For Start-Up, ‘MD’ Spells Opportunity

What do physicians have in common with the former Soviet republic of Moldova? Both share the initials MD.

In the case of physicians, the letters stand for “medical doctor.” For the European nation, they form the top-level domain in its Internet addresses.

A Beverly Hills start-up is hoping to capitalize on the coincidence by licensing domain names ending in .md, such as “UniversityHospital.md” or “JohnDoe.md.” Professional Domains, through an arrangement with a Bonita Springs, Fla.-based domain name broker called Domain Name Trust, is offering the .md names for $299 a year.

Frank Weyer, a Professional Domains co-founder and partner, said about 350 customers have signed up for the service, which includes e-mail and 25 megabytes of Web space, since it became operational this month.

A handful of other countries were lucky enough to get top-level domain names that could prove commercially desirable. For example, Internet addresses for the Federated States of Micronesia end in .fm, while the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu got domain names ending in .tv.