| GENERAL |
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What is a Chinese Domain Name ("CDN")? |
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A CDN is a domain name that contains one or more Chinese characters. Presently, domain names have been in Latin characters like abc.com.sg. CDNs allow for Chinese characters to be used within domain names. Eg. 幸福.sg, 开心.com.sg. |
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I've heard of ASCII domain names. What is the difference between a CDN and an ASCII domain name? |
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An ASCII domain name simply means a domain name consisting of Latin characters like abc.com.sg or abcdef.edu.sg. An ASCII domain name would not have non-Latin characters within it whereas a CDN would have at least one Chinese character contained within. |
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How will my CDN be shown on the WHOIS? |
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When queried for, your CDN will show up in the WHOIS in Chinese characters. However, associated activated variants of the CDN will not be shown. Similarly, when an activated variant is queried for, only it will be shown on WHOIS, the associated parent CDN and other variants under the parent CDN will not be shown. For more information on variants, please refer to the section on "Variants". |
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| REGISTRATION |
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Does the CDN need to match my company name or any existing ASCII domain name which I have now? |
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No, the CDN does not need to match with your company name nor any ASCII name you might currently hold. |
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Can I have a mixture of ASCII and Chinese characters in the CDN? |
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Yes, mixtures are allowed. For eg. happy开心.com.sg or 花flower.sg |
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Who can I register with? |
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SGNIC accredits a list of registrars with whom end-users can register their domain names with. Each registrar will have its own price packagae and value-added services. You may wish to take your time to look through the different offerings before deciding on the one which best suits your needs. The list of SGNIC accredited registrars can be found here: http://www.sgnic.sg/sub_domain_registrations/introduction.html |
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I have an existing name and I want to register for a CDN. Do I need to go back to the same registrar? |
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No, you do not need to go back to the same registrar to register for the CDN. |
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Can I register in any domain name category? |
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SGNIC offers domain names in the following categories: .sg, .com.sg, .edu.sg, .org.sg, .net.sg, .gov.sg, .per.sg. You can register for a CDN in any category so long as you meet the registration criterion for that particular category. For a list of the criteria, you may wish to refer to the Registration Policies, Procedures and Guidelines (RPPG) Clause 3. |
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When can I register? |
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There are 4 registration phases as shown below:
| Priority Phase 1: Government Application | 23 Nov - 31 Dec 2009 |
| Priority Phase 2: Trademark Holders Applications | 7 Jan - 18 Feb 2010 |
| Sunrise | 25 Mar - 6 May 2010 |
| General Launch | 10 Jun 2010 onwards |
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How much do I need to pay for a CDN? |
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Please refer to the Guidelines or to the participating registrars. |
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What happens if someone registers for the same CDN? |
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Before the General Launch of CDNs, if two or more registrants register for the same CDN and both are equally qualified for the CDN, they will be invited to bid for it. Registrants will be notified by SGNIC if they need to go for bidding. The CDN will be awarded to the highest bidder. Registrations after General Launch will be on a first-come-first-served basis. For more information on bidding, please refer to the section on "Bidding" or to the Launch Guidelines. |
| PRIORITY REGISTRATIONS |
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What are priority registrations and how do you implement them? |
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If there is only one application for the CDN, the CDN will be allocated to the registrant. If there are more than one application for the same CDN and one of them is by a trademark holder of the name, the CDN will be allocated to the trademark holder.
For example:
(a) "花园" is a mark registered in Singapore. Its proprietor submits an application to register the CDN "花园.sg" There are also submissions from others applying to register "花园.sg". SGNIC will allocate the CDN to the trademark proprietor.
(b) "花园.sg" is being applied for by a new registrant. There are no other applications for the same CDN. SGNIC will allocate the CDN to the applicant.
