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The .PRO Red Carpet Affair Has Ended

General registration opens Monday, September 8, 2008.

The Domain Reservation period has ended and the Registry is preparing for .Pro’s official opening on September 8th. We look forward to accepting your registration at that time.

.Pro Frequently Asked Questions:

Second-Level .Pro Domains:

Third-Level .Pro Domains:

What is a .Pro domain name?

It is a bundled security offering of a domain indicating professionalism and credibility, including authentication and verification. Second-level .PRO domains are not restrictive; any business can register! If you have a business license, you are likely to be eligible to register a .PRO domain. For more information on eligibility, please click here.

Third-level .pro domains are also available with profession-specific domain names (.eng.pro, .med.pro, .law.pro or .cpa.pro). An example of a third level domain is mydomain.eng.pro.

Why do I need a .Pro domain name?
Trust in the business world is difficult to establish. A .PRO domain gives additional credibility and confidence to your business as only registrants that are in good standing with their licensing entity are permitted to register a .PRO domain.

Who can register a .Pro domain name?
All licensed professionals are able to register second-level domains. Professionals in certain fields and specific countries are able to register third-level domains. For second-level domains (eg. mydomain.pro), click here.

For third-level domains (eg. mydomain.law.pro), click here.

What information must be provided as proof of eligibility for a .Pro domain name?
All applicants will need to submit personal and professional information in order to be eligible for a .Pro domain. Required information includes:

• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Date of Birth
• Profession Type
• Country of Jurisdiction
• License Number
• Licensing Authority
• A link to the Licensing Authority’s Web site

How will .Pro review the eligibility of registrants in the .Pro domain?
What distinguishes the .Pro TLD from other domain extensions is its unique registration requirements. RegistryPro will require that registrants self-certify that they are professionals who meet the requirements of their profession and jurisdiction and provide information license and identity information which can be independently cross-referenced either through an online review process administered at the RegistryPro website .

Is this a real-time registration?
No, to ensure a high level of security, .Pro registrations are multi-stage to provide assurance that the registrant is who they represent themselves to be.

For more information:
Second-level domains (eg. mydomains.pro)
Third-level domains (eg. mydomains.law.pro)

Second-Level .Pro Domains:

What are the new .Pro registration rules?
Previously, second-level .pro domains could only be registered by professionals in the accounting, engineering, medical or legal fields who were licensed in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom or Germany. Registrants also had to own two third-level domains in different fields to be eligible to register a second-level domain.

Starting on September 8, 2008, the Registry will remove all of these restrictions to allow all licensed and credentialed professionals and professional entities, who self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements, to register second-level .Pro domains. You can begin reserving your .pro domain by registering from now until August 31, 2008. These .pro domains will be registered under a first-come first-serve basis.

There are no requirement changes to third-level domains.

Will I be eligible to register second-level .Pro domains (eg. mydomain.pro) under the new registration rules?

All licensed and credentialed professionals and professional entities who self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements are able to register .Pro domains. You can register a second-level .Pro domain if you meet all of the following:

• You are a person or entity who provides professional services.
• You have been admitted to or licensed by a government certification body, or jurisdictional licensing entity recognized by a governmental body.
• The body or licensing entity requires that its members be licensed or admitted to provide services.
• You are in good standing.

To determine if your business is eligible to qualify, the general idea is as follows. As long as the organization provides the service associated with its registration identification, and meets all eligibility requirements outlined in the registration agreement , the organization is eligible to register a second-level .pro domain. For example, a customer's business license states that they retail running shoes will be eligible if they use the .pro domain to sell shoes.

Can a second-level .Pro registrant be a professional organization instead of an individual professional?

A second-level .Pro registrant may either be an individual professional or a professional organization. When the registrant is an organization, the organization can use its registration identification (eg. business license) as its professional eligibility contact information. As long as the organization provides the service associated with its registration identification, and meets all eligibility requirements outlined in the registration agreement, the organization is eligible to register a second-level .pro domain. For example, a customer.s business license states that they retail running shoes will be eligible if they use the .pro domain to sell shoes.

