Today, January 12, 2012 marks the day ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) starts accepting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).

This process has been heavily debated amongst the internet community at large as well as within the ICANN board but was approved by ICANN in 2011 at its meeting in Singapore.

The process is expected to dramatically expand the Internet with the current 22 approved gTLDs (such as .com, .org or recent .xxx) to hundreds or thousands of extensions which include all types of words in multiple languages including non-Latin languages.

ICANN is directing all interested parties to refer to the New gTLD section of ICANN's website for authoritative documents, resources, and latest developments. The New gTLD site is found at http://newgtlds.icann.org. The ICANN New gTLD page includes links to the TLD Application System (TAS) to submit applications and the updated version of the Applicant Guidebook which details the process and criteria for applying for a new gTLD. The updated version incorporates clarification on topics such as batching, background screening, the applicant support program, Continued Operations Instrument, GAC advice processes, and the registry code of conduct.

There is also information available for financial assistance for some applicants who qualify. Essentially applicants from developing economies have access to financial assistance in the form of an evaluation fee reduction and other in-kind or community pro bono services. The financial assistance part of the program will allow a limited number of applicants to pay a reduced evaluation fee of US $47,000 rather than the US $185,000 amount. More information about the New gTLD Applicant Support Program is available at: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/candidate-support.


Key timelines:
March 29, 2012 - The last day to register in TAS
April 12, 2012 -  Final day ICANN accepts applications


For some background as to what the new gTLD expansion is about, please read our previous blog post on this topic: http://blog.webnames.ca/2011/06/shop-paris-the-domain-name-spa-1.html.

Webnames.ca is excited to announce the addition of several new country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) to our current offering. Our customers can now register .CH, .CO.UK, .DE, .EU, .FR, .ME, .MX, .NL and .IN to help solidify their online identity.

"Webnames.ca has been receiving great feedback from our customers about having more choices in the domain registration process," says Webnames.ca President Cybele Negris. "We are continually looking for ways to improve and enhance our services and offerings and the addition of these ccTLDs to our current portfolio is certainly going to offer our clients more ways to protect their online identity."

The addition of .CH, .CO.UK, .DE, .EU, .FR, .ME, .MX, .NL and .IN domain extensions will give Webnames.ca customers additional flexibility when securing their online identity. Many of the new extensions offer great branding opportunities such as .ME which opens up endless personal branding opportunities (such as yourname.me), or a way to give your brand a unique and simple call to action (example: join.me).

To learn more about the new ccTLD offerings from Webnames.ca, please visit our website www.webnames.ca/services/domains/descriptions.

Transfering your domains to Webnames.ca? Visit www.webnames.ca/services/domains/transfer for more information

Webnames.ca is happy to announce the launch of our new Retail Pricing Program. This new program allows you to qualify for industry leading domain pricing based on the number of domains and/or services within your Webnames.ca account. Get domain pricing as low as $12.50/year!

Our Retail Pricing Program is broken down in to two price bands:

• SOHO (Small Office Home Office)

• BUSINESS

Click here to view the new pricing!

How Does it Work?

To qualify for the new pricing is simple. By adding domains or services like Hosting or SSL to your account, your pricing will be immediately adjusted.

See the table below for the conditions for the number of domains/services that need to be met to belong to one of the retail price bands:

Price Band	Hosting *Minimum 6 month Term	Domains	SSL	Web Builder
SOHO	1	5	1	1
Business	3	10	1	3

You may have already qualified! To view your current pricing click here to log in to your account, select 'My Account' and click on 'My Pricing'.

Learn more about our new Retail Pricing Program by visiting our website or by calling us at 1-866-221-7878.

Webnames.ca is excited to announce $4.99* pricing on all new 1 year .CA domain registrations in October!

Show your visitors you're Canadian with a new .CA domain name. There is no better time to register than now!

Why .CA?

• Show your visitors you are proudly Canadian
• .CA was the second fastest growing ccTLD this year
  
• Registering the .CA version of your domain protects your brand

Register Now!

