ICANN, the organization that will approve applications and allocate the new .city TLD to the winning applicant for domain registry operations, has published in the Draft Applicant Guidebook some rules that limit who may apply for geographical TLDs.
Applicants seeking a city TLD must have a letter of support or non-objection from the governing authority. This rule prevents anyone from applying for a .city name without that City’s knowledge and permission, thereby protecting “rights” to use of that name.
Following is the relevant language from the latest version of the Guidebook. The specifics are still open for modification. Numbering is from the Guidebook also.
2.1.1.4. Geographical Names
Applications for gTLD strings must ensure that appropriate consideration is given to the interests of governments or public authorities in country or territory names, as well as certain other types of place names. The requirements and procedures ICANN will follow are described in the following paragraphs.
2.1.1.4.1 Strings Considered Geographical Names
The following types of applications are considered geographical names and must be accompanied by documentation of support or non-objection relevant governments or public authorities:
- An application for any string that is a representation, in any language, of the capital city name of any country or territory listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard.
- An application for a city name, where the applicant declares that it intends to use the gTLD for purposes associated with the city name.
In the event of any doubt, it is in the applicant’s interest to consult with relevant governments and public authorities and enlist their support or non-objection prior to submission of the application, in order to preclude possible objections and pre-address any ambiguities concerning the string and applicable requirements.
In the event that there is more than one relevant government or public authority for the applied-for gTLD string, the applicant must provide documentation of support or non-objection from all the relevant governments or public authorities.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to:
- identify whether its applied-for gTLD string falls into any of the above categories; and
- determine the relevant governments or public authorities; and
- identify which level of government support is required.
2.1.1.4.2 Documentation Requirements
The documentation of support or non-objection should include a signed letter from the relevant government or public authority. Understanding that this will differ across the respective jurisdictions, the letter could be signed by the minister with the portfolio responsible for domain name administration, ICT, foreign affairs or the Office of the Prime Minister or President of the relevant jurisdiction; or a senior representative of the agency or department responsible for domain name administration, ICT, foreign affairs, or theOffice of the Prime Minister.
To assist the applicant in determining who the relevant government or public authority may be for a potential geographic name, the applicant may wish to consult with the relevant Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) representative.
The letter must clearly express the government’s or public authority’s support for or non-objection to the applicant’s application and demonstrate the government’s or public authority’s understanding of the string being requested and intended use.
The letter should also demonstrate the government’s or public authority’s understanding that the string is being sought through the gTLD application process and the applicant is willing to accept the conditions under which the string will be available, i.e., entry into a registry agreement with ICANN requiring compliance with consensus policies and payment of fees.
It is important to note that a government or public authority is under no obligation to provide documentation of support or non-objection in response to a request by an applicant.
Preview sample letters here.
