Released on: September 1, 2008, 9:46 pm

Press Release Author: DotAsia Organisation

Industry: Internet & Online

Press Release Summary: DotAsia Auctions come to an end and with end the winning
domain name for the Hot or Not Contest is relieved.

Press Release Body: Hong Kong, 28 August 2008 – DotAsia Organisation announced today
the successful completion of the .Asia Sunrise and Landrush auctions. Domains
receiving multiple qualified applications in the respective Sunrise and Landrush
phases were allocated through an auction system. The process proved to be a vast
improvement of the dispute ridden pure first-come-first-served approach, and has
provided a strong foundation for growth for the .Asia domain.

“We set out to implement a stable and orderly introduction of the .Asia domain into
the social and technical fabric of the Internet. I believe we have accomplished our
goal,” says Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia Organisation. “The .Asia startup phases were
completed with zero disputes arising out of the process. The successful
first-of-its-kind launch has also helped build a strong foundation for growth and
value of .Asia domains. We already see regional events as well as small and large
companies utilize the .Asia domain to reach the Asia market.”

Total auction proceeds exceeded US$7.2M, while winning prices for the top 1% of
.Asia startup auctions averaged over US$10,000. Top 10 auctions averaged US$55,000
with the Top 3 being: discover.asia (US$112,111), sex.asia (US$ 83,334) and buy.asia
(US$73,000). Maximum offers for particular domains reached the million dollar range.
“These results and the already emergent secondary market confirm the strong value
and growth potential for .Asia domains,” added Chung. As anticipated, the auction
process also helped curb abusive registrations. A considerable percentage of
auctions ( 33%) went uncontested, indicative of potential speculators giving up on
infringing domains. By design, DotAsia’s auction system featured an auto-extension
mechanism to guard against last minute “sniping”. Critics of this built in feature
had worried auctions could be excessively prolonged. The results however, proved
otherwise. 67% of the auctions closed on time upon the 7-day period. Out of those
extended, the average extension was for an extra 3 days only. The longest auction
did stretch to 43 days and attracted 138 bids. The highest number of bids logged for
a domain was 346, while the most participants for an auction was 424.

Hand in hand with the completion of the auctions is the final phase of the .Asia
Hot-or-Not Domains Appraisal Contest. Many contestants had tipped “sex.asia” to come
out on top, but ultimately the winning domain for the Grand Prize was
“discover.asia”. The winner must now pass the final trivia test on the DomainMasters
show at WebmasterRadio.FM (http://domainmasters.think.asia), next Wednesday
September 3, 7:00PM EST to win the US$10,000 Grand Prize.

Final weeks of the Hot-or-Not Contest saw lively jostling for position among the Top
10 auctions list. The winning names of the 5 weekly contests just a few weeks ago
can no longer be found in the final Top 10 list:
• Week 1 (June 12): resorts.asia, US$22,501 – winner: Xavier Lee (Hong Kong)
• Week 2 (June 19): careers.asia, US$13,000 – winner: Dr. Lillian Nejad (Australia)
• Week 3 (June 26): southeast.asia, US$20,500 – winner: Jason Drake (USA)
• Week 4 (July 3): seo.asia, US$18,500 – winner: Ernesto Maisuls (Israel)
• Week 5 (July 10): vodka.asia, US$25,000 – winner: Rudy Khosumohardjo (Indonesia)

“The Hot-or-Not Contest was designed to be a fun event for the industry and an
exciting watch to raise general awareness in the community about the value of domain
names. With the weekly winners coming from around the world, it is exemplary of the
global appeal for .Asia domains and our continued commitment to build the value of
.Asia not only for those from Asia but also for those targeting services for the
Asia market,” concluded Chung.

About DotAsia Organisation:

DotAsia Organisation is the Sponsoring Organisation and Registry Operator for the
.Asia Sponsored Generic Top Level Domain. DotAsia is a not-for-profit,
community-based organisation incorporated in Hong Kong. Asia has developed into a
global force in the international commercial, political and cultural network. The
.Asia domain aspires to embrace this dynamism in the Asia Century to become a
nucleus, intersection and breeding ground for Internet activity and development in
the region. To learn more about DotAsia, please visit: http://www.registry.asia.



Web Site: http://www.registry.asia

Contact Details: Media Enquiries:

Pavan Budhrani: 37410015 (pavan@registry.asia)