For each country code TLD (ccTLD) as explained in my last post, the respective government has the last word on the use and management of their own domain extension. In November, the government of Montenegro (the country assigned the .ME TLD) issued a public tender to find the companies that would manage .ME. ICANN accredited registrars meeting certain requirements were invited to submit a proposal. Three groups all of which were already active players in the domain industry submitted a bid to run the extension.


A board commissioned by the Montenegrin government awarded the contract to the Afilias, Godaddy, and Me-Net trio. This move shows that the country is interested in promoting their extension to appeal to a worldwide audience which is good news if you’re going to get some names in .ME.

I think they were smart to take the Afilias, Godaddy, and Me-Net contract mainly because of the huge marketing strength Godaddy has. Though I don’t like Godaddy’s egregious upselling for their overrated addons when you’re just trying to buy a domain, you must admit they are the world’s largest domain registrar. One of Godaddy’s advantages is how it can market the .ME domain right to its gigantic customer base. As well as beating eNom in sheer size, Godaddy’s user base is made up of more end users compared to eNom, which is mainly a wholesale registrar that provides to resellers. End users are far more likely to build websites with real content on the domains they buy (which helps to grow any new domain extension) versus a domain collector.

Afilias will be providing the registry infrastructure. Afilias currently runs the registry for .org, .info, and certain ccTLDs. If you were around for the .info launch back in 2001, you might remember that the chaotic sunrise period. The intention of the sunrise period was to allow a period of time exclusively for trademark holders to reserve their trademarked names in the new domain extension to protect from cybersquatters. Some people abused the sunrise period providing invalid trademark information to squander away highly desirable names for themselves. I’d like to see Afilias regulate the launch of .ME better but all-around, they are a solid company.

Me-Net is a local Montenegrin company which bidded with Godaddy and Afilias to run the .ME extension. I couldn’t find much background on them or even a company website which is pretty disappointing for an Internet company.

The three companies Godaddy, Afilias, and Me-Net will be working in partnership to manage and promote the extension under a new consortium called DoMEn. The duration of their contract with the government of Montenegro is five years, which may be renewed at the end of the term.

You can read the Godaddy and Afilias press releases.