If you've already registered your .COM domain, ensure that you are protecting yourself or your brand by registering your .CA domain with Webnames.ca in October. Don't miss out on this great opportunity to get a new .CA domain name at this great low price!

Who hasn't daydreamed about sitting on a goldmine or striking it rich? Techies are no different in this regard, and many people have made a very deliberate attempt to strike it big in the wacky world of domain names - investing thousands of dollars building massive portfolios of domains, hoping that one day, someone will be willing to pay a colossal sum of money in order to own one of them.

So when I came across this article, detailing how the Canadian band The Tea Party could potentially reap a million dollars for their domain name, I had to chuckle to myself a bit. After all, these guys registered the name to actually use it, not turn it over for profit. It's sheer dumb luck that their band's name is the same as a very popular (and controversial) US political movement. Oh the irony. And isn't that almost always how it goes? The person who buys loads and loads of lotto tickets wins nothing and the person who buys one just for fun wins the big one without even trying. The other amusing thing is that the band is also apparently not in favor of the Tea Party Movement's ideologies, making it a bit of a moral decision as well for them as well.

Speculating on domain valuation isn't an exact science. Go to a number of sites like www.urlappraisal.net, www.valuate.com, and www.estibot.com and you'll get valuations for "teaparty.com" in the range of $43,000 to $137,000. And like Mark Jeftovic says in the article quoted above, domains are only worth what people are willing to pay for them. So in that sense, domain names are a lot like antiques, and domain valuation sites are like a self-serve "Antiques Roadshow". Sure, they can give you an estimate based on what similar domains have previously sold for, but it doesn't necessarily mean that someone will pay that amount now, nor does it mean that there's anyone who would even be willing to pay for that domain at all. It could effectively be worth $0 if no one wants to pay for it.

Don't believe me? Go to www.ipad.com. Bet you saw something you didn't expect to see. That's right, even Apple Inc. - currently the world's most valuable company with a net worth of $382 billion - hasn't bought ipad.com from whatever company has owned it since 1997 (before the advent of ipods, iphones, ipads, etc.). And good for them. Obviously their sales are doing well enough without it. Maybe RIM should have considered buying www.playbook.com ...

It just goes to show that if someday you get an offer on your domain, and you decide to refuse it, it doesn't mean there's something better on its way if you wait it out. You might walk out of the domain casino with just the domain you walked in with.

And conversely, a domain - like teaparty.com - could sell for many times more what "similar" domains have previously sold for. After all, the domain social.com recently sold for 2.6 million. Who says millionaires can't be made in this business? So domain valuation sites are merely giving guesstimates, which in my opinion, should be taken with a grain of salt. And maybe a little lime and Tequila if you're disappointed with what they tell you your domain is worth.

Anyone looking to strike it rich using domains should be forewarned that it isn't as easy as it looks - there are a LOT of people playing this lottery. Just Google "domain auction" and sift through the results. There are lots of sites available for people to hock their wares. However, if you're looking to play the domain lottery, a good place to start is the CIRA TBR list, where you can pick up some potentially valuable domains at a more attractive price than those seen at domain auctions.

Businesses Encouraged to Protect Brands in New .XXX Top Level Domain

Vancouver, August 05, 2011 - Webnames.ca is accredited with ICM Registry to accept Sunrise B applications and pre-registrations for General Availability for the new, sponsored top-level .XXX domain. Trademark owners and businesses that are not part of the adult industry should act to block trademarks, brands and business names to prevent their intellectual property from association with adult only content.

.XXX is a specialized top-level domain designed for use by the adult entertainment industry. The domain is designed to facilitate online responsibility and best practices for the global online Adult Entertainment Industry. The new domain extension identifies websites with adult content, allowing them to be easily filtered out by internet users who do not wish to encounter adult content. In addition to identifying adult content, .XXX aims to protect consumers of adult entertainment from threats such as viruses, credit card fraud and identity threat.

Webnames is participating in Sunrise B and General Registration expressly to help facilitate the protection of trademarks, brands and primary domains in other extensions. For this reason, Webnames.ca will not be supporting live content such as hosted websites or email on .XXX registrations.

