.sl Internet Domains Available For Registration!
While recovering from minor surgery (which sadly means several weeks of limited computer access…), I stumbled upon this very interesting bit of news: AFcom, the African Registrar, struck a deal with the old registrar for Sierra Leone to allow registration of .sl domain names!
This is something that several residents (and Linden Lab itself) have been trying to work out with the .sl registrar since 2004 at least. The old registrar never answered emails and their phone number was disconnected. AFcom at least means serious business: for US$50 (you can pay with PayPal or Visa/Mastercard/AMEX) you can get your own .sl domain name for a year. Please note that the domain names under .sl are on a first-come, first-served basis, and dispute resolution is very limited, so make sure you get yours quickly!
Several people will be a bit worried about using AFcom and will prefer to wait until the big registrars like GoDaddy start offering .sl domain name registration. I was afraid I got my trademarked names swept under my feet by people without such qualms, so I registered immediately. Although the nic.sl site looks simplistic, it certainly works well enough: setting up is a breeze (if you have access to DNS service from your favourite hosting provider) and after less than an hour, DNS had propagated and my new domain names started working immediately. In spite of some comments to the contrary, the process does seem to be automated, since I used it during Sierra Leone’s night.
If you’re still unsure, take a look at the SL Universe forums discussing this issue. And ask questions there!
Now the trademarking question comes back again: how will Linden Lab deal with things like http://gwynethllewelyn.sl/? Am I infringing any LL’s trademarks by registering that domain, or just registering a domain under Sierra Leone? This should certainly amuse the lawyers at Linden Lab (and yes, secondlife.sl is naturally taken) 
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Amuse lawyers? I dunno about – but I can see them rubbing their hands with glee.
You might be better off using Turkmenistan for your domain name, as that gives you a TM without thinking about it.
Maybe: http://gwynethllewelyn.sl.tm
Linden Lab’s trademark guidelines cover second-level domains (foo.com), subdomains (foo.reuters.com), and paths (reuters.com/foo/), but make no mention of top-level domains. (By the way, that means gwynethllewelyn.sl.tm would, in LL’s eyes, be infringing.)
So, they haven’t granted permission to use SL in the top-level domain, but it would be laughable in the extreme for them to try to enforce such a thing.
Besides which, the trademark guidelines seem to be yet another policy which LL either has no interest or no resources to enforce. At least not for the small players like us.
I think the price is over-inflated extortion for an extension that “might” seem valuable in the future. I gave up on my first ever domain tanyoko.nu because it just costs stupid amounts ($30 per year) to keep compared to my current .com name ($10-$12 per year).
$50 per year is way too much for me to even consider. No thanks.
ah-ah! Minor surgery! So that’s what happened! Get well soon, dear!
John Skelton Associates. UK, how can i find it.
John Skelton Associates. UK, how can i find it.
I appreciate the concern which is been rose. The things need to be sorted out because it is about the individual but it can be with everyone. I like this particular article It gives me an additional input on the information around the world Thanks a lot and keep going with posting such information.
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