Today, November 16, the Sunrise Period begins in the new gTLD, .FORUM. During this period, trademark owners will have priority right to register brand-dot domains. Of course, registries use this as a chance to get money from large clients: usually Sunrise prices are higher than during general registration periods.
This is all the more interesting that MMX, which manages .FORUM, chose a different approach. The Sunrise prices in the new domain zone are half the regular registration prices. However, MMX’s price policy regarding .FORUM is questionable. Domain Incite shows the .FORUM registration prices announced by French registrar Gandi: $452.13 during the Sunrise Period versus a general availability price of $1,042.08. (The pricing for other registrar companies will likely see similar pricing.) This is an expensive approach and many observers believe this business model will not result in great success for MMX.