"Webnames.ca has always advocated to business owners, whether they have completed the trademark process or not, to protect their intellectual property online by registering names and products in key domain extensions," said Cybele Negris, Webnames.ca President.".XXX is an especially important domain name to defensively secure because most business owners will not wish to have their brand associated with adult content."

Webnames.ca is accepting Sunrise B applications from trademark owners and early pre-registrations for General Availability now. Webnames expert staff is available to assist trademark owners with the application process now and throughout the Sunrise B registration period which is slated to begin September 7.

.XXX pre-registrations will be submitted on a first come, first serve basis when General Registration opens on December 6, therefore interested parties are encouraged to pre-register desired names early. Pre-registration costs $129 US and is entirely risk free; unlike some other registrars, Webnames.ca is not charging any additional pre-registration fees.

To learn more about .XXX, visit Webnames.ca's .XXX page here, http://webnames.ca/xxx, or visit WebnamesBlog.ca.

About Webnames.ca

Webnames.ca Inc. is 100 per cent Canadian and a spin-off from the internet pioneers who founded the .CA domain in 1987. A leading internet solutions company, Webnames.ca's services include hosting, a full range of domain names, managed account and reseller services, WordPress website design, SEO and systems development through its development arm, Ripe B2B Inc. Webnames.ca is committed to being an "ally on the Web" to all its customers, supporting them with industry leading systems and customer service.

Contact:
Julianna Horvat
Marketing Manager
Webnames.ca Inc.
604-633-3097 ext. 148

Now Accepting Sunrise B Applications. General Pre-Registration Coming Soon.

Eleven years after it was first proposed, the .XXX sTLD (sponsored Top Level Domain) is set to launch in September 2011. Webnames is participating in Sunrise B and General Registration to help facilitate the protection of trademarks, brands and primary domains in other extensions.

What is .XXX?

.XXX (commonly called "dot triple-X") is a sponsored, specialized top-level domain (sTLD) intended for use by Adult Entertainment Industry on the Internet. .XXX was designed to facilitate online responsibility and best practices for the global online Adult Entertainment Industry. The registry is operated by ICM and the sponsoring organization for .XXX is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR). [Read more]

Trademark owners, as well as the owners of non-trademarked names and brands should act soon to protect their assets and prevent the registration of their names by other parties. 



Acting early is important!
Pre-Registration orders for .XXX domains are submitted to the registry in the order they are received. The earlier you pre-register the .XXX domains, the better your chances of success.

Sunrise B for Trademark Owners Outside the Sponsored Community (Adult Entertainment Industry)

Now Accepting Applications - Apply Today

Application Fee: $349 (One-Time, Non Refundable) 

Names secured through Sunrise B will not result in the registration of a resolving domain name at the .XXX registry. Instead, these names will be reserved and blocked from live use. The applied for name will resolve to a page indicating that the name is reserved from use through ICM Registry's rights protection program. The "block" will be valid for a period of 10 years.

Read more information about Sunrise B

General Registration - First Come, First Served, Open to the Public

Pre-Registration Begins Monday, July 25

$129.00/year - Risk Free. Pay only for successful .XXX domain registrations.

General Availability is open to anyone who wishes to register domain(s) in the .XXX extension. It is a live first come, first serve registration period. Registrations will take place in real time. There are no requirements pertaining to trademarks or pre-existing domain names.

Note: Webnames.ca is supporting General Registration with the aim to helping our customers protect their existing assets (non-trademarked names and brands). .XXX domains registered at Webnames.ca will not resolve or support live content or email.  


Questions?  

More information about .XXX is available at http://webnames.ca/xxx 
Call toll free 1-866-221-7878 to speak to a Customer Support representative about .XXX

Learn More

History of .XXX - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.xxx
The Register - .XXX Set to Go Live
Wired Magazine - ICANN Approves .XXX Red-Light District For The Internet

Get the right domain name for your business

Have you figured out on the perfect name for your business or initiative, only to find that the domain is already owned by someone else. Webnames.ca is now offering Domain Brokering Services to assist you in securing the domain name you want to represent your venture online.  

