ICANN is seeking speakers for their next (virtual) for their pre-ICANN72 ccTLD News Sessions on 6 and 7 October. ccTLDs with a best practice, project solution or case study to share with the broader community or even a market development, or perhaps legal or operational news that is engaging, relevant and informative to other ccTLDs from across the world are requested to put their hands up and nominate themselves.
The home of Scotland and Scottish culture online, .scot, currently has a promotion through selected registrars with domain names available from £10 until the end of February.
Scotlandâs own new gTLD is aimed at Scottish businesses or products as the perfect tool to boost authenticity and attract new customers. Or maybe one wants to fly the Scottish flag and highlight your Scottish roots.
Theyâre also available to anyone, anywhere in the world so one can show their Scottish connection wherever they are.
To register your .scot domain name, check out instra here.
The government of Quebec decided at the last moment the cost was too great to move their domain names from .qc.ca to .quebec, but the Scottish government has decided the cost is not so great for their independence online.
This week the Scottish government commenced the move from .gov.uk to .scot for its websites, although to date only the home page resolves to a .scot domain while any links still go to .gov.uk websites.
It follows the Scottish referendum that was comprehensively lost in September, 55 percent to 44. But since then support for the Scottish National Party has grown significantly and now while not achieving independence, the Scottish government now has its own independence online.
âUsing the .scot domain as our primary web address will be a visible symbol of the Scottish Governmentâs online presence and our involvement with the worldwide family of Scots who choose to express their identity or affinity online,â said Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
âThe expansion of the number of top-level internet domains in recent times gives users many more options to brand themselves in new ways online â and weâre delighted to lead by example.
âUsers will see the new web address on our site straight away but other changes to the infrastructure, including new email addresses for Scottish Government staff, will be introduced in a phased and structured way to ensure no one is inconvenienced.â
In Quebec, another with its own separatist supporters, the provincial government was set to take advantage of the provinceâs own gTLD but decided that for now an additional C$12 million of public funds, in addition to the $1.6 million it had already spent, could be better spent in light of budget cuts.
Governments are a great advocate with their websites viewed by a wide range of people across the community. Just like the Scottish government moving to the .scot is a huge benefit for the countryâs gTLD, the decision of Quebecâs government is a major blow to getting visibility among the public and business.
General Availability for .scot commenced in September 2014 and there are now 8,300 registrations while GA commenced for .quebec two months later in November and it now has almost 9,000 registrations.
The .scot gTLD went on General Release yesterday (23 September) at 14:00 and 4,000 domains were registered within an hour, 1,500 in 60 seconds.
Director of the DotScot Registrar Gavin McCutcheon said while the recent referendum debate has helped, .scot transcends politics and the proof of that is in the thousands who have signed up.
âThereâs been huge interest in .scot since July when we went public,â said McCutcheon. âWeâve seen strong interest from many sectors but itâs particularly pleasing to see the international digital giants like Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram get on board.â
âBut itâs not just about the businesses â international and local â itâs about individuals and Iâm hearing lots of individuals are getting involved which ties in with the whole ethos of the web being for everyone.â
âThatâs not to say the Indyref didnât help. People on both sides are now wanting to express their Scottish identity more and I think itâs going to be really exciting to see what is registered tomorrow and then what websites go live quickly.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: âWith .scot domains now generally available, people at home and abroad have a new opportunity to express their Scottish identity or affinity online.
