Dot-London squeaks under ICANN deadline

London's official PR agency has filed its application with ICANN to get its hands on a new .london top-level internet domain, just before the deadline closes. London & Partners today revealed that it has contracted Minds + Machines Ltd, a local subsidiary of British Virgin Islands-based Top Level Domain Holdings, to help apply …

[Trevor_Pott]

I wonder what the city of London, Ontario, Canada thinks of all of this. At 300,000+ people, it isn't exactly "irrelevant," and is in fact a major part of Canada's economy.

I can't speak for "people," but I sure as fnord oppose these GTLDs. Becuase of places like London.

Who gets .salem? .springfield? Does my hometown lose out on .Edmonton because it is a burough of London, England?

Messy.

[Chris 3]

So who gets Boston?

The Lincolnshire town, presumably?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So who gets Boston?

Perhaps they'll have a tea party to celebrate.

[Anonymous Coward]

Did your city council (or equivalent) voice any complaints?

[Cliff]

At 300,000+ people, it isn't exactly "irrelevant,"

It kinda is, really.

Sorry

[John Robson]

Daft...

The concept of opening up TLDs is a bit odd - maybe we should be tightening them up so that people don't feel that they have to own them all.

Given that most people I know don't use URLs anyway (google does it for them, then click on a mail link or use your address book) I can't see the benefit.

Those 2D Bar codes are also becoming somewhat more common - and make (in the world of smart phones at any rate) a good alternative to a conventional URL. Mind you various TV adverts seem to come with a FB URL rather than a company URL anyway!

[Thomas 18]

Proceeds from the sale of .london domain ... fund the international promotion of the capital.

What does this even mean? That they are going to spend the money on PR for London? that seems unlikely.

[Adrian Challinor]

Re: Proceeds from the sale of .london domain ... fund the international promotion of the capital.

Highly unlikely - Proceeds of the sale of .london domain names will fund the tax free company set up in the British Virgin Isles.

FTW???? London does not even OWN the domain name?

[Ru]

""In years, people will look back and say:"

"Someone actually stumped up a quarter of a million dollars for this?"

Seriously. That's a excessive amount to blow on a vanity domain that not many people are really interested in, when they've got perfectly good .co.uk, .com and .org domains that are nice and short, cheap and actually associated with websites.

[M7S]

I thought we already effectively had a .london domain

given that it's the only place BT (remember the larger region mentioned in your company name chaps?) will supply even half decent broadband.

Well there and a couple of other urban centres.

[MH Media]

London is not the only fruit

Why should London get all the perks? I'm looking forward to seeing .scunthorpe, .penistone and especially .llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf TLDs.

[Graham Bartlett]

Why does London need a TLD?

London isn't even in the top 20 of world's largest cities (according to Wikipedia) - it's around the same size as Tehran, Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Lagos, and it's well behind Beijing at number 20. What makes London more deserving than Tokyo, Shanghai or New York?

I'm glad the government isn't directly pissing money away on this. I'm less happy that this is coming from a not-for-profit which doesn't mention where their funding comes from (making me suspicious that it's government-funded) and which cost taxpayers £6m last year in a reneging-on-pensions scandal.

[Graham Bartlett]

Re: Why does London need a TLD?

But if we're not looking at TLDs for Tokyo, New York, the SF/LA Bay area, etc., then why a moderately large mostly-suburban city in a fairly small not-particularly-important country?

[Anonymous Coward]

Save TLDs for something important

Thinking beyond petty parochialism and self-publicization.

What about .new_atlantis .luna, .L5 .mars, .alphacenturi,

[Anonymous Coward]

.Saaaf Lunnen not needed

'cos no one in their right minds goes there.

[PeterM42]

What about ENGLAND....

...Wales and Scotland. I was always under the impression these were COUNTRIES which should have their own TLDs. Especially important if fishy Salmond has his way and Scotland is devolved from the UK.