Re-Open Individual Registration of .Cn Domain Names — China May

CNNIC plans to re-open registration.

Individuals may regain the ability to register .cn domain names sometime in the future, China Daily is reporting.

CNNIC, which manages the .cn country code domain name for China, banned individuals from registering the domain names late last year as it cracked down on pornography and false registrations. .Cn became very popular thanks to cut rate pricing, but the low pricing made the domain a popular tool for criminal activity.

Earlier this month, CNNIC also banned non-Chinese registrars from registering .cn domain names for anyone, counting businesses.

These moves have pushed many people in China to other top level domain names, such as .com. The China Daily story quotes school teacher Wu Xiaofei: “I have to hand in a lot of material if I register a “.cn” domain name, but I can have a “.com” domain name by providing just my e-mail address and paying the agent regarding 40 yuan, which is more convenient.”

CNNIC would not provide a time table for restoring registration capabilities to individuals.