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'''.bayern''' is a proposed new [[GeoTLD]] in ICANN's [[New gTLD Program|new gTLD program]], "bayern" is the German word for "Bavaria", and thus would be a top level signifier for people and companies who wish associate themselves with that region of Germany. Bayern is the largest German state by area and the second most populous.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria Bavaria, Wikipedia.org]</ref>

'''.bayern''' is a proposed new [[GeoTLD]] in ICANN's [[New gTLD Program|new gTLD program]], "bayern" is the German word for "Bavaria", and thus would be a top level signifier for people and companies who wish associate themselves with that region of Germany. Bayern is the largest German state by area and the second most populous.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavaria Bavaria, Wikipedia.org]</ref>

It seems there may be more than one applicant for .bayern. One entity, [[Bayern Connect]], is backed by the state government and has already announced that they are partnering with [[Minds + Machines]] to apply for the extension and run the possible registry. [[Minds + Machines]]' parent company, [[Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd.]], also has a majority holding of Bayern Connect.<ref>[http://htl.li/1gPHZr Minds + Machines works with .bayern, CircleID.com]</ref> It has been noted that Bayern Connect is one of the world's first companies to announce that it is applying for its own state-centric TLD, and the first to announce an official technical partnership to create that extension.<ref>[http://www.bayernconnect.com/2012/01/hhha/ BayernConnect.com]</ref>

At one point, there were two entities vying for support of their .bayern proposals: [[Bayern Connect]] and [[dotBaytern]]. The former recieved government support and was thus able to apply for the [[TLD]] with ICANN. [[Minds + Machines]] was selected to run the registry, and its parent company [[Top Level Domain Holdings]] is the majority owner of [[Bayern Connect]]. It was one of the first companies to announce a state-centric TLD bid. <ref>[http://htl.li/1gPHZr Minds + Machines works with .bayern, CircleID.com]</ref><ref>[http://www.bayernconnect.com/2012/01/hhha/ BayernConnect.com]</ref>

==References==

==References==