Active ISP is first to offer 'open' registration of .name domain names

Amsterdam, 15th January 2004 - (HostReview) - Active ISP, regarded as one of the leading European Internet Service Providers, today opened registration for the new top-level domain '.name' for individuals. Visitors that act quickly will more than likely be able to register their family names (i.e. smith.name) because the system is almost completely free of previous registrations.
 
"Businesses began to register domain names over ten years ago so many individuals have found that their family names are already taken. The .NAME extension is predominantly for the home user and starting today, everything is available." Said Jaap Zuiderveld, Managing Director of Active ISP. 
 
Registration of this unique domain extension has been made possible through changes by GNR (Global Name Registry) in association with ICANN. The .NAME extension is now specifically for individuals to secure their family names and as a result companies are not permitted to make registrations. During the six-week period leading up-to 14th January, companies were able to protect their company names and trademarks through a limited number of approved registrars like Active ISP, in order to prevent misuse during the open-registration period.

"This is a one-time opportunity for families, famous people and "want to be" famous people to secure their name. There is no better email address for private use than your family name, and now is the time to register it through one of our registrar partners, like Active ISP."  Commented Hakon Haugnes,  President, Global Name Registry. 
 
Individuals can register .NAME domain names through any of Active ISP's European websites and immediately start to use Photobook (online photo gallery), SiteBuilder (easy to use web site builder), email and spam filters. 
 
Active ISP is offering .name registration today at www.activeisp.co.uk 

About Active ISP 
Active ISP is Europe's leading provider of internet services, including web hosting, domain name registration, and email solutions. With over 60,000 websites hosted and 270,000 domain names registered, Active ISP stands for the development of standardised solutions with a high degree of user-friendliness and scalability.
 
Active ISP is active in 12 European countries and operates from Amsterdam (head office), Hilversum, London, Oslo, and Karlstad, It boasts an extensive sales and marketing network of more than 2,500 Partners and 15,000 Affiliates. Our strategic partners include Microsoft, IBM, Compaq, Dell, Skanova, and GE Leasing.

UK: www.activeisp.co.uk
Corporate: www.activeisp.org

About GNR Limited

GNR Limited is the parent company of The Global Name Registry, Limited, which operates a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry that offers individuals around the world the opportunity to purchase a web address and email address in the form of their name, ending with the suffix .name. GNR Limited's investors include Carlyle Europe Venture Partners, L.P., Northzone Ventures AS, and Four Seasons Venture AS. Further information about Global Name Registry can be found at http://www.name