Pakistani grabs burjkhalifa.com

When the UAE renamed the Burj Dubai as the Burj Khalifa this week, they apparently didn’t think the domain name of the world’s tallest building was important. While the skyscraper’s developers missed out on the domain, a lucky Pakistani was quick to grab it shortly after the name change was announced.

It amazes me how the developers of a $1.5 billion domain can forget to do something so simple. The massive building contains 160 floors and 24,348 windows. It was built using more than 4,000 tons of steel and can hold up to 25,000 people, but doesn’t have a .com domain. Instead, the developers have registered and are now using burjkhalifa.ae.

The exact identity of the registrant isn’t known as the person has enabled WHOIS privacy protection on the name.

Source | Gulf News
Photo | Flickr

Arab countries eager for IDNs

ICANN just recently announced its plans to fast-track IDNs, but the organization estimates that so far only 50 countries are interested. Of these, nearly one fifth are Arab-speaking nations.

Nine out of twenty-two Arab countries have expressed interest in Arabic domains: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are especially eager to adopt IDNs. In addition, the UAE is expected to apply for the ccTLD .emarat to complement its .ae extension.

IDNs will not only bring more Middle East users online, but also increase the quantity and availability of Arabic content.

Source | Vybes.com