DOT-CITY DOMAINS AS REVENUE SOURCE FOR CITIES

The Southlander read a recent blog on New York City Council Action: Resolution 1495 regarding the NYC Council's desire to acquire DOT-NYC domain for the residents/businesses of the City of New York. One of the interesting points raised in that blog was the use of DOT-NYC as a revenue source for the city. Hmmmm. There's a novel idea. Acquire a DOT-CITY domain and receive revenue from the sale of DOT-CITY domains, websites, webhosting services, e-mail accounts, etc. Interesting! A critical distinction between a city-operated DOT-CITY domain and a domain operated by an independent registry is that the very survival of the independent registry and its domain are dependent on the volume of domains sold. However, Cities have pre-existing revenues through the power of taxation that they can tap to finance/subsidize their DOT-CITY initiative. This point is critical since it significantly increases the likelihood of sustainability for the DOT-CITY domains when operated by a City (a point that is not likely to be overlooked by ICANN). And, the Cities have an existing infrastructure to promote their DOT-CITY domain which, for an independent registrar, doesn't exist and will need to be ramped up and financed at a tremendous price. Another interesting point to raise is how the entire network of DOT-CITY domains could be networked together and promoted by the Cities.

No doubt this concept hasn't been overlooked by the various mega cities throughout the world. We mention mega cities because they are the likely candidates to win their DOT-CITY domain should the same city name exist in smaller cities throughout the world. Probably one of the main criteria that ICANN will use in deciding who gets the DOT-CITY domain will be the city's AGE and POPULATION. Another point raised in the blog was a desire to be recognized in the world for having a DOT-CITY domain. Certainly, there's city pride to consider as well.

We believe there will be a tremendous landrush from cities all over the world to acquire their DOT-CITY domain and effectively drive their stake into the cyberspace landscape and add a few more line items to their P&L Statement. The next several months should prove to be very interesting indeed!