| Cologne, October 10. ICANN Registrar Secura | | | | LA and Hollywood lifestyle. |
| announces today,that it is accepting | | | | |
| registrations of la-domains | | | | The Guernsey-based LA Names Corporation (LA |
| | | | Names) has recentlyassumed responsibility as |
| ( | | | | the operator of .la in a long-termdeal with |
| | | | LANIC, a department of the Government of the |
| Los Angeles has a new honor to celebrate - | | | | Lao PDR,who were originally assigned the name |
| becoming the world'sfirst city to have its | | | | by ICANN. |
| own unique internet address .la | | | | |
| | | | Gavin Aldred, President of LA Names, said: |
| Offering the same functionality as a .com | | | | "There is still amassive demand for good |
| address and sanctionedby the Internet | | | | web-addresses, and Los Angeles isprobably the |
| Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers | | | | most internet-savvy city on earth. For |
| | | | businessesoperating in LA a .la address is |
| (ICANN), the internet's de facto governing | | | | much more relevant than a .comaddress because |
| body, .la addresseswill be available to all | | | | it tells a potential customer not just who |
| Los Angeles residents and businesses. | | | | youare but where you are, enabling them to |
| | | | find you, visit you, andbuy from you. For |
| Well known brand names such as and andin | | | | individual citizens it's more a matter |
| this City of Stars many personal names like | | | | ofpride to be part of this extraordinary |
| are already registered. Independent | | | | community." |
| forecastssuggest up to one million .la names | | | | |
| will be registered over thecoming years, as | | | | In order to provide fast, reliable and secure |
| L.A. has over 300,000 registered businesses | | | | infrastructure andtechnology, LA Names is |
| and | | | | working with Dublin-based global domainname |
| | | | registry services provider Afilias Limited, |
| 10 million citizens. Plus, there are many | | | | who alsoprovide back-end registry support for |
| millions moreworldwide who identify with the | | | | .org, .INFO and a numberof other ccTLDs. |