auDA has approved in principle a change to .com.au and .net.au eligibility that would remove the 'close and substantial connection' route. It is not in force: draft rules will go to public consultation first. This guide compares today's rules with the proposal, shows who would be affected, and explains how a foreign company registers a .com.au with an Australian trade mark.
.dot Domains: Launch Dates, Registry Rules and How to Get One
Written by Steven White ·
.dot is a new, open top-level domain run by Dish DBS Corporation, and anyone can register one from 2 November 2026, when General Availability opens. Until 19 October 2026 only trademark holders validated in the Trademark Clearinghouse can claim exact matches (Sunrise), and from 20 October to 1 November anyone can buy early in the Early Access Period by paying a premium that is highest on day one and lower every day. If you hold no trademark and don’t want to pay that premium, a pre-registration queues your name for the opening of General Availability. You can search names and see current options on our .DOT domain page.
Dates and rules checked against the .dot registry website and its Launch Plan and Registry Policies (version 1.0, 15 May 2026) on 6 October 2026. The registry marks all dates “subject to ICANN approval” and in UTC. Prices change during a launch, so this page explains how the cost is structured rather than listing figures.
.dot launch dates at a glance
The registry follows ICANN’s standard launch sequence: trademark owners first, then a paid early window, then everyone at the normal price.
| Phase | Dates (2026, UTC) | Who can register | How names are allocated | Cost compared with a normal registration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrise Notice | 19 June – 20 July | Nobody yet; trademark holders are notified through the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) | — | — |
| Sunrise | 21 July – 19 October | Holders of a TMCH-validated trademark, for the exact match of their mark | First come, first served (by registry timestamp) | Several times higher: an application fee plus at least one year of registration, both non-refundable |
| Early Access Period (EAP) | 20 October – 1 November | Anyone | First come, first served | An early-access premium, highest on day one and lower each day |
| Trademark Claims | 20 October 2026 – 18 January 2027 | Anyone (runs alongside EAP and GA) | A warning is shown if your name matches a TMCH mark, and the mark holder is told if you go ahead | — |
| General Availability (GA) | From 2 November | Anyone, through accredited registrars | First come, first served | Standard price; premium names cost more |
One detail worth knowing: the registry’s own Launch Plan of 15 May 2026 described a shorter calendar (30 days of Sunrise and 7 days of EAP). The plan says dates “are subject to change” and that changes are posted on the registry website, which now shows the 90-day Sunrise and 13-day EAP above. If you read an older guide with different dates, the registry website is the one that counts.
Which route fits you
There are three ways in, and they don’t compete on equal terms. The table matches each route to the situation it suits.
| Your situation | Best route | Deadline | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| You own a registered trademark that is recorded in the TMCH and want the exact match | Sunrise registration | 19 October 2026 | You need the TMCH validation (SMD file). Sunrise names cannot use privacy and cannot be transferred freely (see below) |
| You own a trademark but it is not in the TMCH | Pre-registration or GA; EAP if the name is contested | Sunrise requires a TMCH record, so this route starts at EAP or GA | Trademark Claims will not warn others about an unrecorded mark |
| You want a short or popular word and expect competition | Early Access Period | 20 October – 1 November 2026 | The earlier the day, the higher the premium. Premium-listed names cost more in any phase |
| You want a personal or project name and can wait two weeks | Pre-registration, filed when GA opens | Order before 2 November 2026 | Not guaranteed; a full refund if the name can’t be registered |
| You only want to watch the extension | General Availability | From 2 November 2026 | Search the name on the .DOT page once GA opens |
The honest part about pre-registration. On Register.Domains a .dot pre-registration is taken at the normal fee and filed at the moment the extension opens for General Availability, as our pre-registration page states. That means it does not compete in the Early Access Period. If someone else pays the EAP premium for the same name between 20 October and 1 November, they get it first, and a pre-registration for that name will be refunded. For most names that is not a risk; for one-word technical names such as the ones the registry itself features (api, edge, cli, docs, cloud), it is.
What .dot is and where it came from
.dot is a generic top-level domain (gTLD), not a country code. It is open: the registry’s policy says “any person or legal entity worldwide may register a .dot domain name”, with no local presence, trademark or business requirement after Sunrise.
- November 2014. Dish DBS won the rights to .dot in an ICANN auction against Google, for US$700,000. At the time Dish planned a closed space for its own customers and partners; Google had proposed an open one (DomainIncite, 20 November 2014).
- 2015. Dish DBS Corporation signed its Registry Agreement with ICANN (ICANN registry agreements database).
- 21 April 2016. .dot was added to the DNS root zone. IANA lists Tucows as its technical operator (IANA Root Zone Database).
- 15 May 2026. Dish published the .dot Launch Plan and Registry Policies, turning the dormant TLD into an open one “designed for broad adoption across technology-adjacent industries”.
- 21 July 2026. Sunrise opened.
Dish holds a family of TLDs that share the same registration-data (RDAP) server, including .dish, .latino, .mobile and .phone (IANA RDAP bootstrap list). Its previous public launch, .latino, reached General Availability on 12 June 2026 and had fewer than 800 registered names three and a half weeks later (DomainIncite, 6 July 2026). Demand for .dot is unproven in the same way: worth knowing before you pay an early-access premium.
