.ASIA TLD fulfils a market need and a dream: market needs in a dynamically growing community, and a dream to have a unified front that improves international recognition and regional competitiveness to balance the global forces.

With over 60% of the world's population (and over 90 languages), Asia is a region that is experiencing tremendous economic, cultural and technical growth. Asia has begun to emerge from its financial and economic problems of the 1990s; at this critical juncture of rejuvenation, a special, dedicated domain can help players in the region to realize their global citizenship as well as the potential for regionally targeted efforts.

Although our cultures and languages are diverse, the Asia community has common interest with the word "Asia" and has a very good sense of belonging of being part of Asia. This is evidenced by the cooperative atmosphere and successful operations of APNIC, APNG, APTLD, APRICOT and etc.

Leveraging the successful experience of existing Asia community initiatives, DotAsia Organisation aspires to bring together the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific region. A regionally dedicated domain can help cement a common regional identity that will be reinforced by the reinvestment of registry proceeds into further development for the region. While a single domain registry cannot solve all of the macro issues in the region, this initiative nevertheless seeks to contribute to the realization that regional collaboration will lead to stronger global competitiveness among Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific corporations, economies and people.

The Internet is playing an increasingly important role in the resurgent economies in the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific region. As corporations and entities look beyond their local markets, an online identity is key and a regional domain is a logical next growth step. Similarly, when multi-nationals establish presence in the region, they need a regional identity instead of simply a local one. For example, if a company establishes an Asia headquarters in Shanghai, a “.CN” address may be best for communicating with prospective clients in China. However, when this company visits Japan, a .ASIA address reinforces the broader scope of their market. A regional address may also help local companies to overcome biases when they expand outside their home market. A new domain will satisfy demand for a “virtual central market” with a neutral regional identity

As in most areas, the SME segment (small/medium enterprises) comprises the largest and fastest growing segment of the market. We believe this is precisely the segment that will benefit most from the market-expanding potential of a regional .ASIA domain.

.ASIA is a highly recognisable phrase that is short, easy to remember, versatile but specific and focused on the Asia identity. It captures the essence of the community served and is a sustainable phrase that will not easily become obsolete. “Asia” traverses a broad region yet elicits a clear concept and coherence of the community, providing registrants tremendous value in establishing an Internet presence with global recognition and regional significance. The name value for .ASIA is especially remarkable for the thriving SME (small medium enterprises) make-up of the Asia economies. This is amplified even more as these SMEs continue to expand beyond their local market to the regional marketplace leveraging the Internet as a platform for growth.

The .ASIA domain can also be naturally used by individuals, businesses, organisations as well as community groups, without constraining to a particular silo within the community, promoting a diverse and dynamic community within the .ASIA namespace. This matches well and is consistent with the multicultural and vibrant community in Asia.

There is a recognisable latent demand in Asia for a TLD with regional significance and versatility. The .ASIA TLD will address this gap in the domain namespace. Furthermore, many of the less technically conscious SMEs in the region have “lost out” on the rush for a presence in the now well-occupied namespaces. The .ASIA domain will provide an opportunity for these entities to establish a representative yet adaptable online identity. Not only will commercial entities benefit from the opening of the .ASIA domain as a regional presence on the Internet, individuals and public or private initiatives, such as regional community organisations and events, will also be able to establish their presence with an Internet address that is meaningful.

Altogether, these elements will work to enhance both the geographic as well as the demographic diversity of the Internet namespace.

“Asia” is a term with broad significance and has a clear and lasting value. Many companies, initiatives, events and organisations use “Asia” as a defining element of the core values or sectional aspect in their names. For example:

The vision of DotAsia is to create a globally visible domain that embodies the successful, cooperative atmosphere established within the Pan-Asia and Asia-Pacific Internet community to accelerate the overall growth of the region.

The mission of DotAsia is:

DotAsia is a community-based bottom-up initiative, with a membership-based not-for-profit organisation structure. Therefore, it is realised that it is inappropriate to solicit direct “endorsements” from governments because it is a private sector initiative. The governance structure of DotAsia Organisation represents a knowledgeable base, including participation from ccTLDs and regional organisations, that is experienced with the management of public resources (e.g. domain names, IP address blocks, etc.) while balancing the interests of public authorities and the community at large. For more discussion on the governance structure, please refer to Q10 below.

The .ASIA Sponsored gTLD will allow companies, organisations, events and individuals within the Asia community to establish their online identity in a regional context. While current gTLDs tend to focus on a vertical group (e.g. commercial entities, network providers, organisations, museums, cooperatives, etc.) within the global Internet, .ASIA will embrace a horizontal perspective with a clear brand to reach and enrich the broad global community. Unlike ccTLDs also, which provides for a local audience, .ASIA will allow the user to express a regional relevance.

For Dispute Resolution Policy (DRP), we will adopt the Universal Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) as our default DRP. However, we will also explore the feasibility and value to apply local dispute resolution policy developed by participating ccTLDs (our Sponsor Members) wherever possible, for example for cases where both the complainant and the respondent come from the same economy. This may be particularly useful for IDN cases. We will conduct an extensive study on this matter after we obtain the approval of ICANN.