Domain Name Registration

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Network Information Centre (HKNIC) deals with Internet domain names registrations in Hong Kong. Only five second-level domains for the top-level "hk" domain are available, namely ".com", ".net", ".edu", ".org", and ".gov". HKNIC currently registers domain names on a first-come-first-serve basis. The following requirements have to be met to register an ".hk" domain name:

• A local presence in Hong Kong (i.e. companies/business registered with the Companies Registry of Hong Kong or schools registered with the Education Department, etc.). Individuals may not register ".hk" domain names.
• Payment of a one-off fee of HK$200. Unlike in other jurisdictions, there is no annual fee payable.
• The applicant should not own any other ".hk" domain names.

HKNIC does not require a detailed description for the category "purpose of domain name". A one to two word answer such as "business", "Internet retailer" or "information web-site" will be acceptable. Natural persons, whether they reside in Hong Kong, or overseas, cannot apply for domain names. There are no restrictions on the types of domain names that can be registered and /or assigned, other than that the total length of the three-part name must be 27 characters or less. HKNIC may object to domain names which it considered to be offensive, immoral or otherwise deemed inappropriate for use.

Registration of domain names is handled on first-come-first-served basis and should be based on pinyin romanization system of Chinese characters. CNNIC began accepting applications for Chinese character domain names in January 2000. Applicants for a Chinese character domain name must already have a pinyin domain name. According to the report in China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the total number of registered domain names under the country code of "CN" reached 126,146 by June 30, 2002 (see Appendix 3).