EnCirca Inc. (EnCirca), Official Provider for the .name registry, the world's first top-level domain exclusively for individuals, announced today that it would be accepting applications until 6 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) today for .name domains, email addresses and intellectual property protection products. The first .name domains will resolve on the Internet on January 15th, 2002.

The .name domain space is the first personal space on the Internet solely for individuals. The core products of the .name offering are Domains and Email Forwarding. A .name email and web address consists of a person's name, making it easy for friends, family and colleagues to remember. As individuals change jobs, homes or email addresses, the .name address remains intact and forwards email to whatever address is selected.

Celebrities, athletes, government officials, and owners of fictional characters, are encouraged to request their names in the first Landrush Period , since .name addresses will be granted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

".name is the new "dot" for consumers. .name will place consumers in control of their personal information on the internet,", says Tom Barrett, CEO of EnCirca. "This is the "dot" where consumers will want to conduct all of their ecommerce transactions".

Initial indications suggest there will be great demand for .name registrations, as thousands of individuals have submitted requests to date. Individuals that want a .name have the best chance of receiving the name that they request by registering in the first Landrush Period, closing 6 pm December 17th. The first set of .name addresses will appear on the Internet on January 15th, 2002.

Any applications submitted after 6 pm EST today will be placed into the second land-rush queue. The second Landrush Period will also end January 15th, with the names expected to resolve February 1st. Subsequent Landrush Periods (registration periods) will end every other Tuesday thereafter until real-time registration begins in the second quarter 2002.

The Intellectual Property "Defensive Registrations" enable trademark holders who want to block trademarks from being registered within the .name domain to do so for a period of ten years. Defensive Registration is offered at two levels, Premium and Standard. Premium Registration blocks any registration that contains the specified trademark, regardless of where the trademarked name appears in the .name domain. Standard registration removes only exact names from the .name domain space and is ideal for a two-part company name or a product name.

The deadline for all Defensive Registrations is also today at 6 pm EST. Unlike personal registrations, there are no subsequent queues for trademark owners before the .name registry goes live. The next opportunity for business owners to protect their trademarks will be late in 2002. However, once an individual registers their .name, it is too late for a trademark owner to protect the same name.