YOUR AMAZING .CITY
.toronto
.stjohns
ON THE INTERNET’S MAP
.laval
.fredericton
.montreal
.ottawa
.brampton
.vancouver
REGISTRY SERVICES FOR CANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES
Until now the Internet as we know it ran off traditional top level domains (TLD) like .CA, .uk, .com and .org.
In 2012 the domain name industry underwent a significant deregulation. Now thousands of new TLDs like
.hotel and .club are available.
Municipalities and other geo-focused regions (e.g. provinces) around the world have been part of this new
wave of generic top level domains (gTLDs) represented by more than 60 applications. Canadian cities
were absent from the first round.
CIRA’s Registry Services is here to help Canadian municipalities imagine the possibilities for their
own .CITY, acquire their gTLD, and operate their registry infrastructure.
MUNICIPALITIES LEAD
COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
“London’s new domain name
provides a phenomenal
opportunity to link businesses
all over the world with our city’s
powerful brand.”
Among the nearly 1,400 new gTLD applications
municipalities have been a beacon. Despite
underperformance for many of the new, “right-of-the-dot”
extensions, municipalities have experienced remarkable
success precisely because the website address relates to
a physical address and helps put local businesses on the
Internet’s map.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson
.CITYs like, .berlin, .nyc, and .london are among the top new
gTLDs, and had more than 250,000 names registered in
the first two months of release.
WHY GET YOUR .CITY?
1. Brand
Your gTLD is your city’s brand, image and identity
online – and it gets amplified by every single
individual and business that has a second
level domain.
2. Control
You establish rules on who can register a second
level domain with your brand; you can secure
communications with your citizens; and you reserve
critical domain names for municipal use (eg. police.
edmonton, taxes.ottawa).
2
31
5
Russia
Europe
14
Asia
4
North America
1
Saudi Arabia
Mexico
6
1
South America
Africa
2
Australia
During the most recent round, there were 66
applications globally for a geo-focused gTLD.
3. Revenue
Unless you choose to give them away, municipal domains generate revenue for the city directly, or
through a public-private partnership. If you structure the business model for profit this reduces the risk to
the taxpayer while engaging in and promoting city-building activities on the web.
REGISTRY SERVICES
CIRA CAN HELP – IT’S WHAT WE DO
Imagine
Acquire
NYC planned its entry into the
municipal domain market more
than a decade ago and spent
time garnering broad support
among stakeholders. You can do
it faster.
You need a plan and funding
in an uncertain environment,
in addition to support with an
application guidebook that has
over 300 pages and 53 pages of
evaluation. We can help.
Operate
Once you have your .CITY, you
need servers, infrastructure, and
customer support. It’s what
we do.
Imagine
With success comes opportunity and competition. Because of the success of municipal gTLDs we expect the
next round to have many new applications from local governments around the world. It’s too late for .london
and .quebec (they’re taken), so don’t miss out on the next round. CIRA helps with:
üü Imagining the opportunity by benchmarking others in the industry against your plans
üü Monitoring the application process and representing Canadian interests at ICANN and other Internet
governance bodies
üü Advice and documentation on options for policy, technology, marketing, and operations
Acquire
Completing the application requires a sound business plan, proof that you have the necessary technical
infrastructure and the necessary funding. CIRA helps with:
üü Critical policy documentation and expertise in both official languages
üü Systems and processes to support local presence requirements (i.e. if you choose that only people and
organizations connected to your city will qualify for a domain name)
üü Contacts and expertise with Canadian domain name Registrars to help you distribute new domain names
through established and registered third parties.
Operate
CIRA has the Canadian infrastructure and service structure in place to help operate your registry, including:
üü Servers and DNS infrastructure across Canada and close to population centers to deliver high performance
üü Advanced reporting so you can understand how your .CITY TLD is performing
üü Systems to audit & manage requirements for registrants to have a local address or business tie to
your .CITY
üü Knowledgeable, bilingual staff and legal policies to help manage your policy documentation
To learn more about getting your own .CITY visit: cira.ca/city or contact us today at [email protected].
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the not-for-profit organization responsible for the
infrastructure and management of the .CA domain as a resource for all Canadians. Part of this mandate is to foster
a safe, stable and secure Internet in Canada. Fury Registry Services combines these two core-competencies to
deliver a registry service for Canadian municipalities and other organizations looking to get their own gTLDs.