIC choose to partner with NeuStar?
5. How long does this contract last?
6. Is it exclusive?

1. What is changing within .CN?
2. Will NeuStar sell .CN names retail?
3. Can Registrars market .CN names to registrants located in China?
4. Are there any unusual features of the .CN End User Agreement (compared with other gTLD contracts)?
5. Are there any unusual features of the .CN Registry Gateway agreement (compared with other gTLD contracts)?
6. Is there a Nexus requirement for Registrants?
7. You say there are "no policy restrictions" on third-level .CN names. What does that mean, exactly?
8. Does a company or organization need a subsidiary in China in order to acquire a .CN name?
9. Are second-level registrations (.CN) being offered in addition to third-level (.com.cn, .net.cn, .org.cn) registrations?

1. What are the rules governing intellectual property (IP) disputes in the .CN domain?
2. Will there be a Sunrise Period for IP protection for .CN?
3. Are there any restrictions on content for the .CN domain?

1. What Registry-Registrar Protocol will be used for .CN?
2. What is the technical and operational relationship between NeuStar and CNNIC?
3. How will you handle the .CN land rush (FCFS, batch, round robin)?
4. What are the rules for renewals?
5. What are the rules for Registrar transfers?
6. What are the rules for Registrant transfers?
7. What are the rules for deletions?
8. What happens when a domain name expires?
9. If a domain name is in the 15-day pending delete period, can it be restored?

1. Why should an international business secure a .CN name?
2. Who will buy .CN names?
3. Who will make the purchase decision for a .CN name?
4. Where are these .CN buyers located?
5. What is the .CN value proposition?
6. What term lengths are available?
7. What is unique about .CN?
8. Do you plan to offer other .CN domain names? How about Chinese language domain names?
9. When is the launch?
10. What volumes do you forecast?
11. Are you offering any value-adds such as website translation or shipping/export advice?

1. Who is CNNIC?
   The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) was founded in 1997. It is a nonprofit organization of administration and service, performing duties of the National Internet Network Information Center. The management of CNNIC is handled by the Computers Network Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Science. CNNIC operates under the auspices of China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII), an agency that also oversees telecommunications, multimedia, broadcasting and satellite transmissions across China.
   
   Among its many duties, CNNIC provides domain name registration, IP address distribution and autonomous system (AS) codes distribution.
   
   
2. What is the relationship between NeuStar and CNNIC?
   CNNIC has partnered with NeuStar to provide Registry gateway services for the .CN domain. CNNIC is the administrator of the domain, setting policy and service levels, running the .CN Whois and generating the .CN zone file.
   
   
3. Who runs the Registry?
   CNNIC is the official administrator of the .CN Registry.
   
   
4. Why did CNNIC choose to partner with NeuStar?
   This partnership builds on a previously announced strategic relationship between NeuStar and CNNIC, under which the companies agreed to work cooperatively in the network convergence arena.
   
   
5. How long does this contract last?
   NeuStar and CNNIC are committed to a long-term strategic relationship. Specific terms of the agreement are confidential.
   
   
6. Is it exclusive?
   The nature of the CNNIC/NeuStar partnership is exclusive to the extent that all non-Chinese registrars wishing to sell .CN names must work with NeuStar to facilitate accreditation and will connect to the .CN registry through the Registry Gateway.
   
   

1. What is changing within .CN?
   Under recently announced policy, .CN domain names will be available for registration worldwide. Previously, only registrants located in China were able to register a .CN name. CNNIC is also moving to an EPP-based real-time registration system. CNNIC has also announced a new competitive registrar model. Previously, .CN sales agents accepted .CN registrations, but CNNIC acted as the exclusive Registrar and Registry.
   
   
2. Will NeuStar sell .CN names retail?
   No. NeuStar will only offer .CN domain names through .CN accredited Registrars.
   
   
3. Can Registrars market .CN names to registrants located in China?
   Yes. Registrars and resellers of .CN domain names are able to offer .CN domain names to registrants worldwide.
   
   
4. Are there any unusual features of the .CN End User Agreement (compared with other gTLD contracts)?
   The .CN end-user agreement is under development. NeuStar expects the agreement to be very similar to most registrant agreements.
   
   
5. Are there any unusual features of the .CN Registry Gateway agreement (compared with other gTLD contracts)?
   The Registry Gateway Agreement is under development. The agreement will be similar to typical Registry-Registrar agreements. The agreement will be posted to the NeuStar .CN website at www.neustar.com.cn.
   
   
6. Is there a Nexus requirement for Registrants?
   No. Under recently announced .CN policy, registrars may accept .CN registrations from users worldwide.
   
   
7. You say there are "no policy restrictions" on third-level .CN names. What does that mean, exactly?
   After launch, any business or organization, worldwide, can register a .CN name under a new liberalized policy that no longer restricts .CN registrations to Chinese entities.
   
   
8. Does a company or organization need a subsidiary in China in order to acquire a .CN name?
   No.
   
   
9. Are second-level registrations (.CN) being offered in addition to third-level (.com.cn, .net.cn, .org.cn) registrations?
   Not at the present time, although CNNIC and NeuStar intend to accept second-level .CN registrations under a new policy in the near future. Additional details will be provided as they become available.
   
