.pune Very Soon

Very soon, you will be able to log in a site which won’t have a domain name like .com or .in. Instead, the domain name of the site, which is the electronic address of the site, will be ‘.pune’. The international body which controls internet domain names has issued new guidelines which allow locality specific domain names. Though the move has created new questions, it has also some good news for industry and businesses.

The board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted on June 26 to allow more generic top-level domain names beyond the 21 currently approved names such as .com and .biz and the country domain names such as .in and .uk. A final version of the implementation plan must be approved by the ICANN Board before the new process is launched. It is intended that the final version will be published in early 2009.

This has opened doors also for the .pune domain name. When contacted, Jason Keenan, Media Adviser, ICANN told Pune Mirror, “The new top level domains could include .pune. It's important to understand that the new TLDs will be ideas that come forward to ICANN. We are not suggesting what should be applied for. What has to happen is someone needs to put together an application that meets the conditions of the yet-to-be-finalised application process. The application period is expected to open in the second quarter of 2009.”

This will be a boom for the businesses in Pune as a top level domain name will give the city specific identity to the businesses and sites. According to Deepak Shikarpur, Chairman, IT committee, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture, “With the growth of internet and eCommerce existing domain names are in short supply and hence .com alone was not sufficient. We started with .biz. Some countries like Singapore insist on .com.sg extension. In the same spirit we have an option of .in (India specific). Now a welcome step for Pune specific businesses is to get .pune domain name. This will boost ePresnece of Pune specific businesses. However, if one wants a national or global image then such businesses won’t gain by .pune domain name change and hence these businesses wont bother to change.”

The Double Boananza

The city specific top level domain name is not the only boon given by ICANN. It has also decided to allow these domain names in local languages. Termed Internationalised Domain Names in the cyber parlance, these will allow people to access websites and emails in their local languages. Indian languages were considered for IDNs in the conference held in January these year in New Delhi. ICANN has finally decided to give go ahead for the same.

According to Keenan, “As for Internationalized Domain Names, ICANN's goal is to have them available at the same time as the application for new top-level domains, so people will be able to apply for TLDs in characters from the language of the world.” Dengate Thrush, ICANN's Board Chairman, was reported as saying, "New generic Top Level Domains and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) will open up the Internet and make it look as diverse as the people who use it," added.

------------

What is ICANN

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world.

It was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interpretable.
ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every address is unique and that all users of the Internet can find all valid addresses. It does this by overseeing the distribution of unique IP addresses and domain names. It also ensures that each domain name maps to the correct IP address.

---------------

Sanjay Satolekar, chairman, Regional Advertising and Marketing Association

The new .pune domain name will definitely help the city business as they will get new identity. We had earlier the attraction for .com but later .in was accepted vehemently. As the businesses are getting more localised, the new top level domain name will create affinity between the businesses and customers. As an advertising professional, it is also a welcome move as the advertisers tend to go for the more localised content and new local domain name will help them in maximizing their returns.

Deepak Shikarpur, Chairman, IT committee, MCCIA

“With the growth of internet and eCommerce existing domain names are in short supply and hence .com alone was not sufficient. Now a welcome step for Pune specific businesses is to get .pune domain name. This will boost ePresnece of Pune specific businesses. However, if one wants a national or global image then such businesses won’t gain by .pune domain
name change and hence these businesses wont bother to change.”

Amit Tripathi, MD, ID8Labs

All the domain names, whether they are top level or not, cater to particular geography. Their role is to create an identity for the company. With internet services penetrating to city and zonal level, these is a great opportunity. The new domain names will create a great revenue platform for the most of the companies as there are loads of services which are necessarily city specific. Also, it will also facilitate the easy names for companies in particular sector like calendar.pune will refer all the events taking place in city. However, the new domain name should be first promoted in the city first. After the model becomes successful, outside businesses should acquire it and thereafter only, big business should spread this domain name to outside world.

------------