How does Domain Brokering work?

When there is a domain name you want, our experienced Domain Acquisition specialist will act as an intermediary between you and the domain owner. They will handle the research, appraisal and negotiation process. Using our brokering specialist ensures all entreaties and transactions are secure and that you remain anonymous.

Who would benefit from Domain Brokering?

Domain Brokering is ideal for businesses, organizations and individuals who want to obtain domain names that are already registered, in a discreet fashion that ensures their identity and business plans remain private.Working with a Domain Acquisition specialist allows you to save valuable time, while getting all the added value of their knowledge and expertise.

What does it cost?

The service is affordable for businesses and organizations of all sizes. You only pay a one-time $100 nonrefundable brokerage fee, plus 10% commission of the sale price. We will undertake best efforts to acquire your domain, however there is no guarantee.

With over 10 years of experience in the domain industry, our experts will:

•    Attempt to acquire the domain name you want discreetly and affordably
•    Keep your identity private, avoiding seller price inflation and keeping your online-property expansion strategies secret
•    Make additional or alternate domain name suggestions upon request
•    Recommend a course of action for potential acquisitions
•    Acquire domain assets, including portfolios of related domain names or websites

Do you have more questions about domain brokering?
Click here for more information or call us today at1-866-976-9835 to speak to a specialist today.

New Domain Names are Coming in 2012

Part of the mandate of ICANN is to make the internet representative and inclusive. Over the last ten years they have tried to pick new top level domain names that would best serve the internet and this centralized process saw the introduction of new domain extensions such as .biz, .info, .mobi, .pro, and .tel.  A new domain program has been in discussion for a number of years and the timelines for it are expected to be announced fairly soon. The new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) paradigm will allow anyone to pay an application fee and so long as they fulfill certain criteria they will be able to run a domain name registry.

There are three main types of new gTLDs that are expected:

• Geographic
• Special Interest
• Corporate Interest  

For example it is expected that Paris, Berlin, and New York City (and others) will apply for .paris, .berlin and .nyc.  It is also expected that companies like Cannon, Nike and IBM will apply for and run .cannon, .nike and .ibm domain registries.   There are also special interest groups that are anticipated to apply for  .shop, .sport, .gay and .golf.  

There are two main differences that are expected with the new gTLD process.  First, it is expected that there will be many more new gTLD's introduced over a fairly short period of time.  Second, it is expected that some of these new gTLD's will fail. There has not been a failed gTLD yet and the new approach being taken by ICANN is that they will no longer try to pick the winners but will, instead, let the market decide.

ICANN Approves New gTLDs

This week ICANN formally approved the program it developed for creation of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) at its 41st open meeting in Singapore.

Applications for the first round of new gTLDs will be accepted by ICANN from January 12, 2012 through April 12, 2012, and ICANN's application fee will be $185,000.  ICANN will post the public portions of all gTLD applications within two weeks of April 12, 2010 and it will then undertake a review of each application to determine whether the proposed gTLD is appropriate for approval.

ICANN reports on its website that a global campaign will soon begin, to tell the world about this dramatic change in Internet names and to raise awareness of the opportunities afforded by new gTLDs.

For those interested in taking a closer look at the policies that will govern the launch of the new gTLD program, they can be found in ICANN's 352-page gTLD Applicant Guidebook.

We are gTLD Ready!

We want to let you know that Webnames.ca is ready for the coming change in the Internet and domain landscape. We have worked hard to ensure that our systems are fully capable of supporting the new gTLD's with the integrity and reliability that our customers have come to expect.

.CO Internet S.A.S. the official registry operator for the .CO domain, announced June 2, 2011 that it reached the landmark one millionth .CO domain name registration.

Less than one year from the global launch of .CO in July of 2010, individuals, organizations and businesses in more than 200 countries have registered .CO web addresses.

"Entrepreneurs and innovative businesses around the globe are adopting .CO web addresses at an unprecedented pace, way beyond my initial expectations," said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet.   "To hit this milestone in less than a year is a great testament to the hard work and dedication of our team - and especially to the foresight of all of those who believed in .CO from the very beginning.  From our retail and business partners; to the trademark and domain communities; to all the people, businesses and brands who are building their futures on .CO - we owe you a million thanks!"

