Tag: Wales

.CYMRU And .WALES Countdown Begins Following Delegation

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoFollowing ICANN’s delegation of the Welsh gTLDs .cymru and .wales, Nominet has published an update on the timetable for their availability

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoFollowing ICANN’s delegation of the Welsh gTLDs .cymru and .wales, Nominet has published an update on the timetable for their availability.

From 1 September, businesses that have already registered their trademarks with ICANN’s Trademark Clearing House can begin the process of registering their new Welsh domains. The second registration phase, which gives Welsh businesses priority, starts in November with availability to the general public beginning on St David’s Day, 1 March 2015.

The Nominet announcement notes “Wales occupies a special place in the UK and in the world, with a distinctive identity and culture, and of course its own language. With the new .cymru and .wales web addresses there will now be a truly Welsh space on the internet. Strong backing for the new domain names has already come from a host of organisations that will be the first to switch to underline their Welsh identity online, among them the Welsh Government, S4C, the National Assembly for Wales, Sport Wales, the Federation of Small Businesses Wales, the Scarlets rugby team and the Arts Council for Wales.”

So Nominet say if you’re proud of being Welsh and the Welsh connection is important to your business, make sure you secure your .cymru or .wales web address. For more information, see ourhomeonline.org.uk.

Welsh Government To Replace .GOV.UK With .WALES/.CYMRU When gTLD Launches

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoThe Welsh government has announced that when the countries gTLDs are launched, they will replacing their .gov.uk domains with .wales and .cymru

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoThe Welsh government has announced that when the countries gTLDs are launched, they will replacing their .gov.uk domains with .wales and .cymru.

The announcement was made by the Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones Monday at the ICANN meeting currently underway in London.

Jones said he was “thrilled that Wales will finally have a natural home on the Web” and the new gTLDs will be economically and culturally beneficial and promote and encourage the use of the Welsh language online.

“Names are an important part of how we communicate our identity to each other. And that’s why I’m so pleased that from September we will be able to register domain names in .wales and .cymru – we will finally have a way of using our websites and email addresses to reflect the identity we feel in our hearts.

“That’s why I am also pleased to announce here today that the Welsh Government will be moving our online presence from .gov.uk to the new domains as part of our renewal of how we serve and interact with citizens in Wales.”

Additionally, bodies that rely on the Welsh government for funding will also be expected to change their domains to the new Welsh gTLDs in time.

In his speech during the opening of the ICANN meeting, Jones explained how Wales and Welsh was different to England and English, noting how the Welsh value their autonomous government and independence in sport, particularly rugby and soccer.

There was also a performance from the Welsh choir Only Men Aloud who are to become the first performing artists with a .wales/.cymru domain.

Sunrise for the two gTLDs is due to launch in September and General Availability in spring 2015.

Nominet Launches Rules And Processes For .CYMRU And .WALES

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoNominet has published the rules and processes for the launch of .cymru and .wales in September. They have come about following a three-month consultation

DotCYMRU & DotWALES logoNominet has published the rules and processes for the launch of .cymru and .wales in September. They have come about following a three-month consultation.

With its own distinctive identity and culture in Wales, and of course our own language, the new gTLDs will be unique. Plus Nominet has worked closely with the Welsh Government every step of the way to ensure that these new domains are good for Welsh businesses, good for Wales and support the Welsh language online.

To begin, there will be a restricted launch phase to benefit businesses active in the Welsh market before the domains are opened up to everyone, but in a unique approach that has been developed especially for .cymru and .wales, both domain spaces will allow the registration of names that use the diacritic marks used in the Welsh language.

For trademark holders, Nominet is recommending submitting their marks to the Trademark Clearing House before the end of July.

Key policy points for .cymru and .wales:

  • Domain Resellers who sell the domain names to the public will be required to stock both .wales and .cymru domain names providing equal status to Wales’s two languages and the two domain names. There will be a restricted launch phase that will benefit businesses active in the Welsh market before the domains are opened up on a first come, first served basis.
  • Individuals, companies and organisations will be able to choose to register their domain name in either .cymru or .wales or both.
  • An innovative partnership has been set up with Gwynedd Council’s Galw Gwynedd to offer bilingual call centre support to Welsh and English speaking callers. Nominet will also publish a voluntary Welsh Language Scheme.
  • In a unique approach especially for these domains, both domain spaces will allow the registration of names that use the diacritic marks used in the Welsh language to mirror non-diacritic domain names.

Commenting on the announcement, Ieuan Evans, Chair of the Nominet Wales Advisory Group said: “The new .cymru and .wales domains are an exciting opportunity for Wales to reach its full potential online by creating a platform for Brand Wales to become recognised worldwide. We are absolutely committed to making these domains work for everyone in Wales and that they empower people to create and use Welsh language content.”

Jo Golley, leading Nominet’s Wales team says: “Publication of our policy document is the next step in our drive to give Wales an exciting new online platform on which to build the Welsh brand. Having worked for over two years with the Welsh Government and key Welsh businesses and organisations we are confident that we are now well placed to deliver domains which are more relevant to Wales.