âI also look forward to www.gov.scot being adopted in the coming months as the primary web address for the Scottish Government.â
The referendum the Scottish people will vote on 18 September to determine whether the country gains independence from the United Kingdom has a lot of far-reaching implications for the country, one of which that is little discussed is top level domains.The .scot new gTLD is currently being introduced, but this will not serve as a country code for the newly independent country if its people vote “yes” to independence.For country codes, Scots like the English, Welsh and Northern Irish have .uk as their country code. But it is likely the Scottish will eventually want to establish their own country code. But which one?”If Scotland decide to leave, it could start the wheels in motion to have its own two digit ccTLD,” Stuart Fuller, director of commercial operations at NetNames, told Bloomberg. “Still, 22 out of the possible 26 combinations for a .S something are already in use and only .SF, .SP, .SQ or .SW are left — .SC is already assigned to the Seychelles.””The timing of the launch of the new [.scot] domain, with general availability due to start just a few days after the referendum result, is no coincidence,” says Fuller.Some companies have already moved in on .SCOT names, while others may start the process of establishing Scotland’s own ccTLD. Gavin McCutcheon, director of the Dot Scot Registry, said, also speaking to Bloomberg “.SCOT,” launches its General Availability on 23 September.The country codes are defined by the Swiss-based International Organisation for Standardisation, who develops and publishes international standards. Under ISO 3166, the purpose of these country codes is, the ISO says, to define internationally recognised codes of letters and/or numbers that we can use when we refer to countries and subdivisions. ISO 3166 codes are not only used for domain names, they are also used by all national postal organisations throughout the world for exchanging international mail in containers that are identified with the relevant country code.Scotland, if it votes yes for independence, will need to have its own codes once it is recognised by the appropriate United Nations bodies, and if so, they will make 250 countries, territories, or areas of geographical interest are assigned official codes in ISO 3166-1.
The .scot Pioneer Programme goes live today with the 50 or so registrants picked to be part of the programme seeing their domain names, and websites, up and running.
Among those who have signed up and are part of the Pioneer Programme for the new gTLD are the Scottish government, the main yes and no campaign groups for the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence, Yes Scotland and Better Together, as well as WWF Scotland, NHS Scotland and Scouts Scotland. International pioneers include the Louisiana Scots and the Clan Wallace.
The launch of .scot has come at a perfect time with Scottish identity a big issue due to the upcoming referendum and the Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow next week. The gTLD is being pushed as for use of the Scottish community around the world whose online activities:
The launch has the support of Scottish politicians including Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who said:
“It is entirely right that Scotland should have its own distinctive and recognisable internet domain – in particular, one that will resonate internationally, helping to promote Scottish business and culture throughout the world.”
âI am confident that the .scot domain name will prove to be a real asset to the people of Scotland and to the worldwide family of Scots. I am looking forward to the Scottish Government being able to make use of this new domain, and to having gov.scot up and running before the end of the year, as well as our pioneer domains including welcome.scot, which go live today.â
Speaking of the launch of the Pioneer Programme, Dot Scot Registry director Gavin McCutcheon described it as a “fantastic day for Scotland online”.
“Owning a .scot domain will allow people and organisations a new unique way to express their identity online.”
“It’s a community domain intended for everybody who lives and works in Scotland – and for the 50 million people around the globe who are part of Scotland’s diaspora.
“After such a long campaign to secure the new .scot domain, we’re delighted that we can launch when the eyes of the world are on Scotland, with the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow next week.”
The Scottish branch of WWF is also in on the act with WWF Scotland director Lang Banks saying:
âFrom world-leading climate change targets to innovative approaches to securing more fish and healthier seas, Scotland is a pioneer in creating solutions to some of the most important environmental challenges facing the planet. However, as well as being able to learn from others globally, weâd like these examples to help provide inspiration to others facing similar challenges.
âBy using WWF.scot we hope to create a space to better share these and other great ideas so that everywhere people and nature can thrive.â
For the next 60 days only launch pioneersâ domains will be online, but from 23 September General Availability will commence for anyone who wants to be part of the Scottish community around the world.
If high profile support counts in getting your new gTLD approved, you canât beat James Bondâs support of .scot.
Former James Bond Sir Sean Connery is one of a number of high profile Scots supporting the campaign to get .scot up and running, which also has the support of First Minister Alex Salmond and the Scottish government. Another high profile supporter is Scottish businessman Sir Tom Farmer.
And it may well be possible that general availability for .scot will come about this northern summer. Previously it had not expected until 2015.
On Sunday (26 January) the Dot Scot Registry (DSR) announced it and ICANN have formally agreed terms that allows DSR to operate the new dotSCOT domain. And just in time as the debate as to whether Scotland should become independent and secede from the United Kingdom.
“2014 is an exciting year for Scotland, and I’m delighted that this distinct online identity for the nation, and all who take an interest in Scotland, will become available this summer,â said First Minister Alex Salmond.