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How do I know if I qualify for priority registration? |
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You may wish to check with the registrar of your choice or refer to the Launch Guidelines on the different phases of priority registrations. You may refer to the guidelines here. |
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What constitutes a qualifying trademark under the priority phase? |
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A qualifying trademark is a trademark which is:
- Registered in Singapore with the Intellectual Property of Singapore (IPOS) for the name sought to be registered as the CDN
- Represented in the characters intended for the CDN and not being a device mark or numeral mark combined with a device mark or composite mark and without regard to any punctuation marks or spaces
- Valid and subsisting in Singapore as of the date of application for the CDN
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| BIDDING |
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How will I know if I need to go for bidding? |
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You will receive a notification from SGNIC if you need to go for bidding. Further details like bid deposit amount, bidding date, bidding mechanism, etc will be provided within the notification. |
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Why is there a need for a bid deposit if I need to go for bidding? |
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This is so as to ensure that all applications received (and which are subject to bidding) are sincere participations. |
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Must I pay 7% GST on my bid amount? |
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Yes, all bid amounts and allocation fees will be subject to 7% GST. |
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If my bid is not successful, will my bid deposit be returned? |
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Yes, bid deposits will be refunded to applicants who are unsuccessful in their bidding. |
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If I go for bidding, do I still need to pay my registrar the registration fees for the CDN? |
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Yes, on top of the final bid price, the normal domain registration fees will still be payable to the registrar. |
| VARIANTS |
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What are Variants and how do I get them? |
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When a CDN is registered, a Full Traditional version (if any) and a Full Simplified (if any) version of the name will also be given to the registrant as a bundle at no extra costs. All other character combinations (whether in simplified or traditional form), if any, will be considered as a Variant of the original name applied for.
Please check with the registrar of your choice for the list of variants your CDN might be associated with. It is entirely up to you if you wish to activate the Variant(s) or not. Each activation of a Variant will be charged at a fee. You may check with the registrar for fee charges.
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What happens to the Variants which I do not activate? |
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Variants which are not activated will not be resolvable and will not be available to others for registration as well. |
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Do I need to activate my Variant(s) at the point of registration? |
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You do not need to activate the Variant(s) at the point of registration and can choose to do the activation at a later stage. You may wish to check with participating registrars for fee charges. |
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If I activate a Variant 2 months after registration of the CDN, does that also mean that the Variant will expire 2 months after the CDN expires? |
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No. The validity of a Variant will follow that of the original CDN applied for. For example, a CDN was applied on 1 January 2010 and will expire on 31 Dec 2010. A variant of the CDN was activated on 1 March 2010 but it will still follow the expiry date of the CDN and will thus expire on 31 Dec 2010. |
| TECHNICAL |
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What is punycode and what is it used for? |
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Punycode uniquely and reversibly transforms a unicode string into an ASCII string for use with internationalized domain names in applications, such that these domain names (like CDNs) may be represented in the ASCII character allowed in the Domain Name System of the Internet. |
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Do I need to convert my CDN into punycode format for registration? |
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The registrar with whom you register the CDN with would be able to process the conversion for you. |
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Can my CDN be used as a nameserver? |
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Yes, however the punycode version would need to be used. |
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How do I use CDN with my email? |
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At present, most email clients and mail transfer agents (MTAs) do not support internationalised email addresses i.e. CDNs. |
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How do I surf a website using CDN? |
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It is the same as surfing an ASCII domain name (e.g. http://www.sgnic.sg). Enter the website address as it is in the browser address bar (e.g. http://测试.sgnic.sg , http://www.测试.sg)
If the address bar displays punycode instead of the CDN, you would need to change the language setting for your browser. You may refer to the following websites for instructions.
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| MISCELLANEOUS |
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Does the bundled discount scheme apply for CDNs? |
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The current Bundled Discount Scheme works in a way such that when an ASCII domain name is registered (domain name in Latin characters), a second-level .sg name would be given free to the registrant for the first year. Eg. Buy "abc.com.sg" and receive "abc.sg" free for the 1st year.
On top of this scheme, an CDN would also be given free for the 1st year. This would be an optional freebie for the registrant.
*Please note that this scheme will not be available during Phase 1 & 2 and Sunrise.
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Are there any CDNs which are reserved and not available for registration? |
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SGNIC maintains a list of potentially offensive, sensitive or undesirable words which cannot be registered. In addition, single-character CDNs and numeric CDNs are only available before the General Launch and will be reserved (i.e not available for registration) during the General Launch.
Examples of single-character CDNs include 美.sg or 花.com.sg. In addition, examples of numeric CDNs include 一二三.sg or 三十三.com.sg.
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