start.ruhr – that should be the first publicly accessible address under the new Top-Level-Domain “.ruhr”. The start of the sunrise phase on January 21, 2014 regiodot GmbH & Co. KG a historical milestone in the development of the internet map of Germany. Not only is “.ruhr” the first of  the new generic TLDs managed by a German registry. At the same time, “.ruhr” is the first geographical Namespace addressing local businesses, organizations and individuals in a specific region. The Ruhrgebiet is a region with an outstanding identification potential, an enormous population density and a dynamic economy. The new ending has very good chances to become a success, if the registry operator is able to inspire the potential end-users and create its market not only in the registrar-, but also in the reseller-channel. Marketing agencies and local hosting companies will easily spot the communication potentials of these new addresses for regional businesses. Until February 2014 holders of trademarks will have the exclusive opportunity to register their brand domains under “.ruhr”, if they have registered their trademarks in the Trademark Clearinghouse and their registrar supports sunrise periods with the new generic TLDs. Starting February 25, 2014 businesses, organisations and private individuals with their legal seat or residence in on of the 53 communities that form the “Regionalverband Rhein-Ruhr” will have an exclusive opportunity to register domains under “.ruhr”. As of March 27, 2014 the domains will be generally available for registrants from Germany. The registration policies for “.ruhr” domains can be found here in English. That said – goodluck.ruhr!