Top Level Domain is an issue, that is of the most highest importance to the internet-based state. It represents one of the cornerstones of statehood for an internet state. Currently, the organisation, that manages the so-called “root zone” is ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICANN has received this position through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is part of an United States dept. of Commerce, which actually has the ultimate control over “root zone”. However around 6 months ago it has been announced, that NTIA plans to hand over the control to, as of today, not yet specified organisation. There is also company Verisign involved – as a private company it is hired to maintain root zone, which is now put under the question, whther or not they will continue to work under the new management, provided by new organization. Supposedly, ICANN’s position remains unchanged and will continue to handle TLD’s in any case.
So what is a TLD anyway?
TLD represents the domains at the highest level in the hierarchy of the Domain Name System of the Internet. You can find TLDs in the root zone of the namespace. It is the last part of the domain name, if we take www.futuria.org as an example, TLD would be the “org” part. So far, it has been mostly used for national domain names, such as .ca for Canada, .de for Germany (Deutschland), and so on. Of course, there are also well-known “.com” (Commerce), “.org” (NGO, organizations), “.net” (Network, internet services) “.biz” (business-related), “.info” (mostly informational uses), and some other. Namely, it is demanded that the registrar is fully able to technically handle the new .tld registration, a demand that might cause a considerable amount of pressure on internet-based states.
How does one obtain it?
Considering that ICANN allows the registration of new TLDs since last year, it is now possible to buy one. And you don’t necessarily have to be a country as well. If someone wants to buy a new TLD, he has to apply to ICANN, and then he enters into a rather lengthy process of evaluation. ICANN also checks your application for any conflicts that new TLD might have. There was a case of the so-called “digital ummah” project, where a London based company tried to obtain a TLD named “ummah”. It would serve as a place where Muslim people from all over the world could meet, without needing to cross any national borders. It was noticed by authorities in Saudi Arabia so they sent a notice to ICANN, that the object. So without proper clarification, the request from “ummah” was marked as Denied, and the process was stopped.
What are the costs?
There are initial costs of 185.000$ for evaluation + 25.000$/year for upkeep as well. Evaluation does NOT mean that your application will get automatically approved as well. In that way, you might lose whole or just a part of 185.000$ initial investment. There are other benefits and risks as well. For an internet state, this would be a rather large investment, to begin with. On other hand, micronationalism is a trendy phenomenon – if the people behind a certain project feel that they can earn back the investment, then they should definitely go for it. One of the better possibilities is to sell domain names as an official registrar under the said TLD.
And how about Futuria?
In Futuria, we have had a clever plan years ago to do just that. But during the early 2000s when the plan was most heatedly debated between members, there was no sign of ICANN allowing new TLDs. Instead, we thought of making an app, or better to say a plugin (or add-on) for browsers, which would enable users to reach websites, that would be registered under “.ft” (Futuria) TLD. That plan sadly never materialized, so we went on other things. Now, with this option, we could re-visit the old business idea. With the advent of the Internet of Things, it is the ultimate need to increase web presence and then work on strengthening the influence outward.