ccTLD Promotion: what works, what doesn’t

1. ccTLD Promotion:what works, what doesn’t .IR ccTLD Case Study Siavash Shahshahani APTLD Meeting Dubai, 4 June 2007

2. Brief History of .IR ccTLD (1) • Established: 6 April 1994 Hierarchical system with 4 sub-domains • Opened direct registration under .ir, albeit with restrictions, 2000. • Reorganization: September 2001 (# domains: 670) • New liberalized rules and DRP: 22 December 2003, (# domains: 3200) • Resellers licensed: July 2004 (# domains: 8500)

3. Brief History of .IR ccTLD (2) • 31 December 2004: # domains 11600 • 31 December 2005: # domains 27000 including about (2000 IDNs) • 31 December 2006: # domains 47000 including about (2000 IDNs) • Today: # domains 58000 including about (2000 IDNs)

4. Recapitulation • Very slow growth 1994 to mid-2001 • Some movement mid-2001 to 2003 • Takes off late 2003 , has been doubling approximately each year

5. Reasons for early failure: • Uncertainty about the status of Internet in the country; hence reluctance to publicize. Registration mostly confined to academic sector • Restrictive regulations • No second-level registration • Relatively high price

6. Reasons for later success: • Liberalization of rules specially at 2nd level • Lower prices • Introduction of resellers promoting better publicity, great price competition and better publicity • Technical reliability • Legal security • Insecurity of gTLD registrations

7. Despite : • Virtual absence of e-commerce • Minimal use of credit- and debit cards • Lack of cooperation of national telecom which is the main Internet provider in the country. Relations have recently improved ---------------------------------------------------------- Over 70% of domains are resolvable.

8. .ir ccTLD vs gTLDs in Iran Ratio of # gTLDs registered by clients in Iran to # .ir domains: End of 2002: Very large End of 2003: ~ 10 End of 2004: 3.71 End of 2005: 2.02 End of 2006: 1.36 Now: 1.20 Success not a simple function of Internet growth

9. Problem with gTLDs in Iran: • No local registrars, registrants at the mercy of sometimes unreliable resellers • Many US registrars refuse to sell to Iranian clients • Uncertainties about dispute resolutions; many Iranian registrants have lost registered domains

10. Reliability of .ir • Technical robustness: - has successfully fended off DOS attacks - 4 mirrors outside the country - up-to-date technology, e.g., anycast • Administrative responsiveness: registrations usually within 12 hours, rarely over 24 hours; effective helpdesk • Legal security: final arbiter local courts

11. Resellers: Problems to Solve • Initial lack of interest in .ir • Uncertainty of resellers about investment • Difficulty of collecting unpaid bills in Iran: slow legal system

12. IRNIC Solution • IRNIC services priced in units. Examples: 2nd-level registration for one year: 2 units 2nd-level registration for 5 years: 6 units Transfer: 1 unit • Annual or semi-annual contracts starting at 25% discount for 125 units. • Dynamic system of discounts where total purchase up to any time determines discount on all purchases up to that point.

13. Discount can go up to 75% on purchase of 3375 units. Beyond that, linear at 75%. • Resellers make deposit before purchase. • Current rate: 12 Euros per unit for foreign purchases, half that for domestic. • Presently 55 domestic and 3 foreign resellers. They handle 72% of .ir domains.

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