Mar, 2002 : Tucows Opens Pre-Registrations for .US Domain

📅 March 1, 2002 - Tucows Inc. (tucows.com), a provider of Internet services toISPs and Web hosting companies, announced that "Sunrise" pre-registrationsbegan yesterday for .us, the country code top-level domain for the UnitedStates.

Pre-registration for the Sunrise Period is exclusive to owners of existingor pending U.S. trademarks and service marks. Participation in thepre-registration process does not guarantee successful registration of adomain name, and pre-registrations will be subject to random selection aswell as strict application rules.
The launch of .us allows individuals, organizations and businesses toestablish an American identity on the Internet. Short, simple Internetaddresses such "johndoe.us," "charity.us," and "mycompany.us" were not asaccessible under previous .us policies, the company said.
Registration for the Sunrise Period officially begins on March 4, 2002,followed by "Registry Go Live" registration for the general public beginningApril 24, 2002, according to Neustar, the registry selected by ICANN tooperate the .us extension. Registration will be limited to U.S. citizens,legal residents and organizations with a "bona fide" presence in the UnitedStates.
"Our resellers have expressed very strong customer demand for this newcountry code top-level domain," said Elliot Noss, president and CEO, TucowsInc. "The expansion of the .US namespace offers the opportunity to get atop-tier American identity on the Internet. Other country code TLDs like .caand .uk have demonstrated value to regional businesses, and we anticipate.us will offer the same value to domain name registrants with Americaninterests."