Definitions and Frequently Asked Questions

How Do IDNs Work?

Please watch the following video for a brief explanation:

I'm new to domaining, what industry is similar?

Welcome! Think of this opportunity as virtual real estate. You will be able to invest in premium, global Internet property, some of the hottest property around. Just like real estate, you invest in property that you hope you will one day be able to sell for more money than you brought it. This can take months or years, depending on the property, or it could happen right away. Naturally, the longer you wait, just as in real estate investing long term, the higher your potential return. Unlike "real" real estate, however, .WS premium IDN can be considered "global beachfront property"– with an enormous existing demand consisting of more than 2 billion potential purchasers (Internet users) worldwide!

Isn't this an unproven market?

IDNs are a new market, but they can be likened to the .COM boom, during which the following approximate numbers of millionaires were produced:

1997:	1,800,000
1998:	2,060,000
1999:	2,480,000
2000:	2,180,000

The opportunity to stake a claim in the international domain market is much greater than the .COM boom, however, as the audience is not limited by language barriers, content limitations or governing restrictions.

GDI, the marketing and sales force behind .WS IDNs, is an 11 year old debt free company with a proven track record. GDI has grown year to year, consistently increasing penetration of the global markets, and has evolved accordingly with industry changes and demands, all the while remaining completely debt free.

Can I buy the domains and park them?

By default, your .WS IDN domain(s) will point to the .WS WorldSite auction portal, which will allow all investors to immediately park their domains at what will be the hub for all .WS IDN buy/sell transactions. As the owner of a popular domain in a chosen character set, you may immediately begin to receive bids from other investors to purchase your domain(s) at whatever pricing you set. The auction portal will be launched by Q4 of 2011 and will allow all investors full control of their .WS IDN portfolios.

How is GDI different than other domain registries such as .COM? Is there anyone else offering an opportunity like this?

GDI is committed to making .WS WorldSite domains the standard for international domains. In the 1990's, .COM became the most commonly used domain extension, not because of specific intent by the .COM registry at the time (Network Solutions), but because commercial companies were some of the first to get on board and utilize the Internet for business. GDI has the intent, global marketing power and investment opportunity to make .WS the worldwide domain extension.

The significant competitive advantage .WS enjoys over .COM in the global branding and distribution of IDN lies in the fact that in 2000, the U.S. Department of Commerce deregulated the monopoly on .COM marketing and registration held by Network Solutions. Shortly thereafter, VeriSign purchased the registry portion of Network Solutions in exchange for $23 billion in VeriSign ("VRSN") stock. Marketing of .COM domains since then has been through a network of hundreds of various domain "registrars," each with their own independent business models. As the .COM registry, VeriSign is restricted from marketing .COM domains to end users directly and there remains no focal point for marketing direction, i.e., no intent to globally position the .COM top level domain worldwide. GDI and their use of .WS as the WorldSite top level domain, however, is exempt from government regulation, as it is classified as a ccTLD or "Country Code Top Level Domain" (please see definition above). Focused marketing intent and unrestricted global growth is therefore the clear market-leading advantage of the .WS WorldSite top level domain.

ASCII

ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII is a coding language based on letters, numbers, punctuation and control signals. ASCII is a standard code for transmission of data through computers.

ccTLD

ccTLD stands for "Country Code Top Level Domain." In 1985, IANA, or the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (which has morphed into ICANN below), officially delegated a two letter country code to every country in the United Nations for their own national use. Examples you may know of are ".CA" for Canada, ".MX" for Mexico, ".RU" for Russia, etc. The country of Western Samoa, just east of New Zealand, was granted the permanent use of ".WS" at that time. For the complete and fascinating history of the genesis of .WS domains, please visit: The .WS Story. Solidly branded for since 2000 as "WebSite" for use with Latin based characters, .WS "WorldSite" International Domain Names will become an even larger brand worldwide when used to reference all non-Latin character sets.

ICANN

Internet Cooperation of Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is a nonprofit, independent governing body. According to their website, "ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet's unique identifiers. ICANN doesn't control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn't deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordinating role of the Internet's naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet."

.WS

GDI is the exclusive worldwide registry for .WS "WorldSite" domain names. While .COM is distinctively American, .WS is distinctively global. Nothing sends the message of the opportunity with IDNs quite like the top level domain that means WorldSite. All .WS domains are accessible across the globe.

How do I get started?

Stay tuned! More specific information will be available soon and the fully-functional WorldSite.ws website will be ready for you to search for and purchase the world's hottest domain names!