How do I get a .name domain name

Question

There was a service which provided email aliases on .name domain, but it seem to be gone now, so I was thinking of actually getting a domain for myself (martin.toth.name sounds nice).

Do I understand it correctly, that I can't get a toth.name domain, but only third level: martin.toth.name? Do I get to have @toth.name emails even then?

I've tried several registrars from Verisign's list, but none of them let's me ask for the third level, nor the toth.name (some say it's taken, some that it can't be registered).

There's an article linked from Wikipedia entry on .name about cybercrime on .name. Should I look for another top level domain? Is it a disadvantage in search engines or anywehere else? Note: couldn't post links to those pages, because I'm low on reputation

So basically: How does one register a .name domain name?

Answer 1

I got my rob.olmos.name from DynDNS for $15. Unfortunately, olmos.name is only third-level registrable due to it being deemed a common last name.

However, DynDNS offers the ability to setup email forwarding for a username on the second-level domain on a first-come-first-serve basis and I picked up rob[@]olmos[.]name (which I think is sweet) for another $10.

That being said, good luck with getting far with a .name domain as you can see the trouble there already is with just the registrars searching and registering them. Rackspace Cloud Sites doesn't properly handle third-level .name so I just went with my own cloud server. I didn't try other hosting providers so I can't comment.

Best to ask first if the email forwarding is available (if you have to do a third-level) for the first name with the registrar you go with before registering the domain to find it's already taken or not.

Answer 2

There used to be a website which I forgot, but the important thing is that http://dd24.net/ bought them (and they are ICANN certified).

Answer 3

When you register a domain, you can only register one level up from the domain extension, so you would need to register toth.name, and then create a subdomain of martin in your DNS for toth.name. (note: This is different to what used to be the rules, they where changed to make .name work the same as .com)

Looking at that verisign list, most of those registrars looke very, very dodgey. 1and1 are not dodgey however, but their domain check seems to be broken at the moment. If toth.name really is taken, then you can always register xn--tth-gna.name (which is punycode for tóth.name)