dotSCOT

Parliamentary backing for dotSCOT

2009-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

The Scottish Parliament's Public Petitions Committee today formally endorsed the dotSCOT campaign, after receiving assurances from the Government that it was doing all it could to help ensure an application could be submitted to ICANN.

The unanimous vote cast by the Committee means that our campaign now has cross-party support - a crucial step in demonstrating to ICANN a widespread desire across Scotland and its diaspora for a Scottish domain.

The dotSCOT team are delighted that both Parliament and Government have been so supportive of our campaign. Less than nine months after we started collecting signatures to submit the petition, we are now well on the way to submitting an application to ICANN - no small feat.

First Minister announces support for Scots internet domain

2008-12-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

We are delighted that the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond MSP, has announced that the Scottish Government will be supporting a bid for new top-level internet domain (TLD) for the Scots community of interest online.

The Scottish Government setup a working group to consider a community top-level for the worldwide family of Scots in response to a petition from dotSCO earlier this year. As our previous newsletter highlighted our Director, Davie Hutchison, has been an active member of that working group.

The First Minister has released research from the working group which shows that there is strong support for a new community TLD. 58% of organisations (from the public, private and third sectors) in Scotland support the creation of a Scots community TLD with only 18% being against. A huge 82% of organisations in the Scots Diaspora back the application with just 8% being against.

As was indicate in the last newsletter the final choice of what string or code to apply for was still under consideration, either ‘.sco’ or ‘.scot’ .The research from the working group has shown that some 59% have supported ‘.Scot’ with 14% preferring ‘.sco’. With .scot being the clear preference of the community we will continue our campaign for a new TLD using that code.

The dotSCO campaign team is looking forward to the year ahead and helping to prepare the bid to ICANN for a new Internet domain for the worldwide family of Scots!

Survey shows support for dotSCOT

2008-12-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

The internet campaign group behind the campaign for a Scots community top-level domain (TLD), dotSCOT, are delighted with the strong support for the campaign revealed in the Scottish Government's survey of key stakeholders.

The survey was organised by the Scottish Government’s Internet Domain working group; it showed that 58% of organisations backed the proposal, with only 18% against. Among Scottish Diaspora organisations the level of supported soared to 82%.

Commenting on the figures, dotSCOT Director Davie Hutchison said:

"The high level of support that the Scottish Government has found for a Scots community TLD reflects our own experience since we launched the campaign in 2005. The dotSCOT campaign has received a tremendous level of support from people all over the world who want a community TLD for the worldwide family of Scots.

“Earlier this year over 1100 people signed our petition to the Parliament's Public Petitions Committee, which asked for support for creating a new Scottish internet domain. The Scottish Government responded positively to the petition by establishing the Scottish Internet Domain working group, of which dotSCOT is a member. We are delighted that the Government has been so supportive of our campaign, and welcome their commitment to supporting an application to ICANN in 2009.

"The Catalan online community blazed a trail with the ‘.cat’ domain which went live in April 2006.The First Minister will learn of the fantastic success of the Catalan internet domain for himself during his visit to Catalonia. Every indication shows that a Scottish domain will match and possibly exceed the success of the Catalans.

"Finally, although we started out campaigning for a ‘.sco"’, we have always believed that the ‘string’ that was applied for should be determined by the community itself. The survey has shown that ‘.scot’ is their choice and we are delighted to support the views of the Scots internet community. After all, it is for them that we started this campaign."

Scottish Government backs campaign

2008-11-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

The Scottish Government has announced its backing for top-level domain for the Scots community of interest online, following a petition to the Scottish Parliament from dotSCOT.

In May 2008, the Petitions Committee considered our petition, which requested that the Scottish Government support our application, and they agreed to write to Ministers to seek their views. The response was very positive. The Government wrote to the Committee and said:

“Ministers are very supportive of the idea of a top level domain that would give Scotland and Scottish culture a clear identity on the worldwide internet with the potential to lead to economic and cultural benefits.

A Scottish Internet Domain Working Group has recently been set up to examine all aspects of the issue. It includes representatives from the Government’s international and cultural divisions, Scottish Enterprise, VisitScotland, the Government’s domain advisers, and the dotSCOT campaign group which submitted the petition.

The Working Group has been asked to begin preparations for a bid to obtain a new domain when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) invites applications, as it is expected to do during 2009.”

The Petitions Committee recently considered this letter, recognised the positive reaction from the Government, and agreed to write to Ministers once more to clarify if they can offer financial support as well. This was in response to the decision from the Welsh Assembly to award our Welsh counterparts, dotCYM, £20,000 to aid with the application.

We at dotSCOT are obviously delighted that the Government has been so positive. A representative from dotSCOT was invited to participate in the Government's working group, which is currently discussing how to put together a bid.

ICANN conferences - Paris, June 2008 – Cairo, November 2008

2008-11-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

Davie Hutchison, dotSCOT Policy Director, attended the quarterly ICANN conference in Paris on behalf of the organisation; this enabled us to establish contact with many key stakeholders from across the world, and learn, first-hand, more about the application process. The Cairo meeting provided some new information on the application process and allowed the potential bid teams to provide some feedback to ICANN.

