Prediction: .EU Extension Will Succeed

The sunrise period for .eu domains is nearing its end, the landrush begins on April 7th, 2006. Since last December trademark holders were able to register their domains with the .eu extension, but starting April 7, registration will be open to EVERYONE. Sedo has been readily preparing to welcome .eu domains to their aftermarket the day the landrush begins. Not only will .eu domains be available for resale on April 7th but Sedo members will also be able to park their.eu domains with Sedo’s premium parking program. Sedo.com, the world’s largest domain marketplace, predicts that fifty percent of the .eu domains registered during the landrush will be available for resale.
This prediction is based on comparisons of other Top Level Domains (TLD) such as .info, .biz, and .name, which have been introduced in the last few years. Another indicator of the success of the .eu secondary market is the number of .eu domains already listed for sale on Sedo which were registered in the Sunrise period by trademark owners. More than 21,000 .eu Domains are currently registered from the Sunrise phase. Of those, 3,000 are already in use, either with full content or being used as an email address.
Sedo expects that generic .eu domain names will reach high values, perhaps in the same range as .com and .net domains. Experts from across the domain industry believe that domains with the highest worth will be .eu domains in English, German, and French. The uncertainty lies in whether or not the true value of the names will be seen immediately or after several years on the market.
Even though the registry is opening up to the public there are still some minimum requirements for obtaining a .eu domain. The person or organization registering a .eu domain must have some interest in the European Union, having a registered office, established organization, or be a resident of the EU. Sedo, being the only global domain marketplace and having a major presence in the European market is excited about this landrush. Sedo brings together domain buyers and sellers from all around the world. Just as they are the defacto market for all other TLDs they are sure to be the marketplace for .eu domains as well.