Network Solutions Inc has signed what it calls a bilateral agreement with China’s domain name registry for its national top- level domain (.cn). All the deal really means is that NSI customers will get preferential treatment and the CNIC – the equivalent of the InterNic in the US – will expedite requests channeled through NSI, cutting the waiting time from two weeks to three days, according to NSI. Other companies already register domains in the .cn space, including NetNames Inc. NSI will operate the relationship through its idNames subsidiary, which registers domains outside the US. A registered office is required in China to qualify for a .cn extension and Chinese domains do not come cheap, as is the case with some overseas domains. NSI and CNIC are charging a $249 set- up fee then $35 each year, including the first. CNIC employs the US’ generic TLDs as second-level names, such as .com.cn and .org.cn plus others such as .ac.cn for academic institutions. The CNIC is a subsidiary institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was founded in May 1990. The China Science and Technology network was first connected to the internet in 1994.
