Dot Kiwi
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| Founded: | 2012 |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Twitter: |  @dotKiwiTLD
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| Key People | |
| Tim Johnson, CEO Peter Dengate Thrush, Director | |
Dot Kiwi Ltd is the company behind the .kiwi TLD within ICANN's New gTLD Program. Dot Kiwi Ltd. was founded in 2012 by a group of businessmen in New Zealand, and ex-pat New Zealanders based in Canada, whose aim is to create a unique namespace for Kiwis living at home and abroad. While .kiwi is technically a generic TLD, as it did not need the qualifications to require government support as GeoTLDs do, it is still a widely identified term for the people of New Zealand.[1] [2]
.kiwi does not have restrictions on citizenship or relation to New Zealand. It will be open to any registrant that wants to associate themselves with the kiwi identity.[3]
According to Peter Dengate Thrush, former ICANN Chairman and one of the Directors of Dot Kiwi Ltd., the registry operation of the TLD is outsourced to Minds + Machines. Thrush has served as Executive Chairman of Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. (TLDH), the parent company of Minds + Machines.[4] [5]According to Thrush, .kiwi domain names will be sold for $25 each per year. [6]
InternetNZ president Frank March at one point said that there was the possibility that his company will also apply for the .kiwi TLD. This did not end up happening.