ICANN Announcements

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ICANN Signs .pro Registry Agreement | The first secure Internet domain exclusively for professionals

8 May 2002

Marina del Rey, California USA (8 May 2002) The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that it has executed an agreement with RegistryPro, Inc. for operation of the new top-level domain “.pro” registry.

ICANN President/CEO M. Stuart Lynn stated, “This is the last agreement of the current round of seven top level domain extensions selected by ICANN to be added to the existing domain name system. We are pleased to welcome RegistryPro to the fold.”

The .pro extension will create the Internet’s first top-level domain exclusively for licensed professionals. Expected to launch by the end of 2002 or early next year, the .pro top-level domain will offer registrations only to credentialed professionals. Initially, registrations will be opened to the medical (e.g., .med.pro), legal (e.g., .law.pro), and accountancy (e.g., .cpa.pro and .acct.pro) professions and associated institutions (such as hospitals).

To facilitate the highest levels of privacy in communications and authenticated transactions, RegistryPro will be the first registry to require enhanced security with every .pro name. Every registrant’s professional standing will be verified, and each will be issued a digital certificate enabling encryption, and digital signature services.

Over the past year, ICANN has signed agreements with seven registry operators, including RegistryPro. These agreements have led to the launch of six new top level domains in addition to pro, namely: .biz, .info, .name, .museum, .coop, and .aero. All six have been launched and are actively registering new domain names.

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