Column in this week's Scotsman. The .scot domain name could be with us by 2013 now that regulators are reforming internet names. But the country needs to get behind the not-for-profit bid, which will put any surplus from sales of the domain towards improving access and getting communities online.
Column begins as follows:
THE growth of broadband leads many of us to expect to access the internet anywhere, any time and quickly. We take instant information for granted. And as more of us live online, the pace of life accelerates.
But not everything connected to the internet is pursued at the speed of light. The organisations charged with developing and regulating the web seem to move very slowly indeed - an inevitable result, presumably, of trying to secure agreement on a global scale - after all there are now 1.6 billion internet users around the world.
It is now six years since the launch of DOTSCOT, the campaign for a distinctive Scottish "Top Level Domain", or TLD. Scotland is one of a number of countries and interest groups who want the number of TLDs expanded from the current 22. Others include .gay, .eco and .sport covering interest groups and .basque, .London and .welsh for national and city bids.
DOTSCOT has made considerable progress since its launch in 2005, in attracting support across the political spectrum - initially through Holyrood's cross-party petitions committee. The Scottish Government came on board in 2009 and research shows a majority of organisations, both commercial, cultural and public, believe .scot would help reinforce brand Scotland around the world.
read the rest in The Scotsman
But not everything connected to the internet is pursued at the speed of light. The organisations charged with developing and regulating the web seem to move very slowly indeed - an inevitable result, presumably, of trying to secure agreement on a global scale - after all there are now 1.6 billion internet users around the world.
It is now six years since the launch of DOTSCOT, the campaign for a distinctive Scottish "Top Level Domain", or TLD. Scotland is one of a number of countries and interest groups who want the number of TLDs expanded from the current 22. Others include .gay, .eco and .sport covering interest groups and .basque, .London and .welsh for national and city bids.
DOTSCOT has made considerable progress since its launch in 2005, in attracting support across the political spectrum - initially through Holyrood's cross-party petitions committee. The Scottish Government came on board in 2009 and research shows a majority of organisations, both commercial, cultural and public, believe .scot would help reinforce brand Scotland around the world.
read the rest in The Scotsman
While I agree with the principle of a Scottish domain name, my own view is that .sco would be better. I don't think there are many, if any, primary domains with more than 3 characters although I could be wrong on that.
SCO is the lettering on the sticker I put on my car for driving in mainland Europe. It seems a better choice to me than .scot.
Posted by: Alibi | June 29, 2011 at 01:05 PM
Good luck with the bid. dotSCOT will be a great benefit and brad for Scottish people and services onlin.
The Welsh bid is dotCYMRU - you can follow us on www.twitter.com/dotcymru
Siôn
Posted by: Sion | June 29, 2011 at 07:41 AM