What is the Domain Reservation Phase [From now until August 31, 2008]?

From now until August 31, 2008, DomainPeople is providing you with an exclusive opportunity to reserve your .PRO domain before the registry officially opens up the registration period for any professional on September 8, 2008. All domains registered under the Domain Reservation phase will not resolve until September 8, 2008.

Under this phase, your domain can only be registered for 1 year. If you would like to extend the registration term, please renew your domain when your .pro domain resolves.

How much does .pro cost?

New second-level .pro domain registrations are $50.95/year. Domains registered under the Domain Reservation phase cannot be renewed until September 8th, 2008. These domains cannot be transferred until 60 days after September 8th, 2008.

What is the process for registering a .Pro domain?

1) Reserve your .pro domain.

2) You will be sent an email from the Registry requesting your professional eligibility information. You must complete this information within 44 days, otherwise you risk losing your domain.

3) Submit all this information to the Registry. Once it has been submitted, the domain will be registered but will not resolve for the time being (due to the nature of the Domain Reservation phase).

4) On September 8th, 2008, the domain will resolve to the name servers you indicated. Your domain will not resolve if you do not provide your professional eligibility information.

I received a notification from the Registry that my professional eligibility information did not pass their test. What do I need to do?

Second-level .pro domains are subject to random professional eligibility verifications. If your information did not pass, you can resubmit your professional information within 7 days per the emails’ instructions.

Will I need to do anything else after I register and submitted my professional information?

Registrants are required to agree to the Terms of Use (TOU) annually. RegistryPro will send you an email at the end of each year to do so.

What is the minimum character restriction for second-level .pro domains?

All second-level .pro domains must be 4 or more characters long.

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Third-Level .Pro Domains

How does a third-level .pro domain work?
A .Pro domain name is issued by professionals who self-certify that they meet the eligibility requirements and pass a verification process. They are issued a digital certificate which can be downloaded to their computer for use in digitally signing and encrypting email communications. A professional-level digital certificate provides the following levels of digital trust:

Authentication - provides proof of a digital identity

Confidentiality - maintains privacy and confidentiality of content

Integrity - ensures the content has not been changed or altered

Non-repudiation - provides proof that the communication was sent

Who can register a third-level .Pro domain name?
At this time, only members of the engineering, medical, legal and accounting professions are eligible to register third-level .Pro domains.

The .Pro professional eligibility requirements are intended to restrict domain name registrations within the .Pro top-level domain to persons and organizations that are licensed or otherwise credentialed by the appropriate government agencies or organizations to provide professional services to the public in the legal, medical and accounting fields.

Eligible registrants may register one or more of four major profession-specific domains:

Profession

TLD

Engineers

.eng.pro

Attorneys .law.pro
.jur.pro
.bar.pro

Accountants

.cpa.pro
.aca.pro

Physicians

.med.pro

In the future, additional variations of these domains will be available to take into account local, professional and linguistic differences in the various regions in which .Pro domain names are offered.

Where is the registration eligibility criteria specified?
The .Pro eligibility criteria are established in the Registry's Agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). RegistryPro, the operator of the .Pro top-level domain will establish registry policy in consultation with an Advisory Board made up of representatives of professional organizations. It is the responsibility of registrants to provide truthful and accurate information about their professional status when registering for a .Pro domain name.

What are the basic eligibility criteria?
To be in compliance with the professional eligibility requirements, a registrant must be either:

•  An individual who is currently licensed as (i) an engineer, (ii) a Certified Public Accountant, (iii) a physician (including a medical doctor), or (iv) an attorney at law, who is currently licensed to practice in any of the following supported jurisdictions:

United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Germany;

or,

•  An organization that provides engineering, accounting, legal or medical professional services, and has an employee who satisfies one of the above criteria and registers on behalf of such entity or organization.

