Tag Archives: Qatar

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

Updates for .DOHA, .QA, .قطر and .KRD Plus Verisign’s .COM and .NET Trending Keywords

Qatar Communications Regulatory Authority logoThe Qatari Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) plans to launch .doha for eligible entities and organisations in Doha. This comes as part of CRA’s strategy to foster the development of Qatar’s TLDs as a key public resource, by providing stable, secure, and trusted domain name services, as a priority in helping shape Qatar’s role in the digital economy.

“Qatar Domains Registry (QDR), an initiative under CRA, has registered 21,601 domains since its launch in 2011,” said Faisal Ali Al-Shuaibi, CRA’s spokesperson. “After facilitating the steady growth in its domain volumes, QDR is now on a fast track to make .doha the dot capital of Qatar on the internet world map. Strategic initiatives in Qatar can now have a web address ending in .doha as a unique alternative to the traditional .qa,” he added.

The current set of extensions that are made available by QDR through its accredited Registrars for public registrations include .qa and .com.qa, net.qa, and the Arabic equivalent of .qatar (.قطر ) each second level .qa with its unique set of eligibility requirements.

The .qa and .قطر TLDs are available for anyone, anywhere to register. Other TLDs and 2LDs restrictions mean a Qatari presence is required. More information is available here:
www.cra.gov.qa/en/document/set-eligibility-requirements-domains-extensions

In their announcement, the CRA didn’t set dates for the launch of .doha and .قطر.

The Kurdish community around the world has a TLD to represent them with .krd. The TLD is available to businesses, individuals and organisations worldwide. The Sunrise period for .KRD started on 5 August 2015 and ended on 4 October. General availability commenced on 3 April.

The latest top ten trending keywords in .com and .net have been published by Verisign for the month of March. In March the top keywords in .com were building, trump, chat, cuba, lots, bot, dentist, shower, seas and burn. For .net they were chin, garage, jobs, bot, date, electric, working, bad, per and weight.

Cybersecurity

WIPO Launches Dispute Resolution Services for .QA and قطر. (Qatar)

WIPO logoAs of 22 August, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center commenced providing .domain name dispute resolution servicesfor both QA and قطر. (Qatar) in accordance with the Qatar Domains Registry Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“Policy”) and Rules for Qatar Domains Registry Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“Rules”), and WIPO Supplemental Rules for Qatar Domains Registry Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“Supplemental Rules”).
Qatar Domains Registry provides for registration of domain names which utilize the two-letter country code in Latin characters, i.e., .QA, as well as the قطر. IDN ccTLD in Arabic script. قطر. results from ICANN’s IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process which was designed to introduce into the Domain Name System Internet extensions (top-level domains) corresponding to a meaningful representation of a country or territory name in non-Latin (or non-ASCII) script. The Policy, Rules and Supplemental Rules are applicable to disputed domain name registrations within both the Latin script (.QA) and Arabic script IDN (قطر.) ccTLD spaces.

The Policy, Rules and Supplemental Rules for .QA and قطر. also feature upgrades based on the WIPO-proposed paperless Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) model, the latter in effect at WIPO since December 2009. This includes paperless filings by parties while retaining the safeguard of hardcopy notification by the WIPO Center.

In addition to .QA and قطر. (Qatar), the Center also provides domain name dispute resolution services for both .AE and امارات. (United Arab Emirates).

Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

ictQATAR Launches Qatar Domains Registry

[news release] The Internet is one-step closer to being more accessible to speakers of Arabic in Qatar and around the world with the official launch of the Qatar Domains Registry (QDR), which was officially unveiled to the public on March 2, 2011 by the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR).

QDR, which will be managed by ictQATAR will begin making Qatar-specific Internet domain names in Arabic and Latin-scripts available to select organizations in Qatar immediately, with general domains available to the public by August of 2011.

“The launch of the Qatar Domains Registry is a major milestone as we work to build a more digitally inclusive society. As more organizations and individuals begin adopting non-Latin domain names the Internet will literally be opened up to broad new audiences. The Arab world represents a region with enormous potential for growth both in terms of usage and the creation of new digital content, especially Arabic content,” said Saleh Al-Kuwari, Chief Technical Manager at ictQATAR. “Qatar-specific domains are a valuable asset for businesses and individuals looking to establish their online identity. Using .qa or قطر. shows you are uniquely Qatar.”

Rod Beckstrom, the President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the agency responsible for Internet domain names, was in Qatar for the launch. “Approval of Qatar’s internationalized domain name is an acknowledgment of the country’s vision and leadership,” said Beckstrom. “In pursuing the IDN on behalf of its people, Qatar has recognized that the Internet is the way of the future.”

Qatar was one of the first countries to apply to ICANN for creation of an Arabic domain name. Currently, a number of websites are being used as pilots for the new domain names, including ictQATAR and Hukoomi. Qatar-specific Arabic domain names will be made available more broadly to government entities, and registered trademark and IP holders during the next phase of registration. By the end of August 2011, the Qatar-specific domain names will be publicly available.

Businesses and individuals will be able to easily check the availability of Qatar domain names through the QDR website and look up who owns the domain if it is already registered. After checking availability, the user will either be directed to approved registrars or be provided information on how to register directly with QDR. QDR will offer most domain names to the public through accredited registrars, except for specialized domain names for government, military, not-for-profit organizations and educational institutions, which will require direct registration with QDR. The website will be launched in the near future.

“Country-specific domain names are an incredibly valuable national commodity. To maximize their reach and value, QDR was developed based on a registry-registrar system, where approved registrars will be able to provide domain registration services to clients. We are currently working to attract numerous local and international registrars to promote competition in the market and provide choices for consumers,” said Al-Kuwari.

ictQATAR led Qatar’s application process for the Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) and was part of a fast-track process with ICANN for approval. Qatar received official delegation for its Arabic domains in December 2010, and has been working to meet all of ICANN’s technical requirements for the rollout and administration of the domain names since.

Prior to ICANN’s Board approval to delegate Qatar’s domain names management to ictQATAR, Qatar Telecom “Qtel” was administering “.qa” domain names since 1996. Qatar’s Arabic Domain name “قطر.” (.qatar) was not previously available, and was initiated by ictQATAR.

This news release from ictQATAR was sourced from:
www.ict.gov.qa/news-events/news/ictqatar-launches-qatar-domains-registry