Vietnam tops ASEAN for national domain registration The Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC) announced on December 5 that the ‘.vn’ domain name topped the ASEAN region for number of registrations and ranked seventh for all Asian nations. According to VNNIC report, Vietnam topped the ASEAN region followed by Malaysia and Singapore while China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Iran took the lead in the Asian region. A VNNIC representative from said that ‘.vn’ domain names have jumped 13% over the prior year.    In addition, the number of ‘.vn’ domain names has increased remarkably compared to international norms. As of the end of September, Vietnam had 291.103 ‘.vn’ domain names and 217.235 international domains. In 2014, the number of IPv4 addresses in Vietnam reached 15.627.008, ranking second in ASEAN, eighth in the Asian region and 26th in the world. Domain name trading to be legalized The sale and transfer of domain names would have to be registered and taxed, according to a draft circular on the trading of domain names put forth by the Ministry of Information and Communications. This will be the first time domain name trading is allowed in Vietnam. Earlier, implicit transactions occurred without any permission from authorities, causing a large amount of tax revenue losses. Under the draft circular, the selling party has to prepare applications for transferor and transferee, as well as the domain name registration form for the latter. These documents will be submitted directly or by mail to registration agencies, who will process and announce results within five working days. Registration agencies only assess legal domain names excluding State-owned ones ending with dot-gov, names of Party and socio-political organizations, State agencies and those related to national security, defense and diplomacy. Domains containing the proper names of world cultural heritage sites recognized by UNESCO, Vietnam’s border areas, islands, archipelagos, territorial waters, as well as violated, disputed and suspended ones will not be considered either. Results of the evaluation will be sent to concerned parties in writing, which will indicate apparent reasons in case of refusal. Regarding accepted cases, the transferor and the transferee have to fulfill tax obligations and submit receipts to registration agencies. VOV/SGT