The registry rules that matter
These are the rules from the registry’s Launch Plan and Registry Policies (version 1.0, 15 May 2026). Most of them are not published by registrars.
| Rule | .dot |
|---|---|
| Who can register | Anyone, worldwide (after Sunrise) |
| Length | At least 3 characters (“until further notice”), at most 63, not counting .dot |
| Characters | Letters a–z, digits 0–9 and hyphens; no hyphen at the start or end |
| Accented names (IDN) | Latin script, Spanish and Portuguese planned, subject to ICANN approval |
| Registration term | 1 to 10 years |
| Premium names | The registry decides which names are premium; they can be sold first come first served, by auction or by RFP |
| Reserved names | Includes names “retained for use by Registry’s strategic partners”, names for later release and geographic names; more can be reserved after Sunrise |
| Two-letter names | Allowed, but you must not imply a link with a government or a country-code registry |
| Public data | No public WHOIS service at the registry: registration data is available only through RDAP |
| Security | DNSSEC by default, according to the registry |
| Prohibited use | Malware, ransomware, phishing, pharming, botnets, credential theft, fraud, DNS abuse and spam used to deliver them; the registry can suspend, lock, transfer or cancel |
| Disputes | UDRP, URS and the Trademark PDDRP, as in other new gTLDs |
Two practical consequences. First, a two-letter .dot is not possible today (the minimum is three). Second, a name that looks free in a search may still be reserved or premium: the registry can keep names back and release them later on its own terms. When our search shows a premium price for a name, our terms say the order only goes ahead if you accept the higher fee quoted by the registry, and you are refunded if you don’t.
Sunrise names come with strings attached
Sunrise is the only phase where a trademark guarantees anything, but a Sunrise .dot is not an ordinary domain afterwards:
- No privacy. The registry does not accept Sunrise applications from privacy or proxy services, and Sunrise names “shall not be maintained using a privacy or proxy registration service”. A .dot registered in GA can use our private registration; a Sunrise one cannot.
- Locked to the trademark owner. A Sunrise name can only be transferred to another registrant with proof that the trademark rights were assigned or licensed to them.
- Renewal at the normal price. The Sunrise fee is paid once; renewals are charged at the General Availability fee in effect at the time.
- Open to challenge. Under the Sunrise Dispute Resolution Policy, a Sunrise name can be challenged if the trademark had no national or regional effect, the domain isn’t an identical match, the mark was obtained mainly to get the Sunrise registration, or the name is a generic term not used with the mark.
- First come, first served. The .dot Sunrise is a “Start-Date Sunrise”: if two trademark holders apply for the same name, the earlier valid application wins. There is no auction between them.
Not the same thing: Polkadot’s .dot names
If you work in Web3 you may already “own” a name like awesome.dot. That is a different system. Polkadot’s dotNS names are on-chain: according to the Polkadot documentation, the name lives as contract state on Polkadot Hub, is registered with command-line tools and a refundable token deposit, and resolves to a content identifier for a Polkadot product.
The .dot top-level domain launching on 20 October is part of the public DNS, administered under contract with ICANN and sold only through accredited registrars. The two are separate registries, so holding a name in one gives you no claim to the same name in the other. If your project already uses a dotNS name, the only way to get the matching DNS name is to register it in the phases above, like anyone else.
Who .dot is (and isn’t) for
The registry pitches .dot to indie developers, open-source maintainers, early-stage startups, enterprise engineering teams and DevTools companies, with subdomains such as api.acme.dot or eu.acme.dot for environments and regions. It makes sense when:
- you want a short, technical name for a product, project or API and the .com is taken;
- you own a brand that developers search for and want to keep the .dot out of other hands (Sunrise or EAP);
- you want a personal handle and are happy to wait for GA.
Think twice when you would pay a large EAP premium for a name with no proven demand, or when the name is a famous brand you don’t own: Trademark Claims notices put you on record, and UDRP and URS apply. If you are still choosing an extension by sector, our guide to the best domain extension by industry compares the options.
How to get a .dot domain, step by step
- Pick two or three names of at least 3 characters (letters, digits, hyphens).
- If you own a trademark recorded in the TMCH, apply in Sunrise before 19 October 2026 with your TMCH validation code. If you have a trademark but no code, contact us first.
- If the name is a short, popular word, decide whether it is worth an EAP premium between 20 October and 1 November. Every day of waiting lowers the premium and raises the chance someone else takes it.
- Otherwise, pre-register before 2 November 2026. The order is filed when GA opens and refunded in full if the name can’t be registered.
- From 2 November, search and register directly on the .DOT domain page, for 1 to 10 years, with free DNS management and optional private registration.
- After registering, add DNS records, enable auto-renewal and check the name with RDAP: the registry runs no public WHOIS.
FAQs
When can I register a .dot domain?
Anyone can register from 2 November 2026 (General Availability). Trademark holders validated in the TMCH can register until 19 October 2026 in Sunrise, and anyone can register early from 20 October to 1 November 2026 by paying an Early Access premium.
Do I need to be a developer or a company?
No. .dot is an open TLD: any person or organisation worldwide can register one. The developer focus is the registry’s marketing, not a requirement.
Can I register a two-letter .dot like ab.dot?
Not at the moment. The registry requires at least 3 characters “until further notice”.
Does a pre-registration guarantee the name?
No. It is filed when General Availability opens on 2 November 2026, so a name bought in Sunrise or the Early Access Period, or kept back by the registry, will not be available. If we can’t register it, the payment is refunded in full.
Is a .dot domain the same as a Polkadot .dot name?
No. Polkadot’s dotNS names are on-chain records; the .dot TLD is part of the public DNS under ICANN. Owning one does not give you the other.
Ready to secure a name? Use Sunrise if you hold a recorded trademark (until 19 October), pre-register for the GA opening on 2 November, or search the .DOT domain page. For the price of other new extensions, see our gTLD prices.
