.ME Domain Crosses 100,000 Milestone

New personalized domain is the hot new destination for Web addresses

August 5, 2008; 08:10 AM

Podgorica, Montenegro – August 5, 2008 – The .ME Registry announced today it has registered more than 100,000 domain names. This milestone comes a little more than two weeks after opening for live, real-time registrations by the general public and less than four months after opening its doors.

"We believe the huge demand for .ME reflects the public's interest in having a personal connection with the Web," said Predrag Lesic, the registry's executive director. "From interesting topics, to organization names, to brands, .ME sites give personality to the content on the Web sites associated with them."

More than 100 registrars currently offer .ME domains through their registration platform. .ME has seen its greatest interest among English speaking countries including the United States (71%), the United Kingdom (6%), Canada (4%), and Australia (2%).

Rank |Code |Country| Percentage

1 |US |United States |71%

2 |GB |United Kingdom| 6%

3 |CA |Canada |4%

4 |AU |Australia | 2%

5 |IL |Israel|1%

6 |DE |Germany |1%

7 |FI |Finland|1%

8 |AE| United Arab Emirates|1%

9 |SE| Sweden |1%

10 NL Netherlands 1%

More than a thousand auctions are currently open for popular .ME domains, with the highest bid over $32,000. Auctions for .ME have been extremely popular, with some of the top completed auctions to date being:

Name|Final Bid

lasvegas.me |$15,105

chatwith.me |$15,035

picture.me |$10,240

baidu.me |$10,005

onlinecasino.me |$10,005

tag.me |$10,005

secure.me |$10,005

There are still many active Land Rush auctions[1] taking place at http://Auctions.Domain.Me, including:

Name | Current Bid[2]

insure.me | $33,505

hug.me |$14,505

surprise.me | $8,455

brand.me |$8,115

entertain.me |$7,600

"The number of individuals participating in .ME auctions, combined with the high values of the sales indicates brand owners and investors clearly understand the domain's potential," added Lesic. "We are pleased by this success since proceeds from the auctions go to further Internet development in Montenegro."

Information on the release of premium .ME names via auction is expected in the coming months.

The registration process for .ME began in May with the Sunrise period for trademark holders. Land Rush for the general public to register names began in June. In total more than 30,000 applications were received in the Sunrise and Land Rush periods.

A list of registrars offering .ME domains is available at www.Domain.ME.

About the .ME Registry:                                              

..ME Registry (the d.b.a of doMEn, d.o.o.) was chosen by the government of Montenegro to operate the new .ME domain name extension..ME Registry partners include ME-net, GoDaddy.com and Afilias Limited. Me-Net is located in Montenegro and its principals have been leaders in the ICT sector in Montenegro, including the privatization of its largest ISP. GoDaddy.com is located in the USA and is the world's largest domain name registrar and the largest paid hostname provider in the world, according to Netcraft Ltd. Afilias Limited is headquartered in Ireland and is a leading registry services provider, supporting more than 13 million domains worldwide.

[1] The rules for Land Rush domains with multiple applications can be found http://www.domain.me/index.php?page=21.

[2] Please note open auctions prices may change with bid activity.