   

1. What are the rules governing intellectual property (IP) disputes in the .CN domain?
   CNNIC has posted a policy regarding intellectual property disputes on its website. The policy is very similar to the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) common in other Web domains. Visit http://www.cnnic.net.cn/doc/e-10.shtml to read more.
   
   
2. Will there be a Sunrise Period for IP protection for .CN?
   No.
   
   
3. Are there any restrictions on content for the .CN domain?
   Please refer to the China Internet Domain Name Regulations, found online on the CNNIC website (http://www.cnnic.net.cn/doc/e-8.shtml).
   
   

1. What Registry-Registrar Protocol will be used for .CN?
   All transactions between the Registry and the Registrars will be handled via EPP. The specifications will be the same as .BIZ and .US.
   
   
2. What is the technical and operational relationship between NeuStar and CNNIC?
   CNNIC is the Registry operator for .CN and is responsible for Whois and DNS updates. NeuStar's Registry Gateway allows Tucows to connect to CNNIC's Registry in order to register .CN names.
   
   
3. How will you handle the .CN land rush (FCFS, batch, round robin)?
   The anticipated .CN landrush will be handled on a "first come, first served" basis.
   
   
4. What are the rules for renewals?
   Registrars can renew domain names through the "Renewal" command. There is no auto-renewal operation in .CN; thus, there is no auto-renewal grace period.
   
   
5. What are the rules for Registrar transfers?
   Registrar transfers in .CN will only be allowed for non-China-based Registrars connecting through NeuStar's gateway. Domain names registered through China-based registrars cannot be transferred into non-China based registrars, and vice versa.
   
   Domain names cannot be transferred within the first 60 days of initial registration. Also, domain names scheduled to expire in fewer than 14 days will not be allowed to transfer. These rules are based on the fact that .CN does not have auto-renewal for expired names.
   
   
6. What are the rules for Registrant transfers?
   There are no specific rules for Registrant transfers. These types of transfers will be handled just like .BIZ and .US at the Registrar level.
   
   
7. What are the rules for deletions?
   Only a sponsoring registrar can initiate the deletion of a .CN domain name. If the deletion is initiated within the 15-day add grace period, the name will be immediately made available for registration. If a deletion is initiated after the 15-day add grace period, the name will be put on a five-day "Pending Delete" status. If a domain name registration expires, the name will be put on a 15-day "Pending Delete" status. All non-expired domain names have a five-day "Pending Delete" status.
   
   
8. What happens when a domain name expires?
   When a domain name expires, it is immediately placed on HOLD and taken out of the zone files.
   
   
9. If a domain name is in the 15-day pending delete period, can it be restored?
   Yes. Sponsoring Registrars can restore domain names during the 15-day pending delete period.
   
   

1. Why should an international business secure a .CN name?
   As the next frontier of global e-business, .CN presents companies everywhere with an unprecedented opportunity to succeed in the Chinese marketplace. China's recent accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is proof that the Chinese economy is taking great strides toward accessibility. Now is an ideal time for companies to protect their brand identities in .CN, and to begin making inroads into the Chinese marketplace.
   
   
2. Who will buy .CN names?
   NeuStar anticipates that the majority of .CN buyers will be small- and medium-sized businesses from around the world, concentrated mainly in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region.
   
   
3. Who will make the purchase decision for a .CN name?
   NeuStar anticipates that a CEO, marketing director, Webmaster or product manager will make most companies' .CN purchasing decisions.
   
   
4. Where are these .CN buyers located?
   As alluded to earlier, NeuStar will target buyers primarily in Europe and the Asia/Pacific region. Countries of interest include Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan-all of which are top trade partners with China.
   
   
5. What is the .CN value proposition?
   .CN offers registrants the protection of a well-established brand name in what is certain to become one of the most lucrative marketplaces in the world. Further, .CN can put Chinese customers at ease, giving them the security of dealing with businesses that have a substantial, "localized" Chinese presence as well as an international one. Finally, .CN enjoys widespread notoriety and recognition among the Chinese population.
   
   
6. What term lengths are available?
   Initially, NeuStar will make .CN domain names available to registrars for term lengths between one (1) and five (5) years.
   
   
7. What is unique about .CN?
   All .CN names (.com.cn, .net.cn and .org.cn) are now available for the first time globally; now, registrants do not need to be residents of China to take advantage of these addresses.
   
   
8. Do you plan to offer other .CN domain names? How about Chinese language domain names?
   The NeuStar/ CNNIC partnership will make com.cn, net.cn and org.cn domain names available through registrars outside of China. Additional .CN domains may be added in the future depending on market demand and policy decisions.
   
   
9. When is the launch?
   NeuStar plans to begin accepting registrations for .CN domain names through registrars located outside of China in December of this year.
   
   
10. What volumes do you forecast?
    China has the world's largest population and one of the world's fastest growing economies. Chinese companies already have over 350,000 joint ventures with foreign firms. We believe that businesses worldwide that are interested in participating in the opportunity will want to have a Chinese identity on the Web.
    
    
11. Will NeuStar reserve Registrar names in .com.cn, .net.cn and .org.cn just like it did in .BIZ and .US?
    Yes. NeuStar will attempt to reserve names for accredited .CN Registrars as long as the names are not already registered.