Internet domain name for China surpasses ".net"

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Internet domain name for China surpasses ".net"

By ANICK JESDANUN / Google News

NEW YORK (AP) — Registrations for Internet addresses ending in China's ".cn" have surpassed those for the global ".net," showing the continued rapid rise in Internet use in the communist nation.

A study by VeriSign Inc., which runs the ".net" databases and other core directories for helping computers find Web sites and route e-mail, found that ".cn" overtook ".net" sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

VeriSign did not provide registration breakdowns but said ".cn" registrations grew 23 percent from the previous quarter and were triple those in the same period in 2007.

The organization that runs Germany's ".de" domain pegged ".cn" registrations at 11.8 million and ".net" at 11.6 million as of May.

The findings come as China reported that the number of Internet users there has soared to 221 million, by some measures tying the U.S. online population as largest in the world.

There's no threat of ".cn" overtaking ".com" any time soon, however. The ".com" suffix, which VeriSign also runs, is the overwhelming leader, with 76.5 million registrations worldwide, while ".de" is second with 12.1 million, according to the German group.

Both ".com" and ".net" are global domain names, available to individuals, groups and companies worldwide on a first-come, first-served basis. They are typically used by U.S. entities, however. Elsewhere, country-specific addresses such as ".de" and ".cn" are typically preferred.

Many country-specific domains have in recent years relaxed registration rules and are now available around the world and function like ".com" and ".net."

VeriSign's study found growth in other country names as well, including Poland's ".pl," Spain's ".es," Russia's ".ru" and France's ".fr."