gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | .eus | Puntueus Fundazioa | puntueus.org | View |
The Basque linguistic and cultural community owns an strong identity based on a very wide historical, linguistic, cultural, social and political background. Euskara is the language of the Basque linguistic and cultural community, the base of its community, and Basque culture, its social expression.
Further, Euskara is the only pre-Roman language still alive in the Iberian Peninsula. Many linguists all over the world have struggled to track its real origin but no conclusion has gained a broad consensus so far, and, nowadays, Euskara is still considered an isolated language. Nevertheless, in spite of being a minority language with very specific characteristics, Euskara and its speakers have historically shown an strong commitment to adapt to the times and new challenges. In this sense, in contrast to its status as a minority language, the presence of Euskara obtained a very remarkable position number 38 in the ranking of languages on the Internet in 2003, according to studies carried out by Peter Gerrand. Vid. Gerrand, P. (2007). Estimating linguistic diversity on the Internet: A taxonomy to avoid pitfalls and paradoxes. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 8.
The social expression of Euskara, through the Basque culture, has shown traditionally many forms. From the first book in Euskara published in 1545 ( ʹLinguae Vasconum Primitiaeʹ of Bernart Etxepare) to the literature in Euskara, the ʹbertsolaritzaʹ, Basque dances, Basque music or many other social expressions, Euskara has had an extensive way throughout history, so significant as innovative.
The Internet allows to create communities with different purposes. Thus, this fact opens the door to that social expression, in our case the Basque culture. However, although the contents on the Internet are becoming increasingly diverse, no doubt, language remains the main tool of communication on the Internet.
In this sense, on the Internet, multiculturalism lies at the highest possible level and, in such multicultural melting pot, the Basque linguistic and cultural community should have its own technological shelter. Therefore, .eus is the name that will represent the Basque linguistic and cultural community on the Internet.
This symbol will become a tool for the promotion of Basque culture and Euskara, and, in this sense, the .eus TLD will be an effective mechanism for linguistic standardization of Euskara worldwide. The .eus TLD, through the virtual space of the Internet, will assure an efficient promotion of Euskara, guaranteeing simultaneously its international recognition.
Similarly, the .eus TLD will reinforce and extend the multicultural nature of the Internet, since allowing linguistic and cultural communities to have their own doTLDmain, puts multiculturalism on the very heart of the Internet. TLD related to language and cultures strengthen and benefit not only those linguistic and cultural communities but also the Internet itself.
So that, in a few words: the objective of the .eus TLD is to assign a name, a symbol, to the presence of the Basque Language and Culture on the Internet, creating such a name for the Basque Culture Community on the Internet, in a feedback process that reinforces the Basque linguistic and cultural community.
c) i. Intended registrants in the TLD.
The intended registrants of the TLD could be differentiated in three main different groups: Individuals and entities with online activity living in those areas where Basque is an autoctonous language; the communities of the diaspora and the societies where they have been formed; and those willing to address and engage in online communications with the Basque linguistic and cultural community.
c) ii. Intended end-users of the TLD.
The intended end-users are as varied as the people with a certain interest in the Basque linguistic and cultural community. But for taxonomy purposes, four main targets could be identified: The general public living in those areas where Basque originated; the communities of the diaspora and the societies where they have been formed; the academic interest in the Basque language and culture; and those willing to be informed about the different aspects related to the Basque language and culture
c) iii. Related activities the applicant has carried out or intends to carry out in service of this purpose.
All the activities developed so far by the Puntueus Elkartea have been focused on raising awareness in regard to the development of the .eus TLD space, and in gathering the support of representative Institutions from any sector of the Basque linguistic and cultural community. The explicit and decided support from a very significant part of the representative entities of the community is proof enough of how these two objectives have been met, as well as of the overwhelming endorsement from the Basque community.
The activities of the Puntueus Fundazioa from the delegation of the TLD onwards will be twofold: To foster the development of the .eus TLD space for the benefit of the Basque linguistic and cultural community, and to promote the development of the Basque linguistic and cultural information society, being both objectives clearly hand in hand with each other.
c) iv. Explanation of how the purpose is of a lasting nature.
The purpose of the .eus TLD is indeed of a lasting nature. The name, as referred in 18 and in 20 b) and d), is a long established and widely used contraction of the name of the Basque language and of its linguistic and cultural community, that has had a centuries’ longstanding existence and continued presence, and a firm and vibrant community.
gTLD | Full Legal Name | E-mail suffix | Detail | .islam | Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. | nsline.com | View |
• Intended registrants in the TLD.
The .Islam gTLD is intended for Muslim faithful who wish to promote, participate or learn about Islam and its various facets, its affect on the daily life of the people around the word, its history, its law and jurisprudence and the rich and diverse culture that surrounds it. Thus, any well-intentioned Muslim who wants to supply such content, or do business based around it, will be able to operate a domain under the .ISLAM gTLD.
• Intended end-users of the TLD.
