.mobi domain looking for advisors

Mobile Top Level Domain (mTLD), the body which runs the .mobi domain, is looking for individuals and companies to participate in discussions about the emerging technology.

.mobi domain names were created in November last year, and differ from the other top level domains (such as .com, .org and .gov) in that all the content should be formatted suitably for viewing on a mobile telephone.

The .mobi Advisory Group (MAG) has been set up to focus arguments about what constitutes content suitable for mobile phones. For the last year the mTLD has been working on its "Switch On!" guide to creating content for the domain.

According to the MAG website, the group is "the 'eyes and ears' of mTLD".

"Through the MAG, mTLD can reach out to the mobile internet ecosystem, keep in touch with trends, and understand, assess and prioritise the needs of the entire mobile internet community. In turn, the MAG gives its members the opportunity to shape the future of internet services to mobile devices."

Being the eyes and ears doesn't come cheap, with an individual who just wants to watch (Observer status) being asked for €295 a year. Companies who want to keep an eye on what's going on (Associate status) will need to fork out €1,995, while anyone who wants to be actively involved (Full status) is asked for a whopping €4,995. Lastly, but by no means least, there is Foundation level membership, a snip at €30,000 a year.

Copyright owners have been able to register .mobi domains since 12 June, while the rest of the world waits until 26 September.

The popularity of the domain remains to be seen. The fact that it takes nine key presses to enter "mobi" on most handsets (as opposed to seven for "com" and three for "wap") is supposed to be offset by handsets adopting it as the default domain. But with Nokia a sponsor, it bodes badly that its latest handsets do nothing of the kind. ®