Member Announcement: it.com Domains are now Platinum Members of DNForum.com and AcornDomains.co.uk!

[Helmuts]

We are delighted to share some fantastic news with our Acorn Domains community.

it.com Domains has officially become Platinum Members of both DNForum.com and AcornDomains.co.uk, making them the latest additions to the elite group of domain professionals on Acorn Domains and the DNForum member family.

We are thrilled to welcome it.com Domains and their dynamic team into our cherished, thriving and highly respected forums.

DNForum.com: As the oldest active global domain name forum, DNForum.com has been a hub for domain enthusiasts, investors, and professionals since 2001. With the addition of it.com Domains as Platinum Members, our community stands to benefit from their expertise and valuable contributions.

AcornDomains.co.uk: Acorn Domains, established 2004, holds the distinction of being the number one UK domain name investor and domain name professional forum. The inclusion of it.com Domains as Premium Members will undoubtedly enhance the knowledge sharing and networking opportunities within the UK domain industry, especially for those who look into business opportunities within the domain name industry beyond domain name investing.

We anticipate that the wealth of experience of @it.com and insights will further enrich the discussions, transactions, and collaborations within both DNForum.com and AcornDomains.co.uk. We are excited about the possibilities that this collaboration opens up and look forward to the positive impact it will have on our community.

Join us in extending a warm welcome to it.com Domains and celebrate this exciting moment for DNForum.com and Acorn Domains. We can't wait to see how their presence will contribute to our shared passion for domain names.

Thank you for being a part of our vibrant domain community, and here's to many more years of growth, learning, and success together!

Warm regards,
Helmuts

p.s. We plan to do the AMA session tonight 8PM UK time (to be confirmed) with the team captain of the it.com Domains team @Joe Alagna, the man who was among the initial team that established CentralNic as the largest sub-domain registry in the world. More: https://icannwiki.org/Joe_Alagna

 

[Andrey Insarov]

We're truly grateful for the warm welcome, Helmuts. Being Platinum Premium Members is a privilege, and we're excited to dive right in and become active participants in this fantastic forum.

 

[Paullas]

Welcome to Acorn Andrey.

 

[Andrey Insarov]

Welcome to Acorn Andrey.

Thank you.

 

[Systreg]

Welcome aboard, Andrey.

 

[Andrey Insarov]

Welcome aboard, Andrey.

Thank you for a warm welcome.

 

[Rolandas Japertas]

Good morning!

I want to start by saying how much we appreciate the warm and generous welcome to Acorn Domains. This is a great forum! It's exciting to connect with and share our thoughts and experiences with fellow professionals in the UK domain industry.

Just to give you an insight into our current activities – we're actively out there, working hard to build relationships with registrars who can offer their users the chance to register it.com domains. This is all about making opportunities more accessible, and we're thrilled to be on this journey together.

 

[Whois-Search]

Welcome to IT.com platinum members

A few questions please as I’m genuinely interested as a potential registrar (this is not criticism):

I have been running a UK based ICANN registrar for a decade this week. In all that time we have sold 20 .uk.com (sub-domains) via our resellers with far bigger reach than us direct. Compare that to new gTLDs like .wales or .cymru where we have sold hundreds in the same time.

Q1. How many .it.com are you expecting to sell in the UK Market? Your extension is about five times the price of .uk ?

I note you have also very generously sponsored both London Domain Summit and Domain Days Dubai. The agenda for both events is very similar. You have also sponsored Namescon and Nordic Domain Days.

Q2. What is your overall goal of sponsoring these events? Are you looking to increase registrars (resellers) or just obtain acceptance (domainers)?

Centralnic began to sell their portfolio of two letter sub-domains in around 2017 following a few rather interesting situations. I once had a conversation with Robert Pooke (owner at the time) who said there was more money in selling two letter .com than running a registry on them! Today they only keep the profitable extensions (.uk.com etc) and concentrate on new gTLDs.

Q3. Do you have any plans to apply for any new gTLDs in 2026 ? Maybe .intis .telecom ? Or add anything extra alongside .it.com ?

 

[DJ]

Welcome to the forum @Rolandas Japertas and @Andrey Insarov

I'd be interested to know if renewal prices are set to $49 per year for all domains or if 'Premium Domains' are more?

Also, what guarantees are in place that it.com will still be operating as ad SLD in 10 years time? I know the owners are committed and invested heavily at the moment, but what happens if targets aren't met and the service is withdrawn - will the premiums paid for a 'premium domain' be returned?

All the best with it!

 

[Joe Alagna]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the welcome. We're very excited to be part of the Acorn Domains forum. Also, congrats on your tenth anniversary; that's a great accomplishment. I've worked for two registries (CentralNic and Afilias) and one registrar (101domain). The registrar business is the more difficult .

I appreciate your interest in becoming a registrar - it.com Domains is doing things differently, and you would make the right choice to become affiliated with us. Our registrar page is here: https://get.it.com/for-registrars and includes our current integrated registrar list.