Just as importantly, these meetings provided opportunities to meet with our some of our ‘sister campaigns’ who are seeking to make bids on behalf of their communities – dotCYM (Welsh community), pointBZH (Breton community), puntoGAL, dotNAI (North American Indigenous community) (Galician community) and dotBERLIN (City of Berlin).

ICANN publishes draft applicant guidebook

2008-05-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

After literally years of speculation and several delays, ICANN have this month published the draft Application Guidebook for applying for new top-level internet domains. The Guidebook, although still in draft form, provides some of the detailed criteria that we will have to satisfy. In a few months there will be a second draft followed by the final version in the 2nd quarter of 2009. On the current timetable it looks like the window to make bids for new top level domains will open in Autumn 2009. If this was the case then we are looking at the early stages of 2010 for dotSCOT domains becoming available for purchase.

ICANN are reportedly expecting up to 500 applications for new top level domains, some will be community bids like ours and dotCYM while some will be ‘open’ commercial projects.

The new top level domains will fall into 4 broad categories -

(1) Commercial TLDs -such as dotSHOP or dotWINE.

(2) ‘Vanity’ TLDs – such as dotEBAY and dotGOOGLE.

(3) City TLDs – such as dotNYC, dotBERLIN, dotLONDON and dotPARIS.

(4) Community TLDs – such as dotSCO, or dotCYM for the Welsh Community, dotGAL for the Galician Community and dotNAI for the North American Indigenous Community.

FAQs

2008-02-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

*What is a top-level domain?

A top-level domain (TLD) is last part of any web address – www.registry.scot – and is a vital part of the domain name system. There are two different kinds of TLD – country-codes (ccTLD) and generic (gTLD). ccTLDs are always two letters long and are given to areas listed in the International Standardization Organisation’s list 3166-1 Alpha 2; e.g FR for France, IE for Ireland etc.

Generic TLDs are always at least 3 characters long and can be used to represent organisations, communities and concepts; e.g. CAT for the Catalan online community, COOP for co-operatives, ORG for organisations etc

*Is dotSCOT a ccTLD for Scotland?

No. dotSCOT is a community gTLD for the worldwide family of Scots.

*Who will be able to purchase a dotSCOT?

dotSCOT domains are for the use of the Scots community of interest online; wherever they are in the world.

The Scots community of interest is made up of all individuals and organisations whose online activities;

Contribute to Scottish social, cultural, business or academic life; or
Utilise the spoken and visual languages of Scotland; or
Explore Scottish heritage; or
Have made Scotland their home.

dotSCOT domains shall operate in a manner that is not inconsistent with both the principles and statutes of Scots law. Additionally, they must not provoke hatred or intolerance of any individual or group within or outwith Scotland.

*Why dotSCOT?

gTLD strings must be at least 3 characters long. The string ‘scot’ was decided on after research demonstrated a strong preference for it over other potential strings like ‘sco’.

*Do people want a dotSCOT?

Yes, research conducted among Scottish-based and international groups and organizations by the Scottish Government found strong demand for the concept of a gTLD as an online indication of Scottish affinity and identity.

*Why is dotSCOT not-for-profit?

We believe that the dotSCOT gTLD should operate for the benefit of the Scottish community of interest online and not for private profit for any individuals or businesses. Not-for-profit community orientated enterprises are a well established area of the domain industry.

*When can I get a dotSCOT domain?

Not Yet! dotSCOT domains will only be available after we have successfully applied to ICANN. ICANN have not yet begun the process that will allow us to make the application, although they are expected to do so this year. Currently we are provisionally estimating that dotSCOT domains will be available in early 2011. It is not possible to pre-order any dotSCOT domains. When they are available we will make a statement on this website.

*Where can I find out more about ICANN’s new gTLD programme?

More details on the ICANN process can be found here – ICANN’s new gTLD programme.

*I have more questions, who can I contact?

If you have any further questions you can contact us on info@dot-scot.org

Support the Campaign

2008-02-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

You can support the campaign a number of ways:

By emailing support@dot-scot.org

Joining our Facebook group here

Follow us on twitter @dot_SCOT

Why dotSCOT?

2008-02-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

“The time is ripe for the worldwide family of Scots to have their own domain, reflecting an online community defined by a shared commitment to Scottish identity, culture and economic promotion.”

First Minister Alex Salmond

dotSCOT will give people, organisations and businesses the opportunity to clearly identify themselves as Scottish. dotSCOT websites offering a unique branding tool for businesses and a clear cultural identifier for people in Scotland and in the wider Scots diaspora.

dotSCOTs would be for people and groups that;

Contribute to Scottish social, cultural, business or academic life; or
Utilise the spoken and visual languages of Scotland; or
Explore Scottish heritage; or
Have made Scotland their home.

There are in excess of 40 million Scots worldwide and dotSCOT will give them a tool for identification and promotion.

About dotSCOT

2008-02-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

dotSCOT (SC347721), i is a not-for-profit company that campaigns for the creation a new community generic top level internet domain of ‘.scot’ to represent an online identity for the worldwide family of Scots.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) proposes to expand the number of generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) and will invite applications once the consultation period is completed.

dotSCOT has been campaigning since 2005 to achieve its aim and has secured support for the bid from Scots around the world. dotSCOT has worked closely with the Scottish Government to develop the bid.