[At-Large] BBC News: .wales and .cymru internet domain names find support

[Evan Leibovitch]

On 10 November 2011 15:42, Karl Auerbach <karl at cavebear.com> wrote:


The argument that supports a TLD for Wales would also argue for a TLD for
> California.
>


Sorry, but that comparison is almost absurd.


   - California doesn't have its own distinct language, unique to it and
   shared by no other jurisdiction, such that proponents fear it's being
   driven to extinction (there's more justification for .cymru than .wales)

   - California doesn't have a vibrant political party, with members
   elected to Congress as well as local legislature, openly and aggressively
   advocating for its secession from the Union

   - California has a legislature with the authority to levy taxes.



> And the same would hold for any division of any federalized
> national structure with a two-tier division of sovereignty.
>

Well, at least any national structure considered independent enough to have
its own entries in international events such as the Commonwealth
Games<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_at_the_Commonwealth_Games>or
the FIFA
World Cup <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales_national_football_team>.

In any case, as I said before....  in its current state, ".wales" is Just
Another GeoTLD.
If the Welsh Nationalists have their way, it would qualify for a ccTLD.

And while comparisons with California might be ludicrous. I might be more
inclined to consider other US states <http://texasnationalist.com/> for
contrast



> For instance, should there be a TLD for Aquitaine?  (Probably not, but we
> do already have one for Catalonia.)
>


By ICANN's metric, anyone with the cash and the credibility can pony up the
cash and ask for .aquetaine ... or .quebec ... or .kashmir ... or any other
string. There's a policy in place about getting TLD names based on
geographic locations. And, of course, the objection process.


Without an articulation of broadly accepted principles to guide the choices
> this process will end up in chaos.
>


What you have ... all that you have ... is in the applicant guidebook. If
that's not enough....

Until now ICANN has been obsessed with creating the gTLD program. Soon
enough on we can probably expect to see it obsess with cleaning up all the
unintended consequences of that program (and maybe even some of the
intended ones!)

- Evan