Architelos Introduces Online 'Business Case Builder' for Domain Name Registries.

Architelos, Inc. announced the availability of a secure online tool, the Business Case Builder (BCB), which is specially designed for the domain name system (DNS) industry. BCB helps top level domain (TLD) applicants develop the full financials and comprehensive business case for any prospective TLD, prompting them at each step to input data and assumptions for building revenue and cost projections on both a cash and deferred basis as required in the industry.

The results can be downloaded into an Excel spreadsheet with graphic representation as well as customized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). A BCB tutorial is available on the Architelos website.

Clients can access the tool via a one-time license fee. In addition, they can also engage the industry-experienced Architelos team to review and assess their BCB created business case. Or they can engage Architelos to help them create one from the ground up, with realistic forecasts for registrations and renewals, as well as costs and price points that are necessary to calculate return on investment.

With the imminent deregulation of the DNS industry, many new registries are expected to be established for generic (gTLD) and brand-specific TLDs. However, a business case for a registry is complicated by accounting requirements for both cash and deferred revenue projections. There are also many revenue and cost variables that influence the level of investment and ultimate success of a new TLD.

An apt analogy is the income tax return, says Architelos CEO Alexa Raad. One option is to read the tax code and hope to model all of its variables to develop an accurate return. A better option is to use off-the-shelf tax software. "Our tool prompts users with questions they may not have anticipated but that are essential for an accurate business case necessary to attract investors."

Architelos developed BCB by leveraging its unique industry experience. Norbert Grey, who joined the Architelos team this week, was vice president of finance and administration at .MOBI and has set-up and managed registry financial and business operations systems. He led the development of BCB. Raad is the former CEO of PIR, the top-level .ORG registry and led the launch of .MOBI, the most successful in the 2004 round. Architelos co-founder John Matson has conducted financial benchmarking studies of the internet registry industry and prior gTLD launches.

BCB helps the applicant fully understand registry economics to better negotiate agreements, such as the back-end registry contract, according to Matson. "With an estimated $500,000 initial investment or more to apply for a new TLD," he says, "developing a solid business case is a wise investment. The Business Case Builder will help our clients and their potential investors make informed decisions." Architelos, Inc. is a strategy and market development advisory service that focuses on growth, brand, positioning and business development for clients within the Internet and DNS sector. Founded in 2011 by Alexa Raad, former CEO of PIR, the .ORG top-level domain registry, and John Matson, a veteran management advisor to Fortune 500 companies, Architelos brings wisdom and experience to turn rapid market change into innovation and success for its clients.

Keywords: Architelos, Architelos, Inc., Finance, Financial, Inc., Investing, Return On Investment, Software.

This article was prepared by Computer Weekly News editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2011, Computer Weekly News via VerticalNews.com.

USDA GRANTS PROTECTION TO 27 NEW PLANT VARIETIES.

WASHINGTON -- The following information was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 27 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include artichoke, barley, cotton, fescue, pepper, potato, watermelon and wheat.

The Plant Variety Protection Act provides legal protection in the form of intellectual property rights to developers of new varieties of plants.

"A certificate of protection is awarded to an owner of a crop variety after an

examination shows that it is new, distinct from other varieties, and genetically uniform and stable through successive generations," said Administrator Rayne Pegg, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). "The public benefits as the recipient of lower prices from increased productivity, and from quality food, feed, fiber and other products, that result

directly from improved plant varieties."

The term of protection is 20 years for most crops, and 25 years for trees, shrubs and vines. The owner of a protected variety has exclusive rights to multiply and market the seed of that variety.

The 27 certificates are:

--the D.G.-102 variety of artichoke, developed by Sulton Seed Research Corporation, Coachella, Calif.;

--the Expedition* variety of barley, developed by Malteurop Group, Reims, France;

--the CDC Frontier variety of chickpea, developed by Crop Development Centre, Saskatoon, Canada;

--the ST 5283RF variety of cotton, developed by Bayer CropScience LP, Research Triangle Park, N.C.;

--the Intrigue II variety of chewings fescue, developed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J.;

--the Endeavor II variety of tall fescue, developed by Pure-Seed Testing, Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;

--the Spyder LS variety of tall fescue, developed by Z Seeds, LLC, Berlin, Md., and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J.;

--the SBY991273 variety of pepper, developed by Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc., Oxnard, Calif.;

--the Dakota Jewel variety of potato, developed by NDSU Research Foundation, Fargo, N.D.;

--the Baby Boomer variety of potato, developed by A.S. Heijboer, Kloelinge, Netherlands;

--the Colorado Rose and Purple Majesty varieties of potato, developed by President Colorado Certified Potato Growers' Association, Inc., Center, Colo.;

--the Rio Rojo variety of potato, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas;

--the Cecile variety of potato, developed by HZPC Holland B.V., Joure, Netherlands;

--the 4XHDML6 and 90-4343ts varieties of watermelon, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Nampa, Iowa;

--the JD variety of club wheat, developed by Washington State University Research Foundation, Pullman, Wash.;

--the SY Gold* and SY605 CL* varieties of common wheat, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Junction City, Kan.;

--the Arcadia* variety of common wheat, developed by Syngenta Seeds, Inc., Vernon, Texas;

--the Select* variety of common wheat, developed by South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, Brookings, S.D.;

--the 112304W, 112307W and 112308W varieties of common wheat, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;

--the UICF-Lambert* variety of common wheat, developed by University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho;

--the Babe variety of common wheat, developed by Washington State University Research Foundation, Pullman, Wash.; and

--the Desert King-High Protein* variety of durum wheat, developed by the Regents of the University of California, Oakland, Calif.

*In the United States, seed of this variety shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

AMS administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time-limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers.

For more information, contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/pvpo.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800)795-3272 (voice) or (202)

720-6382 (TDD).