Examples of such organizations include: engineering consultation firms, accounting firms, hospitals, legal publishers, medical supply companies, or law departments of large companies.

Registrants outside the supported jurisdictions are eligible for Defensive Name Registrations. Additional jurisdictions will be added shortly. All .Pro domain name registrants must remain in compliance with the professional eligibility requirements at all times during their registration.

Can a third-level .Pro registrant be a professional organization rather than an individual?

A third-level.Pro registrant may either be an individual professional or a professional organization. When the registrant is an organization, there must be a .qualifying professional. who meets the normal eligibility standards for an individual registrant. This individual must certify that they are an employee of the registrant organization and that the organization provides services related to the individual's profession.

Will eligibility be reviewed again after registration?
Eligibility for will be periodically re-verified, at a minimum annually, at the time of a registrants' digital certificate annual renewal.

To implement the .Pro Professional Eligibility Requirements, RegistryPro will:
1. Require that each Registrar certify that as a condition to registration of a .Pro domain name, that the professional eligibility of each registrant is verified.
2. Require that each registrar's agreement with registrants include terms and conditions relating specifically to .Pro domains (for example, regarding professional eligibility and the requirement that the registrant remain in good standing in his/her profession throughout the term of their domain name registration). Examples of such terms and conditions can be found in the DomainPeople Registration Agreement .

What is the Verification Process?
Registrars shall enforce the Professional Eligibility Requirements and must verify the personal identity of each registrant as a condition of registration. To satisfy the registration requirements, Registrars may:

(i) contract with RegistryPro for individual identity and professional verification services,
(ii) conduct personal identity and professional eligibility verification manually, or
(iii) contract with other third-parties for automated verification services.

What personal and professional information will a registrant have to provide to the Registry to successfully complete the authentication and verification process known as the "AV Check"?
Professional Eligibility: All registrants of resolving .pro domain names must demonstrate that they meet the professional eligibility requirements of the .pro registry. Eligibility is demonstrated by presenting a set of personal authentication and professional verification (A/V) data. The accuracy of the A/V data must be verified, and it must be confirmed that the individual indicated by the A/V data is aware of and authorized the initiation of the check. This person must be given the power to approve or veto any actions, such as completion of the registration of a domain name that may be taken as a result of a successful check.

A .pro registrant may either be an individual professional or a professional organization. When the registrant is an organization, there must be a qualifying professional who meets the normal eligibility standards for an individual registrant. This individual must certify that they are an employee of the registrant organization and that the organization provides services directly related to the individual's profession.

Please refer to the RegistryPro Web site for a complete description of professional eligibility for the .pro restricted gTLD.

The following A/V data must be provided to the Registry for the subject of the A/V check:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Date of Birth
• Profession Type
• Country of Jurisdiction
• License Number
• Licensing Authority

The Registry will email the customer directly with the results of the A/V check and will include instructions on how to obtain an email or Web site digital certificate to use with the domain name.

Please Note: As authenticating and validating a potential .Pro registrant is a costly process, the cost of a .Pro third-level registration includes a non-refundable A/V service provided by RegistryPro. The Registry will process the information that is submitted through the online A/V interface and if the check fails, an additional A/V request must be submitted by DomainPeople at a cost of $100 USD.

What is the minimum character restriction for third-level .pro domains?
All third-level .pro domains must be a minimum of 4 characters long, and may not be more than 63 characters in length. Third-level domains with hyphens in the third and fourth character positions (eg. bbq-.pro) will not be accepted.

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Why do I need a third-level .Pro domain name?
Professionals who have a heightened security and privacy obligation benefit from the easy-to-implement and use .Pro domain name and professional-level certificate. Professionals, especially those in the legal or accounting fields, have an obligation to keep client records, communications and personal information secure and private. With third-level .Pro domains, emails can be digitally signed and encrypted to ensure privacy.

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