The Domain Name System of the Internet consists of a set of top-level domains which constitute the root domain of the hierarchical name space and database. In the growth of the Internet, it became desirable to expand the set of initially six generic top-level domains in 1984. As a result new top-level domain names have been proposed for implementation by ICANN. Such proposals included a variety of models ranging from adoption of policies for unrestricted gTLDs that could be registered by anyone for any purpose, to chartered gTLDs for specialized uses by specialized organizations.[1] In October 2000, ICANN published a list of proposals for top-level domain strings it had received.[2]
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These proposals are centered on creating an independent Internet identity for linguistic and cultural communities. They are mostly inspired by the success of the .cat domain created for websites in the Catalan language or about the Catalan culture.
| Domain name | intended use | sponsor | year of proposal | comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .bzh | Breton language and Brittany | dot bzh | 2006 | A campaign has been organized in Brittany to support the request of creation of the .bzh domain. The campaign's website gives little information about the status of the proposal and the organization behind and mostly holds a petition for the creation of the domain. As of August 2008 there are over 17,000 signatories. |
| .cymru | Welsh language and Wales | dotCYM Cyf | 2006 | Following a decision by ICANN in 2010 .cym [3] the dotCYM Cyf bid organisers made an appeal for supporters of the former dotCYM bid to suggest a new domain name for the Welsh linguistic and cultural community[. The overwhelming choice of the community was for dotCYMRU. Since November 2010 dotCYMRU is the new domain name for the Welsh linguistic and cultural domain. |
| .eng | England | dot eng.org | 2008 | The dotENG.org website was set up by John Sewell of Maidenhead in Berkshire. Mentioned in PC Pro Online: Campaign begins for .eng domain, Stuart Turton, 23 April 2008 |
| .eus | Basque language | PuntuEus association | 2009 | University professors, scientifics, several companies and institutions are involved in this campaign, including the autonomous government, Eusko Jaurlaritza and the Basque Language Academy, Euskaltzaindia. |
| .gal | Galician language and Galicia | PuntoGal | 2006 | Several companies and institutions are involved in this campaign, including the autonomous government, Xunta de Galicia. |
| .ker | Cornish language and Cornwall (Kernow) in general | Cornish World Magazine[4] | 2008 | |
| .lli | Leonese language and Leonese culture | puntuLLI | 2007 | Several companies, associations, organisations and institutions are involved in this campaign. |
| .quebec | Quebec | Pointquebec | 2008 | .quebec came to life following .cat success. As an incorporated NPO, PointQuebec's mission is to promote, broadcast and manage a new identity on the Internet, affirming the specificity and Quebec Culture. |
| .scot[5] | Scotland, The Scots Community of Interest online, Scottish culture and Scotland's languages | dotSCO.org | 2005 | dotSCO began in late 2005 and has been campaigning to build support for a new TLD from among the Scots community around the world. The campaign was publicly launched at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament's cross-party group on the Scots language by Davie Hutchison and Euan McCreath |
| ECLID | ECLID | ECLID | 2008 | The dotCYMRU, dotEUS, dotSCOT and dotBZH have formed the ECLID[1], the European Cultural and Linguistic Internet Domains umbrella group to lobby for the successful and speedy application for the bids. |
| .sic[6] | Székely Land | Pontsic Foundation | 2009 | pontSIC began in late 2008 and has been campaigning to build support for a new TLD from among the Székely community around the world. The campaign was started by the Szekler National Council, and now are involved several companies and institutions. As of September 2009 there are over 33,200 signatories. |
| .nai | nai | nai | 1999 | The original proposal for a native managed TLD predates ICANN, and its form was adopted by ICANN as the "sponsored" type of application and eventual contract in the 2001 new gTLD round. The application of a "sponsored" type of application and registry resulted in the .cat success. .nai's mission is to implement a top-level name space with an indigenous policy, provide an alternative to the several thousand indigenous public administrations, and the larger numbers of indigenous non-governmental, linguistic and cultural institutional, public and private economic enterprises, bands and individuals in the Western Hemisphere currently using name spaces operated under for-profit or colonial policies, and promote the economic development of Indian Country. |
| .vlaanderen | Flanders (Vlaanderen) | 2011 |
A top-level domain named kids has been proposed by several entities. As of 2009, none of these proposals have been implemented. Under the United States country code TLD (us) exists a second-level domain kids.us.
Applications for a kids domain have included:
The European Parliament has also proposed kid for websites designed for children. It would be monitored by an independent authority.
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