<s>
.ch	B-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
country	B-Application
code	I-Application
top-level	I-Application
domain	I-Application
(	O
ccTLD	B-Application
)	O
for	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
in	O
the	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
domain	O
ch	O
,	O
as	O
with	O
other	O
ccTLDs	B-Application
,	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
ISO	O
3166-2	O
code	O
for	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
derived	O
from	O
Confoederatio	O
Helvetica	O
(	O
Helvetic	O
Confederation	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
Latin	O
name	O
for	O
the	O
country	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
used	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
neutrality	O
with	O
regard	O
to	O
the	O
four	O
official	O
languages	O
of	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Two-letter	O
subdomain	O
names	O
are	O
restricted	O
to	O
the	O
Swiss	O
cantons	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
domain	O
ch.ch	O
of	O
the	O
Federal	O
Chancellery	O
of	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
only	O
exception	O
has	O
been	O
the	O
former	O
domain	O
of	O
the	O
Expo.02	O
which	O
was	O
held	O
in	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
,	O
www.expo.02.ch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Registrations	O
of	O
internationalized	B-Language
domain	I-Language
names	I-Language
have	O
been	O
accepted	O
since	O
March	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.ch	B-General_Concept
has	O
been	O
of	O
a	O
rising	O
interest	O
to	O
Chinese	O
domain	O
investors	O
for	O
several	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
EuropeID.com,	O
the	O
domain	O
.ch	B-General_Concept
still	O
has	O
many	O
valuable	O
English	O
keywords	O
and	O
short	O
letter	O
and	O
number	O
combinations	O
left	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
contributing	O
factor	O
may	O
be	O
because	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
.ch	B-General_Concept
registrations	O
are	O
in	O
German	O
,	O
leaving	O
many	O
English	O
words	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
with	O
2	O
million	O
domains	O
under	O
.ch	B-General_Concept
being	O
registered	O
,	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
reserved	O
domains	O
have	O
the	O
European	O
market	O
in	O
mind	O
,	O
allowing	O
valuable	O
domains	O
for	O
other	O
languages	O
such	O
as	O
Chinese	O
keywords	O
in	O
the	O
Latin	O
script	O
being	O
registered	O
at	O
a	O
normal	O
price	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
.ch	B-General_Concept
domain	O
is	O
very	O
popular	O
in	O
domain	B-Application
hacks	I-Application
,	O
used	O
to	O
spell	O
words	O
and	O
names	O
that	O
end	O
in	O
"	O
ch	O
"	O
:	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
Techcrunch	O
's	O
tcrn.ch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
phenomenon	O
is	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
English	O
;	O
to	O
take	O
another	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
domain	O
scha.ch	O
(	O
Schach	O
,	O
German	O
for	O
"	O
chess	B-Application
"	O
)	O
has	O
been	O
registered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
meant	O
to	O
augment	O
the	O
traditional	O
.ch	B-General_Concept
TLD	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applicants	O
must	O
currently	O
have	O
a	O
"	O
registered	O
place	O
of	O
business	O
and	O
a	O
physical	O
administrative	O
base	O
in	O
Switzerland	B-Protocol
"	O
to	O
apply	O
.	O
</s>
