.cymru
| Status: | Delegated |
| country: | Wales |
| Language: | Welsh |
| Manager: | Welsh Government |
| Registry Provider: | Nominet |
| Type: | GeoTLD |
More information: 
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.cymru is a GeoTLD intended for the country of Wales in the United Kingdom. "cymru" means "Wales" in Welsh.
Background[edit | edit source]
In February, 2012, it was announced that Nominet had been chosen to run the technical registry functions for the yet-to-be-named managing entity associated with the Welsh Government. The same entity will also be applying for .wales with Nominet. The planned application for 2 Welsh TLDs apparently follows debate in the country as to whether their Geo TLD should be in their little-used, native language or in English. Nominet has stated that it plans to establish a model whereby excess funds are reinvested in Wales and its community.[1][2] The company contracted Beaufort Research in order to discover what their stakeholders would like done with the Welsh TLDs. They have released a questionnaire, with questions relating to policy, pricing and perceived demand.[3]
An entity that previously expressed interest in running .cymru, DotCym, announced that it would not be applying for any Welsh TLD just weeks before the Nominet announcement.[4]
One of the first communities to express interest in using a .cymru was Llandysul, which expressed its preference for its community council website to use the extension in February, 2013.[5]
Language Issues[edit | edit source]
In October, 2012, Nominet was criticized for using poor Welsh grammar and structure on its website for the Welsh TLDs. One Welsh tech blogger alleged that Google translate or a similar program to create the text. Nominet had previously promised to expand beyond its English-centric presence and establish an office in Wales with Welsh speakers.[6]
Contract Signed[edit | edit source]
On 8th May 2014, Nominet received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .cymru after passing the Initial Evaluation.[7]
Delegation and Availability[edit | edit source]
.cymru was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 8th August, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.[8]
Sunrise[edit | edit source]
The Registry announced that the Sunrise Period for the string would begin on the 1st September 2014, and end on the 31st October 2014.[9]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Latest, Nominet.org
- ↑ Nominet Confirmed For Wales gTLD Bid, DomainIncite.com
- ↑ Nominet Doing Market Research On .Wales and .Cymru, internetnews.me
- ↑ Welsh Government Dot Cymru Compromise, News.Dot-Nxt.com
- ↑ Story 18156490, This Is South Wales.co.uk Retrieved 19 Feb 2013
- ↑ Nominet Caught using Google Translate On Welsh gTLD Site, DomainIncite.com
- ↑ Registry Agreements, ICANN.org Retrieved 05 December 2014
- ↑ ICANN delegated strings Retrieved 5th December 2014.
- ↑ TLD Startup Information, ICANN.org Retrieved 5th December 2014