New Domain Name Availability Dates Set

Net Searchers gives dates and a word of caution for new domain names at ILC 2001

IBC Press Release
For the attention of News Editors
Feature Editors and Forward Planners
Please contact Danielle West 020 7453 2429

New Domain Name Availability Dates Set
Net Searchers gives dates and a word of caution for new domain names at ILC 2001

Online brand and trade mark protection expert, Net Searchers, has warned trade mark owners to take a cautious approach to registering the new domain names .INFO and .BIZ. The advice was delivered in a seminar at the International Law Congress on 16 May in Dublin, hosted by Nick Wood, President of Net Searchers.

Speaking to an audience of lawyers and brand managers, Nick Wood warned businesses against rushing to register domains before having decided upon the correct strategy. The seminar followed the announcement from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on 15 May, announcing the start of the registration process for .BIZ and .INFO this summer.

NeuLevel, the registry operator for .BIZ, will be running an Intellectual Property Claims Database from 21 May to 9 July. During this forty-day period, trade mark owners can submit a trade mark claim form for a common law or registered mark.

Because multiple IP claims for the same character strings are allowed, there is no advantage for early submissions," warned Nick Wood. Interested clients have sufficient time to carefully consider whether the service is attractive for them.

Affilias, the registry operator for .INFO, will open for business with a 30 day Sunrise Period" to start on 25 June. Trade mark owners will be able to apply for one domain name per trade mark, before the land rush when registration opens to the public.

Tom Turcan, CEO of Net Searchers, added, We will be accepting claims for both processes and can also advise clients on how to register and what documentation they will need to support registration."

Net Searchers parent company, Virtual Internet, will operate the registry for .PRO through a joint venture with Register.com. ICANN awarded the joint venture company the right to run the new Top Level Domain for professionals under the name RegistryPro. An agreement with ICANN to start the registration process is expected shortly.

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2/INTERNATIONAL LAW CONGRESS -- NET SEARCHERS DELIVER NEW TLD ADVICE

International Law Congress (www.lawcongress.com)
The second annual ILC 2001 was held in Dublin between May 14-16, 2001. The congress was truly an international affair as legal professionals from all over the world were in attendance. The 5 focused streams covered crucial legal topics such as IT & Communications, Litigation and Human Rights, Legal Management, Financial Law and EU Competition Law. For more information on speakers, ILC 2001 or ILC 2002 Prague, please contact Danielle West at
0207 453 2429 or email: danielle.west@informa.com

Net Searchers (www.netsearchers.com)
Net Searchers is dedicated to policing the internet for trade mark and copyright infringement. Services include worldwide domain registrations and trade mark and brand monitoring. Every day, Net Searchers delivers solutions to lawyers, trade mark directors, famous personalities, brand managers and industry associations. Over half of the FTSE Top 100 index and a third of the worlds leading brands (as determined by Interbrand) rely on Net Searchers services.

Net Searchers has more than 60 multi-lingual staff, fluent in 24 languages.

Virtual Internet plc
Virtual Internet plc (LSE: VET), the parent company of Net Searchers, is a leading provider of internet hosting, naming and online brand management services for businesses worldwide.

Virtual Internet established its London HQ in 1996 and has grown rapidly, opening further offices in Paris, New York, and Milan, and acquiring offices in Dusseldorf.

Hosting Services (www.vi.net)
Virtual Internet provides domain name registration, website hosting, e-mail services, e-commerce solutions, application server hosting (ASP) and dedicated server management. Its recently launched hosting packages have redefined web hosting solutions. Virtual Internet currently hosts services on over 75,000 domains and provides one of the fastest web hosting solutions in the UK (according to independent performance testing published in Internet Magazine).

In April 2000, Virtual Internet completed a $50 million fundraising and moved from AIM to the Official List of the London Stock Exchange.

For further information:
Chris Patmore
Net Searchers
Tel:   0207 7854 6184
Fax:    0207 7854 6131
Email:   christopher.patmore@vi.net