We are a private company, so I can't be all-specific, but transparency is one of our values, so I'll try to answer your questions as best I can here. I also appreciate the context you added for each of these. That's helpful.​

Q1. How many .it.com are you expecting to sell in the UK Market? Your extension is about five times the price of .uk ?*

A1. Although I can't predict how many we expect to sell, specifically in the UK Market, our goal for 2023 is to hit 10k registered domains by the end of the year. We began our efforts last year, preparing our policies and the foundational registry work needed, including recruiting a few select registrars. Our Sunrise, which ran from January through February, was a great success; we signed on some of the most successful brand-related registrars in the world (MarkMonitor, CSC, and several others). We got several hundred Sunrise registrations, including registrations from the majority of the most successful global technology companies (Often called FAAMG). We were pleased with the results for a nascent registry.

Regarding pricing at this point, we make no claims that we'll sell as many domains as .uk. A higher price point will help us reduce spam in the it.com zone though. Regardless, we offer discounts to registrars through our quarterly promotions. Our wholesale price is currently at $10 (SRP - $20) until the end of the year. That communique has gone out to our integrated registrar channel.​

Q2. What is your overall goal of sponsoring these events? Are you looking to increase registrars (resellers) or just obtain acceptance (domainers)?

A2. Our goal is both to increase registrars and to obtain acceptance by registrants. Domainers are an important registrant channel, and for most registries, they are your first group of supporters and stakeholders. We will continue to reach out and support them. ​

Q3. Do you have any plans to apply for any new gTLDs in 2026 ? Maybe .intis .telecom ? Or add anything extra alongside .it.com ?

A3. We're discussing our strategy related to new gTLDS and are watching the process. We have yet to make any decisions on that. I believe that stealth is an important part of success if anyone is going to apply, so we don't plan on revealing any details on that topic until ICANN conducts the next "Reveal Party." ​

About CentralNic, I worked for them from 2001 until 2013. I can't speak authoritatively about their actions after that. But our approach to the third-level domain (tld - lower-case t) business differs significantly from theirs. At CentralNic, we mostly bootstrapped our growth. It was all organic. They had capital but grew the business by marketing through registrars, a strategy that I still support.

it.com Domains is doing a much higher level of investment than CentralNic did initially. There is also a deeper focus on one tld rather than many (CentralNic had eighteen when I left). In 2023, our primary goal was to build our registrar channel. It will remain so in 2024, but we will also begin to reach out to the global IT community to build end-user demand. Our research shows that there are 55 million IT workers in the world. It's a market with great potential.

Are you going to ICANN? I would love to set up a time to sit down there and talk more if you're available. Let me know ([email protected])

Thanks again, Andrew.

Joe​

 

[Joe Alagna]

Excellent reply as usual @Whois-Search , I would also be interested to have some examples of large established companies that use an it.com (sub) domain for their business as their main url.

Hi Honest, Please subscribe to our blog at https://get.it.com/blog/. We'll be listing it.com domains in the wild as we move forward. We've found great acceptance in Italy , although our primary target is the global IT community.

 

[Joe Alagna]

Welcome to the forum @Rolandas Japertas and @Andrey Insarov

I'd be interested to know if renewal prices are set to $49 per year for all domains or if 'Premium Domains' are more?

Also, what guarantees are in place that it.com will still be operating as ad SLD in 10 years time? I know the owners are committed and invested heavily at the moment, but what happens if targets aren't met and the service is withdrawn - will the premiums paid for a 'premium domain' be returned?

All the best with it!

Hi DJ,

Registrars will set their retail prices.

Regarding our premium domains, they range from a $300 - $9000 and we only have about 3k domains designated as premiums. Renewals are at the regular price (SRP $49).​

Like most registries, we don't offer refunds (or guarantees quite frankly). We are well-funded and committed, and have every intention of building this into a valuable ongoing concern.​

 

[diablo]

We've found great acceptance in Italy , although our primary target is the global IT community.

Italy is very similar in size to the UK population-wise and has around the same amount of businesses (six million) so I can see it.com becoming a similar proposition to uk.com. Not a bad secondary target anyway!

 

[Whois-Search]

Thanks for answering the questions @Joe Alagna

Are you going to ICANN?

Yes we are going to ICANN Hamburg next week.

We will have a booth there (stand 2) as DNSRF.

 

[Helmuts]

Thanks for answering the questions @Joe Alagna



Yes we are going to ICANN Hamburg next week.

We will have a booth there (stand 2) as DNSRF.

ahh, nice saw it 1 hour ago .. will check it after the current session ends.

 

[Helmuts]

Thanks for answering the questions @Joe Alagna



Yes we are going to ICANN Hamburg next week.

We will have a booth there (stand 2) as DNSRF.

where are you Andrew?

 

[Whois-Search]

where are you Andrew?

ICANN starts on Sunday (21st) for me

OXIL went early to setup the stand.

See you later !