Blacknight Moves Company Blog To Blacknight.blog

Blacknight, a domain name registrar and hosting company from Ireland, is among the first in the world to own its own .BLOG domain name. Its corporate blog has just moved to Blacknight.blog. Company CEO and co-founder Michele Neylon was among the first to popularise blogging in Ireland in 2004. He says it’s an important part of both his business and personal life.

I began my first blog in 2004, joining a community of Irish language bloggers from around the world. I learned that quality blogs were equal to, and often better than, so-called ‘mainstream media’. And now blogging, or at least its essential features, dominates the mainstream.

Back then (and still today), one of the clearest visions of the future was articulated by Dave Winer, the software developer whose work on blogging, podcasting and RSS has been driven by his desire to make media work for people, rather than manipulate them.

We’re honoured that Blacknight.blog joins Dave.blog as one of the first .BLOG domain names in use. And we say well done to Automattic, the company behind WordPress, for making .BLOG open to all, whether they use the WordPress platform or not.

Blacknight announced that it is now taking applications for the soon to be officially launched .BLOG top level domain.

And Blacknight itself has already become a .BLOG pioneer, becoming one of the first to own a .BLOG name, after moving its corporate blog from Blacknight.com to Blacknight.blog.

The Irish company joins an exclusive club of .BLOG pioneers, including Dave Winer, the software developer who was among the earliest founders of the blogging movement, and one of its most enthusiastic evangelists. In recognition, he’s been given the domain dave.blog. Other .blog pioneers include Matt Mullenweg, the founder and CEO of Automatic that owns WordPress and .Blog, at Matt.blog and a Design.blog co-led by WordPress.com’s design team and featuring stories by and about people who love to create.

Blacknight also has a long history with blogging. Company CEO and co-founder Michele Neylon was among Ireland’s first bloggers, beginning his blog in 2003, when “it wasn’t sexy, and it wasn’t mainstream”.

Now, however, it has become mainstream, he says, to the point where “we probably don’t really view them as ‘blogs’ these days as much as being part of the ‘media’”.

“Blogging is important for me personally and for us as a company”, says Neylon, who has won multiple awards for blogging.

“I know from talking to people over the years that many view their personal (or business) blog as being a great way to get their ideas out there. So when I first heard that there was going to be a specific domain extension for blogs I was really excited. It made perfect sense to me.”

Currently Blacknight is taking applications in the Sunrise phase for .BLOG. This first phase allows trademark holders to secure domains which contain their protected names. After that, the Landrush phase will open, allowing applicants to bid for the most popular names. Good generic keywords like food.blog, fashion.blog or sports.blog will be at a premium, and record prices are likely.

After the Landrush period, the new domain will be open to General Availability from November 21.

In addition to the current Sunrise phase, Blacknight customers may also pre-submit applications for the later Landrush and General Availability phases.