Will .Pro domains ever be deregulated and cheap?

[Creature]

Do you think .pro domains will ever be deregulated and cheap to register.

How would such a move affect the values of existing registered .pro domains ?

 

[katherine]

Well rumour has it that .pro may be deregulated when the ICANN contract is renewed next year. This will probably boost the TLD.
IMO the existing .pro names shouldn't be much affected unless .pro really becomes more fashionable. Premium names could suddenly become more in demand. But .pro has a really long way to go.
I don't think it is really going to get popular, it would take a powerful marketing campaign to increase public awareness.
Still I prefer .pro over .biz. I have never liked .biz. To me .biz brings up images of MLM, scams, get-rich-quick schemes and snake oil. It may seem silly but I believe many people think the same :cheeky:
IMO .biz should have never been, .pro would have been enough but with more relaxed rules from the start. Even as of today the regulations are odd: you can't register 2nd level names without holding 3rd level names.
Also, the registry only recognizes specific professions in the following countries: United States, Canada, Germany or the United Kingdom. In other words it's a TLD that excludes nearly the whole world. They should streamline the requirements for the ext to become more attractive and consistent.

http://www.nic.pro/products_overview.htm#product

.Pro Third-Level:

Members of the medical, legal, accounting and engineering professions, licensed in the United States, Canada, Germany or the United Kingdom, are eligible to register for third-level .Pro domains. Registrants can secure profession-specific third-level names such as name.law.pro, name.med.pro and name.cpa.pro. Each registrant's identity and professional license information will be verified against relevant public and third-party databases prior to domain name activation. Additionally, each domain is issued with a digital certificate and each registrant will have the choice of an SSL or email (s/MIME) certificate.

.Pro Second-Level Resolving:

Registrants who provide multiple professional services (e.g. legal and medical services) are eligible to register a resolving second-level name (e.g. companyname.pro). After purchasing and qualifying for two third-level domains, in two distinct professions (e.g. name.law.pro and name.med.pro), registrants may request their desired second-level name. Each resolving second-level name is issued with a digital certificate and each registrant will have the choice of an SSL or email (s/MIME) certificate.