Directi plans to relaunch .pw, a ccTLD of the Micronesian Palau nation that counts only 18,000. The domain names will be readily available for everyone, with sunrise phase starting in December.
Directi is a major registrar that has applied for 30 new gTLDs, but they have no background in running a registry. The company plans to brand .pw as an acronym for "Professional Web".
While .pw is a country-code TLD, the domain names will be available worldwide, at similar rules with .tk, the domain that is owned by Tokelau, a small New Zealand territory. The sunrise phase is to start this December, lasting 70 days, with the landrush phase starting February 2013. Directi has yet to announce the costs for the TLDs, but the company has already said that they will be more affordable than .com domains.
At the moment, .pw has six second-level domains reserved for Palau citizens, namely co.pw, ne.pw, or.pw, ed.pw, go.pw and belau.pw. Other two-letter domains will not be available for registration. .pw was delegated to the Palau representatives in 1997, with MIDCORP, a Micronesian organization, taking over in 2003. At the moment, Directi carries exclusive rights to sell the domains in .pw.
