The Campaign for the .nyc Top Level Domain

The Campaign for the .nyc TLD

Creating an Internet Space for New York City

By Thomas Lowenhaupt

What’s a TLD?

Familiar Top Level DomainsFamiliar Top Level Domains

www.amazon.comwww.nyu.eduwww.nyc.gov.net, .biz, .us, .info

What’s a TLD?

Why Top Level?

What’s a TLD?

Why Top Level?

What’s a TLD?

Why Top Level?

What’s a TLD?

Why Top Level? Top =

Second =

Third=

How many TLDs are there?

• Generic ( .com, .org …) 17

• Country Codes (.us. .uk …) 243

What’s a TLD?

What’s a TLD?

Second Level Numbers

• .com - 72,000,000• .org – 6,000,000• .us – 1,000,000• .gov – 32,000• .edu – 2,500

What’s a TLD?

Every Country Has a TLD

.us

.uk

.fr

.tv

What’s a TLD?

Tuvalu via Google Earth

Tuvalu has a TLD.

New York City doesn’t!

What’s a TLD?

To the Internet, there is no New York City !

What’s a TLD?

Why .nyc?

Background

Background

…civic lesson…

Background

NYC is tiny

1/10th of 1% of the world’s population

****

400 square miles***

59 Community Boards democracy’s ladder

Background

Step 4 U.S. Congress

Step 3 N.Y.S. Legislature

Step 2 City Council

Step 1 Community Boards

democracy’s ladder

Background

Compare the Media of Two Communities

Terra Haute, Indiana Community District 3 (NYC)

Population 105,000 200,000

Television Stations 2 0

Daily Newspapers 1 0

Radio Stations 8 0

Background

Compare the Media of Two Communities

Conclusion:

Local communication is deficient, inadequate, ineffective, insufficient, lacking, laughable, scarce, too little, too late…

Background

…end civic lesson…

A solution…

Background

Internet Empowerment Resolution

• Passed by Queens Community Board 3

• April 19, 2001

• It said: Get the .nyc TLD

Good Domain Names

•Short

•Descriptive

•Memorable

Why .nyc?

Why .nyc?

• Improve Civic Communication

• Domain names for youth and immigrant population

.com - 72,000,000

No good names.

Why .nyc?

.com - 72,000,000

Why .nyc?

.com - 72,000,000

Ning !!!

Why .nyc?

Good Names for:• Small Businesses• Community Groups• Civic Affairs• Not for Profits • Individuals • Issues

Why .nyc?

Identity

•Made in New York

•From New York City

Why .nyc?

So things.

you find

can

you find

So things.

Why .nyc?

New York City 1800

Thinking ahead, city leaders established a Commission

to plan for the future.

They created:

New York City 1800

The Commissioners Plan of 1811

The Commissioners Plan of 1811

Why can you see the

sun?

Hint:

The Commissioners Plan of 1811

Created the Manhattan Street Grid

The Commissioners Plan of 1811

The grid organized

and made accessible

New York City’s

real estate resources to great civic and financial gain.

Why .nyc?

.nyc will organize

and make accessible

New York City’s

digital resources.

So things.

you find

can

you find

So things.

Why .nyc?

The city has 402 hotels

Google “NYC hotels”you get between

2,000,000 - 90,000,000 hits

Why .nyc?

The city has 2,400 schools

Google “NYC schools”you get between

2,000,000 - 174,000,000 hits

Why .nyc?

The city has 120 hospitalsGoogle “NYC hospitals”

- a vital resource - you get between

1,000,000 - 144,000,000 hits

Why .nyc?

So you can find things. Directories - www.hotels.nyc A More Intuitive Internet

IBM.com – yes RikeysCafe.nyc - YES

Why .nyc?

Why .nyc?

Proximity

Why .nyc?

Networking

Why .nyc?

Proximity ~ Networking

…the historic role of the city…

Why city-TLDs?

