Eurogamer

Sony has bid $550,000 for ownership of three new personalisable top level web domains: .sony, .xperia and .playstation, according to a New Statesman report.

In addition, Apple has bid $185,000 for .apple, while Microsoft has bid for 11 different names, including .bing, .windows, .skype and .xbox at a total cost of $2.035m.

Due for introduction in early 2013, these tags will take the place of standard web domains such as .com, .net or .org.

Should any other organisation also bid for the names the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will assess each application on "technical merits". Beyond that, an auction could then take place.

On top of the initial $185,000-per-name pay-out, successful applicants will also have to hand over an annual $25,000 fee.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-13-sony-spends-USD185k-on-playstation-domain-bid#comments

Damn, expensive stuff.

Blimey.

Honestly that it a quick way to help sink the company what a waste of money. They could easily get by without doing that.

If Sony didn't buy those domains, someone else would. A nice squatter could use them now. Think the modernwarfare3.com fiasco but worse.

They are custom top level domains... the ICANN would not let such obvious names go to other companies without good reason... and even if they would a squatter is not going to pay such a ridiculous amount of money for them (they all cost $185k + $25k per year FFS) when it's clear what the intention is, as they would just be sued (rightly so) by Sony or whoever they are clearly wanting to profit from.

I'm not entirely sure what the advantages are of having them other than having a nice streamlined web experience (ie instead of sony.com, sony.co.uk, sony.fr, sonypictures.com, sonyfh.jp (financial holdings), sony.net and all the other slightly different variations of website name based on sony's businesses across the globe... they can have this kind of thing: financial.sony, vaio.sony, pictures.sony... or maybe by country: usa.sony, uk.sony... or perhaps break it down by country at the 2nd level domain name then by various Sony businesses at the 3rd level: pictures.uk.sony, xperia.fr.sony.

It does give them a lot of freedom for structuring their web presence, but keeps their identity by always ending in .sony... other than that though it does seem like a lot of money to burn.

Its not only Sony thats buying these domain names. Netherland wants .overheidnl and .politie, one would wonder why a govt who needs to save money invests in such useless stuff.

www.metalgearsolid5.playstation

I'll register that one

I need to register .Nintendo FAST.
Bitches gonna pay me!

I'm guessing politie means politics... what does overheidnl mean? (overhead nl?)