While numerically-named sites such as 123.net and 1337.com already exist, on June 10 the landrush will begin for the .NU domain which is being marketed in the US as the "number domain."
Belonging to the small island nation Niue which is located between New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands, the internationalized domain name has been popular for several years in Scandinavian countries where "nu" translates to "now." Roughly 80% of the registered .nu domains are Swedish.
Niue engaged in an almost three-year long dispute with entrepreneur William Semich -- who was responsible for launching the domain -- over being unfairly cut out of profits. The independent investigation, however, found nothing illicit about Semich's business.
Considering Semich was reported to be contributing 15% of the revenue from .NU directly to the island country, the government of Niue was roundly criticized for its "misdirected campaign to assert sovereignty."
View Larger MapThe tiny island nation of Niue, about 600 miles east-southeast of Samoa.
Registry of a numeric name with .NU will begin on June 10 at 12:01 UTC, and a name 3-characters long (187.nu, 666.nu, etc.) will be considered a "premium numeric name" and be included in a higher price class. Furthermore, numbers of high public interest (411.nu, 888.nu) will be subject to private auction at a later date.
