.BIZ GOES LIVE
World's first Internet domain "built for business" accepting
new .BIZ registrations on first-come, first-serve basis starting
today.
STERLING, Va., November 7, 2001 - .BIZ - the world's first global
top-level Internet domain (gTLD) built exclusively for business
- is now live. At 00:00:01 U.S. EST today, NeuLevel, the exclusive
registry operator for .BIZ, formally activated over 160,000 pre-registered
.BIZ domain names from more than 150 countries and started taking
registrations for additional names on a first-come, first-serve
basis. In the coming months, millions of businesses around the world
are expected to register and use their own .BIZ names.
Upgrading the Internet for Business
The introduction of .BIZ represents the first advance in the Internet
addressing system in 15 years and brings to the Internet the world's
first and only Internet domain established to meet the unique needs
of businesses.
"In many ways, the Internet today is like the wild, wild west.
It was never designed for commercial use," said Douglas B.
Armentrout, CEO of NeuLevel. ".BIZ is where business will be
conducted in the future because it has what the business community
needs: superior technology, better security and a platform to facilitate
the business transactions of the future. This isn't just the future
of the Internet; this is the future of business."
The New Address for Business
In a recent survey, 80% of executives said that having the right
domain name was "important" to "critical" to
their business's future. But the exponential growth of the Internet
over the past several years has precluded many businesses from securing
the web address they really want. Now, the Internet's addressing
system is being expanded to deal with that problem. Last year, the
Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) designated
.BIZ as the first truly global, business-only space on the Internet.
"Out of all of the new TLDs that will be introduced, we believe
that .BIZ is the one with the greatest potential," said Todd
Weller, Vice President of Equity Research, Legg Mason. "This
brings a lot more inventory and opportunity for businesses to establish
their presence on the Internet."
More Than A Better Web Address for Business
The development of the .BIZ registry system started with a clean
sheet of paper and represents far more than the addition of much
needed domain name real estate. Not burdened by legacy systems ill-equipped
for dealing with today's security challenges, .BIZ provides its
users with higher levels of security - ensuring that .BIZ registered
addresses can not be "hijacked" in the future or otherwise
incapacitated.
"NeuLevel will draw on NeuStar's rich heritage of operating
mission-critical infrastructure and public resources to the highest
levels of reliability, security and stability," said Jeffrey
E. Ganek, Chairman of NeuLevel and CEO of NeuStar, Inc., NeuLevel's
parent company. For example, NeuStar operates the telephone numbering
registry for the North American Numbering Plan, a public numbering
resource that is touched by almost every phone call in North America.
Added Ganek, "All of our registries are protected by the highest
grades of encryption and security technologies - on a 24/7 basis
- and provide a 99.999% level of availability."
Ultimately, the .BIZ technology platform will enable services that
solve many of the fundamental problems that businesses face on the
Internet such as communication across different platforms and devices;
being easily found by customers; and the need for higher levels
of security.
".BIZ is really getting at the core of what businesses need
on the Internet," said Ted Chamberlin, network analyst at Gartner
Group Inc., a leading technology research and advisory firm. "It's
long overdue -- both the additional names and the new technology."
Companies interested in securing a .BIZ name can register through
one of the almost 90 .BIZ-accredited registrars or their thousands
of resellers around the world. For a full list of .BIZ registrars,
visit: www.neulevel.biz.
About NeuLevel, Inc.
Headquartered in Sterling, VA, NeuLevel, Inc. is the neutral, third-party
responsible for the creation, maintenance and servicing of the .BIZ
top-level domain, the world's first Internet address dedicated exclusively
to the needs of business.
NeuLevel was established in August 2000 as a joint venture between
Washington, D.C.-based NeuStar, Inc. and Melbourne, Australia-based
Melbourne IT, Ltd. NeuLevel has combined NeuStar's credentials and
experience in managing large, mission-critical databases with the
technically advanced, domain name registration capabilities of Melbourne
IT.
For more information, visit: www.neulevel.biz.
Media Relations Contact Information:
Barbara Blackwell
Manager of Public Relations
NeuLevel, Inc.
Email: Barbara.Blackwell@neulevel.biz
Phone: 202-533-2647
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