.CO Internet SAS took over .CO administration in 2010 from Colombia's University of Los Andes taking the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) and presenting it as a viable alternative to the overcrowded .COM. .CO soon became the fastest growing new global domain name in modern history. By selling some one-letter .CO names to massive global brands like Amazon, Twitter and Overstock, the .CO Registry was able to bring huge awareness and adoption to the domain.

Overstock.com purchased O.CO for $350,000 and re-branded the company internationally featuring O.CO in all of its television ads. This move still generates huge interest and demand globally for .CO domain names. There is apparently another O.CO announcement to come Monday June 6 from Overstock President, Jonathan Johnson.

Amazon bought A.CO, Z.CO, K.CO and Cloud.CO, and Twitter purchased T.CO for its URL shortening service.

To celebrate the innovators, entrepreneurs and trailblazers who are turning their biggest hopes, dreams, and aspirations into realities on the .CO domain, .CO Internet has commissioned a series of short films called "Under the Bulb", which will premier live at a private event to be held on June 9th during Internet Week in New York City.  Under the Bulb tells the stories of the people behind the growth of .CO.  Each inspiring two-minute film captures life from the time the big "light-bulb moment" first strikes - through the time their ideas are brought to life.

"From startup to Super Bowl in seven months flat, we are a company of entrepreneurs," said Lori Anne Wardi, Director of Global Communications of the .CO Registry.  "Under the Bulb is our way of honoring the fact that behind each of these one million domain registrations, are one million singular ideas with the potential to change the world." You can get an early preview of Under the Bulb right now at www.UnderTheBulb.CO.   

If you don't yet have your .CO protected, its time to ensure yourname.co is registered. To search for your .CO name go to www.webnames.ca or contact the Webnames.ca support team for assistance.

There have been some large Domain Sales published on the YTD Sales Chart which you can view here, and it's only April. We wanted to share some of the year's biggest sales so far for 2011.

The sales data presented here comes from DN Journal (an extremely useful, albeit ugly website, for keeping tabs on domain aftermarket activities), Namer.ca, DomainAssets.ca and Sedo's Quarterly newsletter among others.

Here are the numbers:

Top 20 Domain Sales (year-to-date as reported by DNJ April 2011)


Click here to view top overall domain sales 21-100


Top 10 ccTLD (country code) domain sales:


Click here to view top ccTLD sales 11-100

If you've recently received an official looking letter from the 'Domain Registry of Canada', we urge you to proceed with caution.

The "Domain Registry of Canada" is a company who has been in operation since 2001. The "Domain Registry of Canada" has no association with CIRA, or any government organization. They are also not related to Webnames.ca in any way. Their official looking letter (see images below) is an aggressive direct mail campaign aimed at trying to get you to transfer your domain away from your current registrar to them.

The letters claim the same thing. They tell you that your domain is about to expire and that you need to renew it immediatley; unfortunately, this is not the case. In the domain industry this practice is known as "Domain Slamming."


Domain Slamming is best described as a scam where a domain registrar attempts to trick customers of other companies into switching from their current registrar to the scamming one. They make it sound as though you are simply renewing your domain, while in reality you are signing paperwork, and sending money to effectively transfer your domain to them.

The overall look of the letter itself is very misleading. It looks similar to an official Government of Canada letter you may receive from time to time. The worst part about these letters is that they use scare tactics to convince customers they need to renew their domain, with lines like "Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web." Not only is it misleading, they tend to charge exorbitant amounts for domains, making you pay significantly more in the long run.

Make sure you keep a few things in mind if you receive a suspicious looking letter or email:

Do you recognize the sender, and is this a legitimate company?
If you don't recognize the company name, take a moment to look them up on the Better Business Bureau's Website. If they are a legitimate business with a good reputation than contacting them should be no problem. If they are scamming you, this website should give you a good sense of that.

