Domain name applications based on trademarks registered in Africa will be given top priority for the dotAfrica (.africa) top level domain, expected to become available to the general public in September, according to a report in ITNewsAfrica.

Applications for trademarks registered in other continents will follow Africa-based ones. “Generic” applications not based on any validated priority right will receive the lowest priority.

The dotAfrica domain is expected to launch in two phases beginning in May — the Sunrise phase and the Land Rush phase. During the Sunrise phase, trademark owners have priority to register dotAfrica domains incorporating their trademarks for a 90-day period.

Neil Dundas is chief operating officer of ZA Central Registry (ZACR).

DotAfrica (.africa) domains will be available for registration on a first-come-first-served basis from September 2014 once the rights of trademark holders have been processed during the designated Sunrise period, Dundas told ITNewsAfrica.

ZACR has received a formal invitation from ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) to begin contracting as the selected dotAfrica registry operator.

Two items delayed the conclusion of contracting, said ZACR CEO Lucky
Masilela. One was provision of a continuing operating instrument (COI) according to ICANN’s revised criteria. The other delay was caused by ZACR changing its company name from UniForum SA to the ZA Central Registry.

South Africa’s foreign exchange controls also delayed the contract process, Masilela said. “There were a number of regulatory challenges to overcome in order to secure the COIs on the terms that ICANN required. Fortunately, with the cooperation of our bankers and the South African Reserve Bank this issue has subsequently been resolved to ICANN’s satisfaction.”

The name change triggered a contract change request and this is under review by ICANN, ITNewsAfrica reports. Other than the mandatory 30-day application comment period, the ZACR said it does not anticipate that this will lead to any further delays.

ZACR hopes to execute a registry agreement in March 2014. This will allow it to complete pre-delegation testing and submit for approval of its launch program. “We anticipate that we will be able to commence our Sunrise process in either April or May this year,” Dundas said.

Upon receiving the final go-ahead from ICANN, the ZACR will commence the dotAfrica launch process by running Sunrise and Land Rush applications in parallel for 90 days.
Following the conclusion of the launch period, the ZACR will start allocating the submitted
domain name applications based on a pre-determined priority ranking system. Contested
applications, such as those for the same domain name string, will be resolved by auction.

Following the allocation or rejection of applications filed during the 90-day period, ZACR will launch the general availability phase on a first-come-first-served-basis. There will be no other eligibility criteria such as local presence requirements, ITNewsAfrica reports.