GeoTLDs

This website is intended to contribute in a practical and concrete pathway to the multi-stakeholder approach in the current policy development process (PDP) for new top level domains (TLDs) and to set out general guidelines and good practices for the approval and operation of a relatively new type of TLDs, the so-called GeoTLDs.

These TLDs need special attention and practical guidelines for the approval by ICANN and operation by the registry operator. It is anticipated that GeoTLDs will enrich the DNS in a way the ccTLDs have influenced the DNS and Internet in the last two decades. The GeoTLDs are based on strings with a geographical, geopolitical, cultural or ethical origin, GeoTLD strings can be abbreviations, full names or other designations of a community.

We hope to affect the multiple-way relationship between community's registry operators (= applicant for a of GeoTLD string), the relevant governmental authorities, the Governmental Advisory Committee, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and other relevant stakeholders and concerned parties in a positive way. We'd like to help to establish a framework in which the parties share responsibility for ensuring a domain name system (DNS) that is stable, secure, open, and easily and universally accessible.

We support the work of the GAC in the context of GeoTLDs and we welcome that the GAC has identified this important issue in the evolving GAC principles for new TLDs. We appreciate the GAC´s special attention to GeoTLD strings. We fully agree that TLDs related to such strings should be granted only if the applicant is an appropriate representative organisation of the community.

We look forward to sharing our views with all the parties interested on the development of criteria for GeoTLDs.

[edit] .αθήνα | .cat | .中国 | .한국 | .berlin | .上海 | .cym | تونس. | .nyc - GeoTLDs – Diversity, Multilingualism and Local Content

Published at the first Internet Governance Forum IGF 2006 in Athens and the ICANN Studienkreis Meeting 2006 in Prague

• Content
• Editorial
• GeoTLDs - Diversity is Key
• GeoTLDs - Requirements Depend on ...
• GeoTLDs - Practical Thoughts
• GeoTLDs - Benefits
• GeoTLDs - Case Studies
• GeoTLDs - Categories

[edit] GeoTLD overview

The first GeoTLDs ICANN approved/delegated

• .CAT - The Catalan cultural and language community Website | Wikipedia (delegated 2005)
• .ASIA - The Asian community Website | Wikipedia (approved 2006)
• .EU - The European community Website | Wikipedia (delegated 2005, based on ISO 3166-1) somehow a GeoTLD too

Prospects for GeoTLDs for city communities

• .NYC – New York City community Website | Wikipedia
• .BERLIN – Berlin community Website | Wikipedia
• Other cities in which communities already think of establishing their own TLD are London, Hamburg and Lima.

Prospects for GeoTLDs for cultural and language communities

• .SCO – The Scots culture and language community Website | Wikipedia
• .CYM – The Welsh culture and language community Website | Wikipedia
• .BZH – The Brittany culture and language community Website | Wikipedia
• .GAL – The Galician Community Website | Wikipedia

[edit] Prospects for geoTLDs for other communities

• .LAC – The Latin American Community Wikipedia
• .AFRICA - The Arican Community dotAFRICA Website

Authors of this website are Dirk Krischenowski (dotBERLIN) and Werner Staub (CORE)