“The .scot domain is long overdue in this digital age, and the worldwide family of Scots who have been waiting patiently since it was first proposed, will soon be able to have this marvellously expressive domain as their online identity of choice.”
The new TLD will be used to promote Scotland and its culture to the world.
“Scotland and Scottishness conveys a whole range of positive connotations, which could not really be portrayed on the web before, but with a .scot domain there will be a new option anyone involved in Scottish business, arts and culture and others to identify themselves more clearly as Scottish to the online world,â said Gavin McCutcheon, director of Dot Scot Registry.
“We aim to make .scot domains as affordable as possible and our not-for-profit structure means we will be able to do so.
“We hope that .scot will become the first choice for the worldwide family of Scots, allowing them to demonstrate for the first time their affinity to Scotland and for Scottish societies and organisations wherever they are in the world to make .scot their home on the internet.”
Another point made by Domain Incite is that if the Scots vote to become independent, they will then become entitled to a ccTLD, but this will not happen until at least a year after .scot is up and running.
While the campaign for Scottish independence from Britain is controversial, the move for a .SCOT top level domain has proved uncontroversial gaining the support of the British government, with The Scotsman reporting British government ministers are “relaxed” about the proposal.Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, claimed that Scotland would “soon be independent in cyberspace” and that the internet shake-up would be a “great boost” to Scottish businesses and tourism, The Scotsman noted on Monday.But support is not quite universal with Yorkshire Tory MP Andrew Percy dismissing the idea of .SCOT as “nonsense”. “Scotland hasn’t even voted yet on whether to go independent, and all this is doing is giving Alex Salmond’s Nationalists a propaganda coup,” Percy said according to the report in The Scotsman.But north of the border it was a different story.”Scotland is well on the road to independence, and it looks like we will soon be independent in cyberspace too – the dotScot domain name will be a great boost in promoting Scotland around the globe,” a spokesman for Salmond told The Scotsman.However should Scotland become independent it would then be entitled to its own country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), and then have two TLDs.
The Scottish government has sought fresh support for the proposed .SCOT generic Top Level Domain from the UK government, which, as the BBC News report says “has responsibility for internet governance.”The Scottish government believes there will be benefits for the Scottish community by having the .SCOT gTLD that was proposed by the not-for-profit Dot Scot Registry, which was set up two years ago to push for the establishment of .SCOT.”DotScot will be a wonderful asset for establishing a distinctive online identity for many organisations and people who have been described as the worldwide family of Scots and want to demonstrate that identity online,” said Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, who also noted the Scottish government had been supporting DSR’s work.To read the BBC News report in full, see:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15046986
With competition hotting up between new generic Top Level Domain applicants, and a three month application period to open on 12 January 2012 following ICANN’s approval of their Applicant Guidebook in Singapore last week, it is likely there will be a number of competing applications for the same gTLD.Likely gTLDs to receive more than one application include .AFRICA, .GAY and now .SCOT. For .GAY, Domain Name Wire reports a “Washington man has filed an intent-to-use trademark application for ‘.gay’ with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.”.AFRICA has seen competing applications from two groups, with the African Union Commission has stated categorically it is not supporting any application for the generic Top Level Domain .AFRICA despite claims from a potential applicant it has their support.”And now a gTLD for Scotland with .SCOT and .SCO being proposed by competing groups. The .SCO proposal website has not been updated since February 2009, but it appears there are also two .SCOT proposals.In an article in The Scotsman today, Joan McAlpine, an SNP MSP for the south of Scotland, writes “it is important that everyone in Scotland gets behind this officially approved bid which can be found at www.dotscot.net. This is the group that has government and cross-party backing, because it is run as a not for profit organisation.”A for profit body is behind a second .SCOT proposal. The organisation is called Scotnom. However writes McAlpine a “.SCOT TLD should be a community-based public resource rather than a private asset.””It is important that there is no confusion of the two organisations – remember dotscot.net and dotscot.org is the place to sign up if you want the bid to benefit the wider community.”To read the article by Joan McAlpine in The Scotsman in full, see:
news.scotsman.com/politics/Joan-McAlpine-Dotting-the-i39s.6792156.jp
