.my domains to be sold globally next month

The .my namespace is to be opened up to international registrants next month under a deal between the Malaysian registry and Caymans-based Internet Naming Co, according to INCO’s CEO.

Shayan Rostam said that MYNIC will continue to be the registry for .my, but that INCO will take on operations outside Malaysia. The deal will allow non-Malaysians to register .my domains for the first time, he said. Currently, some registrars offer local presence services to get around the rules.

INCO already runs a portfolio of gTLDs, the initial batch acquired from UNR a few years ago, and adding .my should bring the ccTLD to a wider range of registrars. There’s going to be a new Registry-Registrar Agreement that is “less restrictive” than the old one, Rostam said.

.my has been around since 1987 and currently has about 313,000 domains under management, split roughly 50:50 between the second-level under .my and third level under .com.my. There are also lesser-used spaces such as .org.my and .net.my.

Rostam said the third-level spaces will still be reserved for Malaysians, but that no local nexus will be required under the second-level. It’s a similar idea to how Colombia’s .co was operated when it relaunched in 2010.

The TLD is of course potentially attractive because it’s an English word commonly used in domains, albeit usually at the start of the name rather than the end. According to my database, “my” is the most commonly-registered ccTLD-match two-letter domain among dot-brands.

Rostam said that he expects to start the relaunch with an Early Access Period, with prices starting at about $25,000, in late May, with full general availability in June.

Renewal pricing in GA is expected to be around the $30 mark — substantially cheaper than current retail prices — but registrars are expected to run first-year promotions in the sub-$10 area,

There will also be a list of premium-priced domains that could pump the pricing up to between $100 and $10,000 per year.

There’s no formal sunrise period — ccTLDs are not governed by ICANN rules and .my has of course been around for almost 40 years — but brand-protection registrars have been given special early access in case they have clients that want protection, Rostam said.

Under a separate deal, INCO has also taken over management of .forum and .feedback on behalf of two of Jay Westerdahl’s companies, Rostam confirmed.

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