# .рус

.pyc (Cyrillic for .rus) is a Russian Internet TLD. It was delegated to the Root zone on 27 September 2014. There is not too much information about this domain, only a handful of self-published sources.

## General information

The .pyc domain is intended for all Internet users who are native speakers of Russian language and culture. It is not a national domain, and is not associated with any state or nation. Only the characters Russian alphabet, numbers and hyphen can be used in a domain name.

## Status

According to obscure sources, registrations or transferring of .pyc domains are halted due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

## History of the .pyc domain

* In June 2011, a letter was sent to Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) with a proposal to delegate a new domain intended for use by the global Russian-speaking community. The initiators were the Russian registrar Webnames.ru and the Russian-language Internet Center together with the Ukrainian Network Information Center.
* In April 2012, an application for the .рус domain was submitted to ICANN as part of the New gTLD program, which provides for the launch of many new top-level domains .
    The idea of creating the .рус domain received a positive response in the global Russian-speaking community. Support was expressed by the Coordination Center of the national domain .RU, the RU-CENTER Registrar, the Foundation for Assistance to Internet Technologies and Infrastructure, the Ukrainian Network Information Center, the Kazakh Association of IT Companies, the Kazakh Network Information Center, the Internet Society of Armenia, the Administrator of the root domain of Azerbaijan, and the Russian-Canadian Business Club.
    Russian ICANN accredited registrars RU-CENTER, Centrohost and Ragtime have announced their readiness to register domain names in the .рус zone.
* On December 17, 2012, a draw was held in Los Angeles among applicants for new top-level domains. The application for the .рус domain received a review order number of 56 out of 1917 applicants.
* At the end of March 2013, the application for the .рус domain underwent a preliminary assessment by ICANN and was approved. At the same time, the .рус domain was selected to participate in the preliminary testing procedure for new top-level domains. ICANN selected only 12 of 1912 applications for top-level domains to participate in the preliminary testing. The .рус domain was the only Cyrillic domain that passed the selection.
* In July 2013, ICANN expressed its readiness to sign an agreement with the company "Russian Names", which will manage the new top-level domain .рус. The agreement records the rights and obligations of the parties and is the next step towards the launch of the new domain zone. The signing of the agreement means the absence of any obstacles to the launch of the .рус domain: official objections, competing applications, recommendations of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).
* In August 2013, the .рус domain was classified by ICANN as a “low-risk” domain. ICANN proposed a number of measures for discussion to reduce the risks associated with a possible conflict between the domains of local networks and new domain zones that will be registered within the framework of the New gTLD program. According to researchers, due to the coincidence of some domain names, there is a threat of information leakage from local networks to the Internet.
    Classification as a low-risk group means that the launch of the .рус domain will be possible 120 days after signing an agreement with ICANN.
* On September 12, 2013, an international conference of administrators and registrars of national domains of the CIS, Central and Eastern Europe (TLDCON 2013) was held in Crete, where a preliminary concept for the launch of the .рус domain was presented.
* In November 2014, ICANN published lists of blocked domain names for new gTLD top-level domains. The block list for the .рус domain zone included 152 second-level domains: 6 digital domains, 25 in Latin, and 121 in Cyrillic.
* On December 14, 2013, ICANN and the company "Russian Names" signed an agreement on the management of the Cyrillic top-level domain .РУС.
* In December 2013 – January 2014, all Russian domain name registrars accredited by ICANN announced their intention to begin registering .рус domain names.
* In early February 2014, ICANN completed testing of the new Cyrillic domain .рус – all technical tests were successful.
* In the summer of 2014, the Russian Ministry of Culture, the Russian World Foundation, the REN TV channel, and the Executive Committee of the Union State expressed their interest in the project.
* On September 29, 2014, the .rus domain was delegated: the domain administrator became the company “Russian Names”.
* On September 2, 2015, a press conference was held where the start of registrations in the .рус zone was announced and the domain launch scheme was presented.
* On September 3, 2015, priority registration in the .рус domain was launched. Priority registration rights were granted to owners of those trademarks whose information was entered into the international depository of trademarks Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH).

## Launch scheme

Registration of domain names in the .рус zone will take place in several stages:

### Sunrise Period

The right of priority registration is granted to various categories of copyright holders.
September 3 – October 6, 2015. Priority Registration. Period I. Registration is open to owners of registered trademarks entered in the international depository Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). The period lasts 34 days.
October 7 — November 6, 2015. Priority registration. Period II. Registration is open to owners of trademarks protected in the territory of the Russian Federation. Duration of the period is 31 days.
November 11 — December 11, 2015. Priority registration. Period III. Priority will be given to: company names of legal entities, mass media, non-profit organizations, names of places of origin of goods. Duration of the period — 31 days.
December 14, 2015 — January 15, 2016. Priority registration for individual organizations (Public Authorities). International, state and public organizations whose activities correspond to the mission and values of the domain will be able to obtain a domain name in the .рус zone for free. The period lasts 34 days.

### Premium registration (Landrush)

January 18 – March 11, 2016. Anyone will be able to register a .рус domain name at a higher price than during open registration. Sales during the premium registration period will be carried out according to the Dutch auction principle: the cost of domain names will decrease. The period lasts 54 days.
March 15 — May 20, 2016. Limited premium registration for .RU domain owners. The administrator of the .RU domain name will have to confirm the right of ownership of the domain, as well as the presence of a working site on the domain. When transliterating, it is necessary to follow GOST 7.79-2000, table B and ISO-9.95. The period lasts 67 days.

### Open registration

On May 24, 2016, the domain became available to anyone on a first come, first served basis. Over 11,000 domains were registered in the .рус zone during the first month. There is a list of premium domains that can be purchased at a higher price. You can register a .рус domain name with the help of the largest Russian and foreign registrars that have passed ICANN accreditation. Domains in the .РУС zone are purchased by users from Russia, Belarus, Denmark, the USA, Switzerland, Israel, Luxembourg and other countries.