Who is the Registrar of Record for your existing domain(s)?
If you receive a notification of renewal for one of your domains, be sure that it is coming from the registrar of record for that domain name. All registrations are handled by registrars and your Registrar of Record is who you initially registered your domain with. You can check your domains at http://www.webnames.ca/whois.asp or call your registrar.


Wondering how you can stop having these notices sent to you?
Check out Webnames Privacy Service which protects your information from being publicly visible and available to spammers and telemarketers. You will only receive official correspondence from Webnames.ca and the Registries and all other companies will be blocked out.

The main point to remember when receiving any communication is to read it fully and carefully (including the fine print) so you understand what the information is. Always deal with companies you know and trust.  Most importantly, if ever you are unsure as to the legitimacy of a notification, contact us at support@webnames.ca and we will be happy to review the notice you received.

Below are our "top picks" from this week's CIRA TBR (to-be-released) domains list.

The TBR for March 16th, 2011 has lots of great names, so pre-book your favourite .CA domains early.

We publish a "top picks" list each week after CIRA publishes its latest batch of expiring dot-CA domains. CIRA adds more domains to the TBR list each day until the date of release, so you may want to check the CIRA TBR for new selections.

Our favourite names from the list are in bold below.

To receive this list by email simply contact us at tbr@webnames.ca.

These domains are available for pre-booking NOW at Webnames.ca, and will be released by CIRA on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011.

acaifruit.ca
accountingpro.ca
allseniors.ca
andrea.ca
antiquebooks.ca
bathandbeyond.ca
bkv.ca
bpj.ca
bwj.ca
collegegirls.ca
consent.ca
consign.ca
curtsy.ca
culinaryart.ca
discountstore.ca
dresstokill.ca
dtj.ca
dwj.ca
educationalvideos.ca
englishlearning.ca
exerciser.ca
fgk.ca
fjf.ca
fjv.ca
freshsmile.ca
freshsmiles.ca
gods.ca
gokids.ca
golfrewards.ca
greatcauses.ca
greenconcepts.ca
healthquestion.ca
hellomama.ca
highguy.ca
higuy.ca
hockeytips.ca
hockeytradingcards.ca
holisticparenting.ca
holy-cow.ca
housewatch.ca
iheartu.ca
iknoweh.ca - Perfect for your Canadian content website, eh!
ipadbook.ca
ipaddeveloper.ca
ipaddevelopment.ca
ipadprogrammers.ca
ipadthemes.ca
ipadvideos.ca
iwantout.ca
justthink.ca
krackerjack.ca
leafygreens.ca
lostnfound.ca
loved.ca
lsv.ca
luxtravel.ca
mailhost.ca
marketreviews.ca
medicalquestion.ca
marriagecoach.ca
mimicker.ca
movieaddicts.ca
mycustoms.ca
my-wedding.ca
nativetobacco.ca
netmarketer.ca
offsetprint.ca
organicbulkfoods.ca
outofthisworld.ca
payload.ca
plazahotel.ca
plazanightclub.ca
pixi.ca
pizzadeal.ca
roomfinder.ca
salestips.ca
seadoodepot.ca
searchforjob.ca
searchforwork.ca
seobuilders.ca
silky.ca
snowmobiler.ca
sourpuss.ca
spareroom.ca
spe.ca
stayclean.ca
stockclips.ca
stockfilm.ca
stoneart.ca
supportivecare.ca
superbug.ca
taxnews.ca
teacompany.ca
terra.ca
ticketcanada.ca
tradescanada.ca
ttb.ca
universitycertificate.ca
universitycourses.ca
universitydiploma.ca
vapers.ca
vivezvert.ca
wannashare.ca
weanswer.ca
weddingcoordinator.ca
westcoasters.ca
whoopwhoop.ca
winepro.ca
work-injury.ca
workplace-injury.ca
youthhockey.ca


 
To pre-book a To-Be-Released .CA domain from the above list:

1) Go to Webnames.ca's To-Be-Released .CA Domains page

2) Find and click on the domain(s) you wish to pre-book and they will be added to your cart

3) Review your shopping cart. Login or create a Webnames.ca account. Complete your transaction as though you were registering new domain(s)

Or,

   1. Look up the domain you wish to pre-book in the Webnames.ca WHOIS. On your WHOIS search result page you will be asked "Do you want to pre-book this domain," select "yes" to proceed

If your pre-book is successful you will be notified by CIRA after the Wednesday registration period. Within 24 hours of receiving this notification, Webnames.ca will charge your credit card for successfully registered domains

Note: You will only be charged for pre-booked domains that are successfully registered.