“Today we have further been able to clarify our commitment to the Welsh language. The extensive technical measures we have put in place to allow diacritic marks to be used have been taken with the full intent of enabling people to use the range and subtlety of the Welsh language online. These important steps will enable a massive increase in Welsh language domain names on the internet.”

To register interest and for the full policy, go to ourhomeonline.org.uk/sign-up-for-updates

Nominet Announces .CYMRU and .WALES Launch in September

dotCYMRU and dotWALES logoICANN has formally signed a contract giving domain addresses ending in .cymru and .wales the go-ahead, the .uk registry Nominet has announced. The agreement means that businesses and individuals will be able to register a .cymru or .wales domain name allowing them to demonstrate their Welsh identity, language and culture online

dotCYMRU and dotWALES logoICANN has formally signed a contract giving domain addresses ending in .cymru and .wales the go-ahead, the .uk registry Nominet has announced. The agreement means that businesses and individuals will be able to register a .cymru or .wales domain name allowing them to demonstrate their Welsh identity, language and culture online.

A phased launch plan will begin on 1 September and allow those with a registered trade mark to benefit from first registrations in September of this year closely followed by businesses and organisations who can prove interests and use of a brand name in Wales even if they don’t have a trademark. The final phase will see the addresses open up to everybody from 1 March 2015.

More information on the new .cymru and .wales domains is at www.ourhomeonline.org.uk/ and eincartrefarlein.org.uk/

Nominet Announces Partnership For Welsh TLD

Nominet logo[news release] Nominet and Gwynedd Council have today announced an important partnership to support the two new Top Level Domains for Wales on the internet; .cymru and .wales

Nominet logo[news release] Nominet and Gwynedd Council have today announced an important partnership to support the two new Top Level Domains for Wales on the internet; .cymru and .wales.

Nominet is the not-for-profit company responsible for running the .uk domain name system.  Next year, the company will be launching two new Welsh domains allowing people to register domain names ending in .cymru and .wales to demonstrate their Welsh identity, language and culture online.

To support the launch of these domains, Nominet sought a contact centre partner to provide bilingual customer support.  Gwynedd Council’s Galw Gwynedd service in Penrhyndeudraeth has been selected to provide this service under a three year contract.

Commenting on the new partnership, Jo Golley, Nominet’s Commercial Manager for .cymru and .wales said: “We are delighted to have found such a strong partner for this service in Galw Gwynedd. They are ideally placed to help us deliver on our commitments to run a fully bilingual service that provides ongoing economic benefit to Wales.

When the Welsh Government endorsed our application, we promised to work toward ensuring .cymru and .wales provides economic benefit to the whole of Wales. Locating the call centre in Gwynedd demonstrates how we are meeting this objective.”

The new service will be operational early next year. It will provide information and support via phone and email to people who wish to register a .cymru or .wales domain name.

“I am pleased that, through this partnership, Galw Gwynedd can play a small part in promoting Wales and the Welsh language on the web” said Gwynedd Council Cabinet member, Cllr Ioan Thomas.

The service will operate with dedicated staff, and technology from the Galw Gwynedd building in Penrhyndeudraeth. It is expected that there will be three new part-time posts for the length of the contract with two additional temporary posts during the launch period next year.

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About Nominet

Domain names are one of the key building blocks of the internet – an essential component of every email address and website.   Millions of businesses and consumers now depend on Nominet’s services, which underpin a critical part of the internet economy.

Nominet is a private, not-for-profit business, responsible for the smooth and secure running of the .uk Internet infrastructure.  The company has over 2,800 members and is committed to acting in the public interest.

Nominet has also recently been chosen by several brands and communities to launch and manage new top level domains such as .wales, .cymru and .bbc.

This Nominet news release was sourced from:
www.nominet.org.uk/news/press-releases/new-partnership-support-internet-domains-wales

Nominet Gears Up For .CYMRU And .WALES Applying To Be Registrar

Nominet logoIn order to support their launch plans for .CYMRU and .WALES, Nominet has announced it intends to apply to become an ICANN accredited registrar

Nominet logoIn order to support their launch plans for .CYMRU and .WALES, Nominet has announced it intends to apply to become an ICANN accredited registrar.

Existing ICANN accredited registrars will be able to sell the new gTLDs, but are not obliged to do so.  Given the scale of the gTLD expansion programme, -  which will see consumers and businesses offered a choice of over 1,000 domain suffixes from 2013 -  becoming an ICANN accredited registrar will guarantee a distribution channel for .CYMRU and .WALES.

In accordance with ICANN rules, this will involve the creation of a wholly-owned subsidiary.  Nominet have no plans to sell other gTLDs (such as .com) through the subsidiary.

Nominet will also ask ICANN to review the current batching process to ensure that the Welsh applications are assessed together, and expect the issue of digital archery and batching to be discussed at next week’s ICANN meeting in Prague.