Proximity ~ Networking

Ideas

Opinions

Feelings

Passions

Products

Services

Proximity ~ Networking

…here’s my networking

map of New York City…

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

…people of all shades, shapes, and sizes interacting

in different ways...

( Note: The “map” is actually artist Jackson Pollack’s Image #7 )

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

This is the way we organized ourselves for about 400 years

…then about 1995…

Proximity ~ Networking

…we were globalized…

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

The fabric of

traditional civic

communication

was torn.

Proximity ~ Networking

• Monetized junk ~ ebay.com

• His Holiness ~ pope.va

Proximity ~ Networking

…long term impact…

Proximity ~ Networking

Model A to Moses

Model A to Moses

…the role of the .nyc TLD…

to re-connect the city

Proximity ~ Networking

…the role of the .nyc TLD…

to re-establish its historic role

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

Proximity ~ Networking

Traditional TLDs

All TLD provide

• Good Domain Names

• Directory of Resources

• Identity

• More Intuitive Internet ~ City

…not just a Traditional TLD…

Focus on connecting the 1/10 of 1% of the world’s population that is New York City.

Public Interest TLD

Public Interest TLD

• Equitable Distribution of Domain Names

• Reasonable Price for Domain Names

• Name Set-Asides for Civic, Community, and Issue Usage

• City Nexus for a More Secure Experience

• Local Control

• Open & Transparent Governance

• Shrink Digital Divide ~ Education-Training

…a status report…

Who & How

Who & How

• April 19, 2001 CB 3 passed

• Internet Empowerment Resolution

• Get .nyc

Who & How

until

9/11

Who & How

• 2001 - honky dory

• 2002 - 9/11

• 2003 - 2012 Olympic Focus

• 2004 - TLD window closed

• 2005 - .berlin asks “You in .nyc?”

• 2006 - knock, knock, no one’s home

The Path Ahead

April 2007 we created

Connecting.nyc Inc. not-for-profit

acquire & develop the .nyc TLD

How Do You Get a TLD?

…it’s complex…

How Do You Get a TLD?

…it’s complex…

The Formal Approval Process

…on paper…

The Formal Approval Process

• U.S. Department of Commerce

• National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA)

• Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The Formal Approval Process

ICANN

• California not-for profit

• 15 Board Members

• From around the world

Timetable

• Connecting.nyc Inc. – April 2007

• ICANN Draft RFP – Feb. 2008

• Respond to RFP – December 2008

• ICANN OK – March 2009

• Sunrise Period – May 2009• Open to Public – July 2009

Steps to Success

• Good Plan

• Local Support

• Responsive Application to ICANN RFP

Governance• ICANN lessons - 10 years

• Local history – 400 years

• Local needs – 8,000,000

What We Need

Steps to Success

• Good plan/governance

Old three step plan

Steps to Success

• Good plan/governance

Value proposition:

nexus, 1/10 1%, trust, integrity, community…

Platform and Path

Civic Applications

• Location Based Services

• GIS / Virtual City

• Issue Discovery

• Decision Making

• Collaborative Projects

Civic Applications

The Civics Project

Civic Applications

Civic Applications

The Civics Project

•Civic Spaces (names)

•Civic Tools

•Civic Education

A place on the Internet where the world can find

our resources.

Civic Applications

A place on the Internet for the city’s residents

and organizations tofind one another.

Civic Applications

Easy things -

names…directory…identity

Hard things -

trust…security…community

Summing up

>>>> .nyc is coming <<<<

Either we run it orwe live with the consequence

of the Zuckerbergs and Murdocks monetizing our

every keystroke.

Summing up

Presents our role: combining the traditional grid and the web.

Our Logo

Networking & Privacy• As we perfect one

• We loose the other

Summing up

Networking & Privacy

e.g. See http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=40.732665&lon=-73.997684&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2&show=/6073978/

Summing up

Our Wiki’s Front Pagewww.connectingnyc.org

Continued at…