GeoTLD
Geo TLD is a top level domain name category in the Domain Name System (DNS) denoting geographical, geopolitical, ethnic, social or cultural representation. Currently, .asia (represents the Asian continent), .cat (represents the Catalan language) and (.eu) representing the countries under the European Union) are considered geo TLDs. On June 26, 2007, a workshop regarding Geo TLD was conducted during the International ICANN Public Meeting in San Juan Puerto Rico wherein .berlin, .cat, .nyc and .paris were presented as examples of top level domain names under this category.[1]
Application Requirements/Procedures for Geo TLDs
ICANN requires applicants for geo TLDs to provide a documentation of support or non-objection from relevant government(s) or authority (ies). The same documentation is required to entities applying for a city name unless if the name will only be used for a generic term brand. If there is multiple applications on a particular city name, applicants are required to resolve the competition among themselves.Linguistics experts will be responsible in determining if a particular string represents a geographic or geopolitical name. Applications for Geo TLDs will be evaluated by the Geographic Names Panel (GNP). [2]
Proposed Geo gTLDs
Some of the proposed geo TLDs include:[3]
- .africa (African Region)
- .arab (Arabian Region)
- .med (Mediterranean Region)
- .lat (Latin America)
- .eng (England, UK)
- .bcn (Barcelona, Spain)
- .berlin (Berlin, Germany)
- .nyc (New York City, USA)
- .que (Quebec, Canada)
- .rome (Rome, Italy)
- .paris (Paris, France)
- .tokyo (Tokyo, Japan)