For a fifth of the worldʹs population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness - and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events which have come to be associated with their faith. Every Muslim, and indeed a great many non-Muslims, in the world can benefit from .ISLAM websites and the wealth of information and services that it is anticipated will offered by them. The diversity of the .ISLAM gTLD’s offering would be wide enough to cover almost all audiences and their Islam-related needs, considering that all .ISLAM websites will be promoting Islam in some form.
Within all of these populations, the specific intended end users of the .ISLAM gTLD are manifold, and include:
People with ties to Islamic heritage: This includes a significant percentage of both the population of Muslim countries and also with other nations.
Individual Muslims: As demonstrated above, this includes hundreds of millions of individuals around the world.
Students: Those learning about different aspects of Islam, its concepts, its laws, its culture and heritage and its many other facets would benefit from increased resources online that would help them to learn and develop.
Islamic businesses: as in every community, Muslims undertake a great deal of business both within their community and also with external groups. The ability to link their business to the word Islam will therefore be of significant importance to Muslim businesses, both to denote a Muslim-based business and also as a source of pride in being known as such. Indeed, the word Islam is already exceptionally popular within online business – and the word alone yields more than 500 million hits when searched.
All sects: As described above, the main two sects of the Muslim community are Sunnis and Shias – both of whom will be welcome to operate under the .ISLAM gTLD, alongside all other Muslim sects.
It is hoped that not only will these intended users derive individual benefit from the existence of a .ISLAM community, but that they will also contribute in turn. This should create a group benefit, which will in turn feed back in to individual benefits – establishing a beneficial cycle.
• Related activities the applicant has carried out or intends to carry out in service of this purpose.
Anticipating the diversification of TLDs now being realized, and the consequent introduction of an Islamic-specific online space, AGITSys has been working with a wide variety of related parties for several years in preparation, and will continue to do so going forward. A key element for the success of the .ISLAM gTLD is a strong and interactive community, which Muslims around the world are proud to associate with and keen to contribute to. To ensure this, AGITSys will sponsor community outreach and marketing, in order to raise awareness of the forthcoming possibilities. These possibilities are also highly appealing for Islamic businesses, and as such AGITSys will engage in dialogue with those businesses, and industry chiefs, regarding their ideas for how the .ISLAM gTLD will take shape, and what they intend to subsequently give back to it.
Quality content will also be fundamental to a thriving .ISLAM community, especially because AGITSys is committed to ensuring that .ISLAM is populated by quality second-level domain offerings. With this in mind, AGITSys will be talking with those most likely to contribute quality content, from news and media agencies to academics and libraries (who will be able to digitize Islamic materials and then distribute them online comprehensively for the first time) about how they can and will contribute, and what AGITSys can do to facilitate this process.
Ultimately, however, religion will always be the most important element for a successful .ISLAM community online. The entire gTLD concept is designed as a place of online respect; almost worship, for those of Islamic faith. As such, the involvement, blessing and feedback of the Islamic religious community is fundamentally important. Aware of this, AGITSys has been in prolonged and continued contact with important religious figures – asking them what they want to see and how they would like to see it done, whilst also encouraging them to spread the word and prepare themselves. This should mean that when the .ISLAM gTLD comes online, there will be a large swathe of information posted almost immediately – therefore instantly creating a rewarding user experience.
• Explanation of how the purpose is of a lasting nature.
The community that will be served by .ISLAM--growing as it has out of the Muslims community--has thrived and grown for more than a millennium. Remarkably, it has done so largely without the level of connection online found within Western cultures. This existing community interconnection speaks to the cultural staying power of the Islamic community and the many ways it enriches world culture.
With the adoption of a .ISLAM community, this robust group will be further empowered to interconnect and grow, allowing it to take its equal place on the Internet stage. The community thrives now, but will reach new heights through the .ISLAM gTLD.
The growth of the .ISLAM gTLD will be driven by what economists refer to as the network effect. A network effect occurs when a service becomes more popular as more individuals adopt it. A significant portion of the serviceʹs value stems directly from the increased adoption and usage of the service. Historically the network effect is most powerful in tools of interconnection. The telegraph and telephone were technologies that grew exponentially due to the network effect. The Internet itself is an example of that phenomenon, as seen by the rapid upward growth curve of Internet penetration, broadband speeds, and web site creation. ICANNʹs data on the growth of .COM is an example of the network effect, and now it is seen in social-media platforms atop the Internet, such as Facebook and Twitter.
As more sites offer information, services, and opportunities for interconnection to the .ISLAM community as a whole, more members of the community will navigate to those sites. Many of those will provide their own content, and their activity there will spark further growth of second-level .ISLAM domains. At some point, information and service providers currently not offering sites will see the demand for .ISLAM-related content and will migrate their offerings to .ISLAM sites as well, furthering the offerings to the community and further driving community members to .ISLAM sites. The future benefits of interlinking this diverse and global community are incalculable but immense.