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Antony Van Couvering

New gTLD Sightings

Mar 9th, 2009

I know of some TLDs I can’t talk about, but here’s a list of those who have announced to the world that they are planning to go through the ICANN process. These are either people who have let me know it’s ok to talk about them, or are otherwise publicly announced. With thanks to Dirk Krischenowski at .berlin for his list and to Michele Neylon for his help.

City gTLDs

Regional TLDs

  • .africa and .africa
  • .bayern (Bayern/Bavaria, a region in Germany)
  • .bzh (Brittany, a region in France)
  • .cym (Wales, a principality in the U.K.)
  • .eng (England, a kingdom in the U.K.)
  • .gal (Galicia, a region in Spain)
  • .ker (Cornwall, a region in the U.K.)
  • .lli (Leon, a region in Spain)
  • .lat (Latin America)
  • .med (Mediterranean) — no web site yet
  • .que (Quebec, a province in Canada)
  • .sco (Scotland, a kingdom in the U.K.)
  • .vla (Flanders, a region in Belgium) — no web site yet
  • (UPDATED) .yks (Yorkshire — thanks to AB)

Ethnic/Language gTLDs

These may be similar to geographical TLDs, but these strings are not official territorial names, so they likely fall outside the ICANN rules for geographical names.

  • .arab – web site not operational
  • .eus (Basque)
  • .indigi (for indigenous peoples)

Industry/activity-specific gTLDs

Charitable gTLDs

  • .eco (Ecological)
  • .green (Ecological)
  • (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #1) (thanks to Chad)
  • (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #2)

Brand gTLDs

Brands have been very hesitant to announce, but there are many waiting in the wings. Some are just thinking of defensive registrations, others have innovative marketing and branding plans.

Know of any others? Please leave a comment. This list will soon find its way to our resources page.

9 comments
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  • Chad on 10:53 PM said:

    A few questions/comments:

    I’ve heard .med as both “Mediterranean” and “Medical”, but can’t find any websites supporting either applications. Can you confirm your source is in fact based on the region?

    Also, it appears the two London initiatives are actually one, since the one logo is placed on both sites on every page.

    Lastly, there seems to be two separate family-based initiatives:

    http://familytld.org/
    and
    http://www.dotfam.net

  • Francesco on 1:55 AM said:

    Very interesting list, thanks.
    So apparently at the moment the only known application for a .IDN TLD is .köln… Has any of the other applicants (I am thinking in particular the .arab guys) expressed any interest in an application covering their TLD in multiple scripts?

    BTW, I would move .eus under the Regional TLDs… The Basque Country is as defined as say Catalunya or Galicia in the end… see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Country_(greater_region)

  • Antony Van Couvering on 6:50 AM said:

    @chad – I’ve heard .med as mediterranean, but with a nudge and a wink. It’s clear that it’s worth more as a medical TLD. But this is all third hand. Also thanks for the corrections, I’ll update the list.

    @francesco – i know of other IDN TLDs, but .köln is the only one that’s being talked about publicly. Also this list doesn’t include ccTLD IDNs.

    With regard to the .eus TLD, the situation is not so clear. While there is an autonomous “Basque Country” within Spain, the TLD is not using the Spanish “Vasco” as the basis for their name, but rather the Basque “Euskadi,” which I am not sure is recognized as an official geographical term, and therefore may escape the ICANN rules on geographical names.

  • Francesco on 8:12 AM said:

    Hehe… I think that for .EUS not using the Spanish name is actually the whole point ;)
    TBH my slipped over the “language” bit after ethnic in the title… I guess it falls in the same “cultural TLD” category as .CAT, so your classification is ok I guess.

  • Jothan Frakes on 3:03 PM said:

    @francesco: There are a large number of IDN gTLD applicants that I am personally aware of but most of them are not discussing the strings that they’re aiming to apply for.

    The other semi-public plans I am aware of are that VeriSign were discussing intent to do variants of .COM in IDN

  • Andrew Bennett on 3:12 PM said:

    .health http://www.dothealth.eu

    .yks http://www.dotyks.org

  • Jothan Frakes on 10:11 AM said:

    .vin http://www.dotvin.fr/

  • Mike Rodenbaugh on 6:39 AM said:

    Fox has applied to register .fox as a trademark in the Euro Community. Apple has had .mac registered as a trademark for many years.

  • New TLD - Answers to FAQs - Indian Domain Names Forum on 9:34 PM said:

    [...] lobbyists working with you. Read the rest article at: New TLDs For Dummies (Sort of) Here’s a list of some potentially new TLDs. I see there are some city TLDs on the list. No .mumbai? I do see [...]

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