Mr Moustapha Saya Kaigama, the president of Netcom.cm which owns and operates Cameroon’s controversial ccTLD, will present details about the development of the .CM registry and its upcoming top level domain registration re-launch during the ccTLD TRAFFIC symposium in Amsterdam from June 1-4, 2009.

So why is this a big deal? Ask Kevin Ham.

.CM, as it turns out, is only a single typo away from being .COM, meaning anybody who owns a generic .CM domain name is bound to receive traffic from internet users who accidentally forget the “o” in their search for a website. For example, Google.cm, which redirects to an unaffiliated landing page, receives over 20,000 hits a day according to Alexa.com.

Unfortunately, this exciting opportunity for typosquatters and domainers alike has never been available since Cameroon, which used to control the .CM ccTLD, previously restricted registrations so it could capitalize on wildcarding the entire registry.

However, under the watch of Netcom.cm, .CM registrations are now going to be almost entirely unrestricted and open to anyone in the world.

Seven months ago Netcom.cm successfully launched the second level domain registry worldwide – including .com.cm, .net.cm, and .co.cm – and is now ready to take the next step.

The registry will start the sunrise period for the top level domain on June 15 at 9:00 UTC before the landrush takes place from July 15-31. Open registration will commence on August 1, 2009 at 0:00:01 UTC. At this point .CM domains can be registered on a first come, first serve basis through any Netcom.cm accredited registrar.

[via Register.cm]

Related Article: The .CM Story Revisited – posted July 26, 2007