If you have any questions about the TBR pre-booking process, or want help completing your pre-book, simply contact support@webnames.ca or call 1-866-221-7878.

I own an LG pay-as- you-go "dumbphone". It has a qwerty keyboard that I love with a passion that should only be reserved for animate objects.

I can't get my pictures off my phone nor can I get on the web as it is pay-as-you-go.

One thing I can do, is text the bus stop number to Translink (Vancouver transit) and they send me back the list of when the next buses are scheduled to arrive. This I like. A lot.

I read a Mashable article about the "dumbphone" and its market is expanding. My friend Laura was in Africa recently (Uganda and Kenya) and SMS is massive there.

So last night I was thinking: huge dumbphone market + sms + .tel = opportunity.

The beauty of .tel is the information is held in the DNS. There is no HTML or Flash to render. You don't need an app to be able to view the information. Very dumbphone friendly.

Here's my big idea: There is an SMS section in your dot tel. You populate it with 140 characters of whatever info you want -  phone number, email, opening times etc. Telnic has replicating .tel dns servers with every cellular provider.

You text richmondplumbing.tel to 800-555-1212. You get a reply back of: Phone 6042750455 Address 140-4631 Shell Rd. Richmond Hours M-Sa 7-6 Ashton Service Group is on your side for all your plumbing needs.

For those businesses who are in areas that are underserved by high bandwidth cellular services, this would be an amazing solution to parsing essential web based data down to the consumer via SMS.

And for those of you who do pay-as-you-go like me, well your dumbphone just became a whole lot smarter.

Why should you enter? Winning .CA websites will get $5000 and free publicity!

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is celebrating .CA based websites and applications that benefit the lives of Canadians.

This past week CIRA kicked off an exciting initiative called the .CA Impact Awards to recognize ".CA websites that make a difference" across four fields: e-learning, small business, not-for-profit and web technology. Up for grabs is a $5000 prize in each category - as well as nationwide publicity for the winning websites.

"We understand the Internet is more than technology," says Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA, "it is a significant force, a catalyst, and a powerful agent of social change. That's why the .CA Impact Awards celebrates the impact of .CA websites and applications."

Entries will be judged on the impact that they make on the lives of their users - they don't have to be huge projects, or world changing in scope, but they do need to add value to a community of stakeholders, constituents, customers, or the public at large. The impact can be social, cultural, political, economic or technological in nature, but will have utilized the internet to make a positive difference.


Every day at Webnames.ca we interact with customers that meet the above criteria in spades with their websites, businesses and charitable endeavors, that's why we're excited to help raise awareness about the .CA Impact Awards. We would love to see one or more of our many deserving customers be recognized, so we're encouraging you apply!

CIRA has made the application process quick and painless, all it requires is your website URL (.CA of course), a couple hundred words about what you are trying to accomplish, how you are being innovative and how you are serving the interests of your audience. Pretty straightforward stuff ... and well worth the effort in considering what winning could to raise your project's profile.

A panel of 5 to 7 judges will rate the entries and select four winners - one from each category - in May 2011 and the winners will be announced at Mesh, Canada's largest Web Conference, on May 25, 2011 in Toronto.

Key Competition Details 

Deadline to Enter - March 25, 2011
 
Who Can Enter - The .CA Impact Awards program is open only to individuals and organizations that currently have a valid .CA domain name registered to them and who have reached the age of majority in their province of residence. [read the complete rules]

Click here for the judging criteria.

Click here to enter the competition.

Complete details can be found on the .CA Impact Award mini-site.

Help us spread the word! If you don't meet the .CA Impact Award criteria outlined above, please pass it along to a friend, colleague or someone in your network who does.