Union communications minister Dayanidhi Maran (extreme right) with leading industrialists and media barons at the function to start the ?dot in? domain name registrations in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Jan. 6: The registration for the official Internet domain of the country ? dot in ? has begun.

The Union minister for communications and information technology, Dayanidhi Maran, today presented registration certificates to organisations, which have registered with ?dot in? addresses.

For the first time, easier domain names are available such as mydomain.in. The ?dot in? registry will offer a 90-day ?sunrise period? to trademark owners, registered companies and owners of intellectual property to secure registration of domain names. Private registrars accredited to submit applications include Direct 1, Good Luck Domains and Net4India Limited. Registration will also be offered by state-run NIC.

Maran said ?dot in? reflects patriotism and will definitely be a successful domain name registry. Initially, registered companies and trademark owners have been given time till January 21 to select their addresses, after which a silent period will prevail. These will be known technically as Sunrise applicants.

From February 16, open registration will start for the general public. However, those registering after February 15 will have to choose from the left-over names, Maran said.

The ?dot in? registry has been created by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), promoted by the department of information technology (DIT) as a ?not-for-profit? company in association with the Internet Service Providers Association of India.

The registry has formulated new policies for the registration and administration of dot in domain names ? the ?dot in Sunrise policy? and the ?dot in domain name dispute resolution policy (INDRP)?.