NIC Argentina, which manages the ccTLD .AR, has announced that it is allowing the registration of second-level domain names. Previously, only third-level domains, such as example.com.ar or example.net.ar, were available to registrants. Now they have the opportunity to register example.ar. Thus, Argentina has followed the example of some other countries, in particular, Great Britain and New Zealand, which earlier allowed the registration of second-level names in their ccTLDs.
However, Argentina has taken a slightly different approach. First of all, it applies to the priority registration period for owners of registered domain names. As in other countries, in Argentina, 3LD owners will be able to register similar second-level names. But the priority registration period in Argentina will last only until November 9 compared to five years in the UK, according to Domain Incite.
The second difference is the dispute resolution mechanism. If we imagine that example.com.ar and example.net.ar are registered by different people, then both registrants have equal grounds to apply for example.ar. In the UK, such a situation would be resolved through an auction. In Argentina, the winner will be decided by a lottery.
On November 25, a landrush phase will start. But this term does not seem to be very applicable in the case of Argentina. Anyone can apply for any available 2LD, by paying a non-refundable fee of only 200 pesos (about $3.5). If there are several applicants for the same name, the winner will again be decided by lottery, not by auction (which shows the amazing altruism of NIC Argentina). And finally, second level domain names in .AR will be available for registration without any restrictions beginning February 23 of next year.
