Basic questions about less common TLD's

[Under S.]

The .com I was going for is taken, but the .me is available (and thankfully works w/ the theme of the site).

My host is offering the .me for $3 first year, then a whopping $33 for subsequent years. (Comparatively, .com is $16 for annual renewals.)

This made me want to find more info about .me -- basic questions like who runs it, and why is it so expensive? What country is it from? Is there a Wiki for this kind of stuff?

Also, is there any danger that one of these fancier TLD's will just up and disappear overnight? How about jacking the price to something absurd, forcing a rebrand? Are there any mechanisms in place to prevent that?

I guess the real question is, are TLD's like franchises; subject to a common code of conduct (so to speak) -- or more like completely independent entities; free to do whatever they want independently of one another?

(I've only ever dealt with .com/.net… is it generally safer to stick with the tried and true Verisign ones? Or not at all?)

[BenPleysier]

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) co-ordinates and maintains/administers TLD's. For more see ICANN - Wikipedia

If you are a business, you get the best results if you stay with '.com' for international exposure or a variant (like '.com.au') for local exposure.

[Under S.]

BenPleysier  wrote

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) co-ordinates and maintains/administers TLD's. For more see ICANN - Wikipedia

Thanks, but where do I find information on .me specifically? (info like any of the questions in the OP)

[B i r n o u]

give a shot @gandi.net as registrar

Nom de domaine - Plus de 750 extensions / Gandi.net

the price are usually more fair there

i.e I saw the .me renew less expensive than what you get.

plus, did you buy yours at a real recorded registrar or just a pure resseler / sometimes hoster ?

[Under S.]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/B+i+r+n+o+u  wrote

give a shot @gandi.net as registrar

Nom de domaine - Plus de 750 extensions / Gandi.net

the price are usually more fair there

i.e I saw the .me renew less expensive than what you get.

plus, did you buy yours at a real recorded registrar or just a pure resseler / sometimes hoster ?

Hi Birnou,

I do everything through Dreamhost. Here is their .me registration page (which is part of a larger tree). You'll note the cheap first year and whopping annual renewals (among the most expensive, twice the cost of .com or .net).

Questions :

1. What country does .me represent, if any? (Is there a Wiki out there for this sort of thing?)
2. How does ICANN justify .me annual renewal costs being twice what they are for .com + .net (which I believe are Verisign-operated, correct?)
3. What does it mean that Verizon is associated with .com + .net, but not .me? My gut feeling is that .com + .net don't belong to the same category of TLD as .me (that the latter might represent a country, whereas .com + .net don't).
4. If I go with .me (a first) what's to stop whoever's fixing the rates at the source from jacking the price overnight two years in? (is there more risk of that happening with specialty TLDs like .me than more commonly-used TLDs like .com?)
5. Gandi's price for .me is even more expensive than Dreamhost's (over $80 for 3 years) which brings us back to Question #2.

I am asking these questions because the client is hesitating between the two branding options, so I need to consider the short and long term consequences of each path.

Thanks!

[Nancy OShea]

.me is the TLD for Montenegro.  If this is a business, stick with .com or .biz.

.me - Wikipedia

[Under S.]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Nancy+OShea  wrote

.me is the TLD for Montenegro.  If this is a business, stick with .com or .biz.

.me - Wikipedia

It's for a single-person business, which is why the .me actually works here as a Plan B (or did before all these warnings).

1. Why not .me for business? Strictly because of appearances, or something more?
2. What does it mean when Dreamhost says .com + .net are "powered by Verisign" while others (like .me) aren't? What exactly is Verisign's role in the selling of .com/.net and are those TLDs exclusive to them, perhaps for a given territory? Is Verisign also "powering" .com + .net over at GoDaddy, or is this more a Dreamhost partnership thing?

[Nancy OShea]

Powered by Verisign most likely means Dreamhost uses their services for domain name registration and SSL/TLS certificates.

Use whatever TLD you want.  Personally, I would not use .me unless my business was located  in the former Yugoslavian region of Montenegro as that gTLD implies.

[Under S.]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Nancy+OShea  wrote

Powered by Verisign most likely means Dreamhost uses their services for domain name registration and SSL/TLS certificates.

So it can be someone else "powering" .com + .net over at another host, like GoDaddy... correct? Or does Verisign have some sort of exclusivity thing with .com + .net? (ie, if you're using .com or .net in the USA, you're powered by Verisign, type thing)

[Nancy OShea]

Verisign is just one more company in the domain name registration business.  They are no different than Network Solutions or some other domain name registrar.   Use whichever one gives you the best services at the best price.

[BenPleysier]

If you had read the WIKI that I referred to in my first reply, you would have noticed that

1. ICANN administers the TLD's
2. a number of root servers translate the TLD's to IP adresses
3. registrars administer ownership of the TLD's

You will notice that Verisign runs root servers and does not appear in the list of registrars.

[B i r n o u]

Hello @Under S.,

well,

1. me stand for Montenegro an european country, located on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. Most of the users that I know use this first level domain to stand for me (as I).... so www.their-name.me... or as a hack domain.... rent.me.... call.me... and so on... to you get the trick ?

2. the vague aspect of the acquisition and registration of this domain has only allowed a few registrars to manage it... so if the price is hight (sometime), it is because the lessor of this domain is in fact a broker, of first or second hand... ... the first year, they attract you, the next following year, they make you pay...

3. as I said, not all registrar are allowed to deal it. so if they are honest they do not put it in their catalogue, if not, they sublet it

4. generally running with a fair registar, will insure you to get a flat rate... constant... gandi.net was one of them until now...

but on this subject Ben already gave you the right place to go, to know who is who... ICANN - Wikipedia

5. not in france .. total for 3 years... 40.8 euros