About Afilias

Afilias is a global leader in advanced registry services and provides a wide range of capabilities essential to the smooth and efficient operation of any type of registry service.

Afilias launched its registry services in July 2001 with the launch of the top-level domain registry for .INFO– the most successful of the seven new top-level domains (TLDs) selected by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).  Today, Afilias provides registry services for .INFO, .ORG, .mobi (for the mobile Internet), .aero (for the aerospace industry), .asia (for the Asia Pacific region) and several country code TLDs (ccTLDs). Together Afilias supports over thirteen million domain names, making it the second largest provider of registry services worldwide..

Global Registry Services
Afilias provides a complete and flexible registry solution.  This solution combines Afilias’ industry experience with best of breed technology to deliver a complete, integrated registry service. This includes world class data centers, as well as managed DNS services that provide some of the fastest domain resolution of its scale in the world. 

Complete & Flexible: Afilias’ registry services are customizable and scalable. Afilias has a track record for developing and implementing policies that serve many needs.  These range from the innovative domain registration policies such as the Sunrise program that protected Intellectual Property interests during the .INFO launch, to our ccTLD support, which reflects the policy considerations of several different countries.   Afilias’ services can scale to any size -- from a top-level domain supporting a few thousand names to a global RFID network supporting millions of transactions.

Fast, Reliable, & Secure:Afilias’ DNS technology is among the fastest working on the Internet today – resolving domain name lookups worldwide within 2 minutes of registration. Afilias’ technology also combines state-of-the-art data escrow, back-up and security systems with world-class systems to deliver reliable, secure service.

Proven:Afilias is a pioneer in the development of next-generation registry technology. It was the first to launch a “thick” generic TLD registry based on the new Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP). For .INFO, Afilias successfully grew the domain from zero to over 4 million names.  For .ORG, Afilias supported both the transition from VeriSign and the ongoing technical management of the domain since its redelegation to PIR in January 2003. Afilias is also the champion of the Extensible Supply-chain Discovery Services (ESDS) protocol and the implementation of Discovery Services to link supply chain partners.

Products
.INFO: .INFO was the first new and completely unrestricted gTLD launched since .COM. .INFO is also the first truly global domain suffix. With an informational and educational feel, .INFO is the most intuitive place for Internet users to seek information. Over two thirds of .INFO Web sites are active, including millions of dedicated sites. .INFO is also a popular alternative for international audiences, especially in Europe.

.ORG (gTLD): Afilias provides core back-office registry services for .ORG under contract to the Public Interest Registry (PIR); .ORG is the world’s fifth largest top-level domain.  Afilias successfully implemented the largest transition of an Internet domain name registry in history when it completed the cutover of registry services for the .ORG registry from VeriSign to its system, on behalf of PIR, in January 2003.

ccTLDs: Afilias provides core back-office registry services for several ccTLDs, including AG (Antigua and Barbuda), BZ (Belize), GI (Gibraltar), HN (Honduras), IN (India), ME (Montenegro), MN (Mongolia), SC (the Seychelles), and VC (St. Vincent and the Grenadines).

Sponsored TLDs: Afilias provides core back-office registry services for several sponsored TLDs (sTLDs) including .aero, managed by SITA SC for the aerospace industry; .mobi, managed by mTLD top-level domain Ltd. for mobile use; and .asia, managed by the DotAsia Organisation for the Asia Pacific region.

Afilias Discovery Services: (www.afilias.info/ads) Afilias Discovery Services solve a key challenge for supply chain networks, where a breakdown in the communication of business critical data between supply chain partners can slow down business processes and drive up the costs of doing business. ADS leverages the Extensible Supply Chain Discovery Service (ESDS) open protocol and provides complementary Object Naming Services (ONS) compliant with EPCglobal standards. ADS provides a common database repository to store key events for each tagged product, or it can provide a referral source for detailed look-ups to other partners’ business applications. ADS is a real-time system that enables supply chain partners to “track and trace” and securely exchange historical events that occurred throughout the life cycle of an RFID tag or device.

Organizational Structure and Background
Afilias, a global provider of registry solutions, maintains international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, sales offices in London, England, sales and operational facilities in Toronto, administrative offices in the U.S. near Philadelphia, PA, and operational offices in New Delhi, India. Afilias provides a full range of registry services leveraging proven technology that is fast, reliable and secure. Afilias’ technology supports a wide range of applications, including top-level Internet domain registries such as .INFO and .ORG (under contract to the Public Interest Registry) and several sponsored and country code domains, as well as supply chain enablement technologies such as Afilias Discovery Services.