The better the network the greater the city.
The mid-1990′s saw an uninvited Internet change New York’s business, civic, family, government, and neighborhood communication networks. It changed life in the city in a multitude of ways – sometimes for the better, other times for the worse.
In 2014 a new Internet design tool will arrive in our city, the .nyc Top Level Domain or TLD. Its like .com and .org, but just for New Yorkers. Its arrival provides us with the opportunity to create a more organized and connected city. With our own TLD we can do things such as:
- organize our online resources like our ancestors did 200 years ago when they created Manhattan’s street grid – pizza.nyc, hotels.nyc, autorentals.nyc, soho.bars.nyc… Domain names that reflect the city we know.
- give the businesses and organizations we know the names they already use – Mayor.nyc, GreenwichVillageAssociation.nyc, JoesBarberShop.nyc…
- create good neighborhood communications networks for the first time ever – Astoria.nyc, Bensonhurst.nyc, ConeyIsland.nyc, GreenwichVillage.nyc, Harlem.nyc…
- keep Internet revenue in the city by growing local Internet service businesses,
- and establish a trusted TLD (and city), that provides global access to our ideas, services, and products.
About Us
We trace our origin to a 2001 Internet Empowerment Resolution that called on city hall to get the .nyc TLD. When the administration said it wasn’t interested in 2005, we organized Connecting.nyc Inc. as a NYS not-for-profit to undertake the task. And 2009, when the city changed its mind about acquiring .nyc, we turned to advocacy, to assure that the TLD was fruitfully developed in the public interest.
In 2012 we opened a new avenue for public participation in .nyc and the global Internet governance process by joining the ICANN process as an At-Large Structure. (There’s more on our history, vision, and mission here.)
Our Passion
There are two models to choose from when developing the .nyc TLD:
- The Standard Model as epitomized by the .com TLD, with name sale volume the indicator of success, i.e., if you sell a lot of names you’re successful.
- The Community Model is a new idea. It has the public guiding development, with success measured by quality of life improvements.
We explore, record, test, and develop new uses for city-TLDs. We ask how can a TLD be used to help residents, businesses, and institutions. We advocate for a “trusted TLD” that will draw the world to our city’s resources. We ask what it will take to assure that New Yorkers have long term access to good .nyc domain names that enable them to set up a business, civic, or personal website. And perhaps most important, we look for ways residents can find and collaborate with one another in this increasingly digital era.
Our wiki and blog are filled with these ideas.
City Hall has not yet fully engaged the public’s imagination about .nyc and is missing the advantages that transparency and public engagement provide. A .NYC Advisory Board was formed in May 2013 with the promise of public engagement ahead.
Next Steps
The .nyc TLD’s introduction will be a massive change that will take years and touch everyone. Click around our blog and our wiki pages to learn about governance models, domain name allocation plans, and a lot more. There are hundreds of posts and wiki pages to peruse and the opportunity to comment. Be part of the transformation. Email us if you have questions.
Who would you like to connect with?
