KUALA LUMPUR: Thanks to today’s growing emphasis on intellectual property (IP) protection, domain names have become assets that are as important as any other IP in the bricks-and-mortar world.

In an interconnected world, domain names provide businesses and individuals with a unique online identifier: The most important way interested parties can find out more or get in touch with them.

At the top of the risk-list of not protecting one’s online identity is brand reputation harm due to cybersquatting, where ill-intentioned third parties register — as domain names — the trademarks or names of famous businesses or people to take advantage of, misrepresent, or resell at an inflated price.

The importance of protecting your IP cannot be emphasised enough. In September 2007, the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Japan office did a major study on the economic impact of IP systems in six Asian countries — China, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.

There was positive correlation between the strengthening of the nation’s IP protection system and subsequent economic growth.

As such, the pressing question for many Malaysian businesses and individuals is this: Are they doing all they can to protect their valuable online identities?

The .my country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) provides accessibility, recognition as well as protection for a Malaysian entity in the country.

Prevention, after all, is more preferable than cure.

Why .my?

Securing a Malaysian identity online should be an important strategy for all Malaysian-based businesses. Since Malaysia ranks among the top-25 trading nations of the world, having a .my online identity goes a long way to denote this pedigree internationally.

So what can Malaysian companies and individuals do to better protect themselves online?

One way is to secure .my ccTLDs for all their most important assets. Take an automotive company for example — it should be the company name, for one, but it can also include all the various car models in its stable.

In fact, even multinational companies secure their .my ccTLDs in an effort to protect their online identity in all the countries they operate in to avoid vulnerability to cybersquatting.

Likewise, Malaysian companies, especially Bursa-listed companies are strongly encouraged to emulate these multinational entities and secure their .my domain names as it is the only way to protect their online identity on Malaysian shores.

In addition, having a .my domain name strengthens their Malaysian identity, an important brand differentiator for a Malaysian business entity in particular.

Besides allowing Malaysian companies to proudly signal their Malaysian origin and identity online, having a .my domain name also helps differentiate them from foreign entities with similar-sounding names.

Open, easy registration

As the sole administrator for .my domain names in Malaysia, .my Domain Registry is responsible for processing all registrations. There are eight categories of .my domain names available — .my, .com.my, .net.my, .org.my, .edu.my, .gov.my, .mil.my and .name.my.

There are a few steps to take when registering for a .my domain name.

First things first, know which category is relevant. For example, the second level domain .my is open to both Malaysian individuals and organisations.

Although .com.my is recommended for commercial organisations, .net.my for network-related organisations and .org.my for organisations which do not qualify for other categories, registered entities are entitled to all three domain name categories.

Malaysian individuals wishing to register domain names that are for personal use only can also opt for .name.my.

The desired domain name is entirely up to the applicant. The obvious choice for Malaysian businesses is their company names, their products or services, or other trademarks that they own.

More importantly, avoid having a third party such as a website designer or developer take over administrative control of their domain names. It is critical for companies to ensure their entity is listed as the registrant and one of their employees is listed as the administrative contact.

For individuals, registration is open to those aged 18 years and above with a MyKad or with valid proof of residing in Malaysia and a valid passport for non-Malaysian citizens.

New domain name registrations for .my, .com.my, .net.my and .org.my no longer require the submission of hard copies of supporting business documents for organisations formed pursuant to the Business Registration Act 1956, Companies Act 1965 and Legal Profession Act 1976, unless specifically requested.

Once the preferred domain name has been identified and the pre-requisites fulfilled, the actual registration process begins.

It is important to note that registration for .my, .com.my, .net.my, .org.my and .name.my are handled only by authorised resellers of .my Domain Registry.

Registration can be done either through walk-in or online. A complete list of resellers can be found on .my Domain Registry’s website.

.my Domain Registry processes domain name application forms every working day of the week. Domain names are registered on a “first come, first serve” basis and only after all relevant information has been provided accurately and correctly.

(The author is the director of .my Domain Registry.)

Next: Domain name dispute resolution in Malaysia

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www.domainregistry.my