(14 February 2008 7:25 pm)

MUMBAI: In the backdrop of ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) 31st International Public Meeting in New Delhi in association with Department of IT and National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), the DotAsia Organisation announced the launch of Kapil Dev's website www.KapilDev.asia.

The website will enable him to reach out to his fans and protect his cyber identity under DotAsia's Celebrity Pioneer Program that offers Indian celebrities the priority to register their domain name with .Asia before the registrations are opened for public later this month on 20 February.

Kapil Dev's website will have comprehensive information on the cricket legend and will also act as a discussion platform for his fans, who will be able to directly get in touch with Kapil Dev and interact with him through his site.

According to DotAsia Organisation Limited CEO Edmond Chung, "There are more than 450 million online customers in Asia, and the .ASIA domain name is a gateway to reach this largest Internet market in the world. While .COM ignited the ecommerce boom in the US, .EU was created for Europe. .Asia is the first global top-level-domain that is headquartered in Asia and will be the platform for growth of the region. The Pioneer Domains Program focuses on building positive usage of the .Asia domain which in turn drives adoption and development for the Internet community across Asia."

Apart from Kapil Dev, other early adopters of the program in India include many celebrities including pop diva Shibani Kashyap, TV star Rakshanda Khan, 'Indian Idol' fame Rahul Vaidya, Anoushka - pop artist & a VJ at 'Channel V' amidst many others.

DotAsia is committed to the orderly and stable launch of the .Asia domain into the technical and social fabric of the Internet. In contrast to the mad rush to domain names which had left brand owners around the world frustrated in past launches of new top-level domains, a comprehensive "Sunrise" (priority period for Trademark owners and businesses) process was implemented for the .Asia registry.