Businesses who want to establish an Internet presence with a "dot-ua" domain now can do so, following almost a decade of wrangling.
Ukraine’s national dot-ua domain is finally open for business.
After almost a decade of negotiation and scandal involving a Ukrainian-born computer programmer who now resides in the United States, local firms have been authorized to begin selling so-called second-level “dot-ua” domain names (Web addresses).
As a result, Ukrainian Internet users can now register and surf Web sites with addresses like www.internet.ua and www.cyber.ua for the first time. Before only third-level domain names (www.xxx.kiev.ua, www.xxx.com.ua) were available to those wanting to use Ukraine’s national dot-ua “zone” (meaning all Web addresses that end in dot-ua).
The dot-ua addresses may be the first anywhere with built-in protection against cyber-squatting, a practice used by speculators who register domain names using trademarks, then try to sell the address to the trademark owner.
The right to assign dot-ua names immigrated to the United States along with Ukrainian native Dmytro Kokhmanyuk, who in the early 1990s was the first person to register the dot-ua zone with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international organization that regulates domain names.
That gave him control over all domains that end in dot-ua.
At the time, Kokhmanyuk was employed as a senior systems administrator at Monolit, then one of Ukraine’s leading Internet Services Providers (ISPs). When he registered it, he named himself as the administrator for the dot-ua zone.
Kokhmanyuk later immigrated to the United States, but remained the administrator for domains in the dot-ua zone. During this period, he did allow the use of third-level domains, but not second-level dot-ua domains, essentially preventing the second-level domain from being used in Ukraine. Talks aimed at reactivating those domains have been held between Kokhmanyuk, Ukrainian ISPs and government officials in recent years, but proved fruitless.
ICANN, for its part, has not made any major attempt to become involved in the debate over who has the right to control second-level dot-ua domains.
In the most recent attempt to resolve the issue, Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) told journalists earlier this year that Kokhmanyuk had agreed to transfer administration to a non-profit Ukrainian entity to be supervised by the SBU. But that plan never materialized, and Kokhmanyuk denied such a deal had been reached.
Now, Kokhmanyuk has granted the right to administer the second-level domain to Hostmaster Ltd. (hostmaster.net.ua), a Ukrainian company in which he owns an interest.
Kokhmanyuk’s deal with Hostmaster, a company founded by 23 individuals earlier this year, was signed last month.
Kokhmanyuk told the Post that he had contracted with Hostmaster to perform some, but not all, of the administrative chores and technical duties necessary to support the second-level dot-ua domain.
Under the agreement, Hostmaster operates as a domain name wholesaler, collecting an $18 fee for each domain name registered by the selected companies it has authorized to “retail” the domain licenses.
Those companies, called registrars, two weeks ago started charging clients fees of about $100 per year to register and maintain second-level dot-ua Web addresses.
That’s about three times what registrars in the United States charge. But Kokhmanyuk and Hostmaster spokesperson Andrew Stesin say the fee is intended to cover administration costs, not generate profits.
The new second-level dot-ua domains are the first Ukrainian domains issued for a price. Registration and maintenance of both new and existing third-level domains remains free for now, but even holders of third-level Web addresses could find themselves suddenly subject to fees within a couple years.
When that happens, the country’s domain registrars – often small subsidiaries of ISPs or other information technology companies – could prove profitable.
As of Oct. 12, a dozen registrars, including Aleksa (imena.com.ua), Netcom (internic.com.ua) and Allied Standard, Ltd. (iname.com.ua) had already set up shop and were selling second-level dot-ua Web address.
The fees will likely scare off many companies, but they will prove no obstacle for well-heeled international corporations, according to Aleksa Director Volodymyr Oliynikov.
“We are working very actively with multinational companies,” said Oliynikov. “Most of the Web addresses in the [second-level dot-ua domain] we have sold thus far have gone to multinationals.”
At first glance, it looks like Ukrainian registrars have a good thing going. After they cover Hostmaster’s $18 fee, registrars pocket about $80 per Web address. But Oliynikov said the higher fees are needed to cover administrative costs to comply with requirements that are part of Hostmaster’s agreement with Kokhmanyuk.
Oliynikov said that under the agreement with Kokhmanyuk, his company must review trademark documents submitted by applicants and verify their authenticity with Ukraine’s patent authorities before a domain name can be assigned.
The requirement that domain names be trademarked doesn’t apply to applicants for third-tier Ukrainian domains, or to U.S.-based dot-com domains, for that matter. Those domain names are simply assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
That system has resulted in cyber-squatting, which encouraged speculators to reserve names that included high-profile trademarks, and then try to sell the names to the trademark owner – often at astronomical prices. Some cyber-squatters are reported to have made money. Others have been targeted for lawsuits by the corporations owning the trademark.
Theoretically, Kokhmanyuk’s system thwarts cyber-squatting. It does create at least two other problems, though, industry observers say. It can take years to obtain a routine trademark from Ukraine’s patent office, and individuals could find it difficult to obtain hobby or personal domain names, like cognac-lover.ua or slavik.ua without registering them as trademarks first.
