Every once in a while it is interesting to take a closer look at how top-level domains are used to differentiate things from one another. A new ad campaign by TIAA-CREF, a large non-profit US financial services organization, is playing off its status as a “.org”. The August 15, 2007 edition of the New York Times has an article on the $50 million ad campaign. The article did not mention Public Interest Registry (PIR), the registry operator of .ORG, but should have. The campaign is a good example of advertising for the TLD as well.
I would be interested to see other examples of TLDs prominently featured in similar campaigns. Feel free to post examples in the comments below.
{ 6 comments }
Michele 08.15.07 at 12:20 pm
I love the concept! It’s a fantastic way of making use of the domain extension!
Rafik DAMMAK 08.16.07 at 3:49 am
It is an example about the fact that choosing a relevant TLD is most important.
Moreover, .org is used as proof of trust and confidence.
So with such high confidence degree in some TLD, is it possible to create new which can compete with ?
Rafik
Akeen Aglass 08.21.07 at 6:26 am
I feel this organisation should encourages the siting of a dot com root server in Nigeria,because of our position in the heart continent and the population. The ISP in the country should push for this or if they don’t know they should be inform of the benefits.
Akeen Aglass 08.21.07 at 6:31 am
About the siting of the root server in Nigeria, which of the organizations is in the best position to answer my request?
Kieren McCarthy 08.21.07 at 7:05 am
Hi Akeen,
Your comment appears to demonstrate a slight misunderstanding of how the root server system works or what the benefits may or may not be about having one located in any particular area.
For one thing, the root servers are not simply “dotcom” servers – they contain a copy of the root zone file which covers all top-level domains – dotcom as well as, say, .ng for Nigeria.
The root servers are located around the globe and often have mirrors of themselves – produced by something called Anycast technology – on servers dotted around the globe. The F root in particular has a large number of servers located in a large number of different countries. The person to speak to if you wish to be a part of that network is a man called Paul Vixie.
The root servers point to the servers for individual top-level domains, like .com. Those servers contain a file that then lists on which server each .com domain can be located.
A company called VeriSign runs the dotcom domain and I am not sure what its set up is, but I imagine it has its own Anycast system and servers right across the United States and most likely in other parts of the world in order to improve resolvability.
I think it is very unlikely that VeriSign would consider a bid from a third-party to host a server for its registry in their country. I’m not sure that such a system would benefit the hosts particularly either.
Another consideration that would work against Nigeria I suspect is the high price and low availability of high-speed, secure and always available lines, compared to many other parts of the world.
I remember there was a plan to run a cable along the East coast of Africa to add competition to the one on the West coast, but last I heard, that plan was affected by commercial interests and effectively stalled.
If you feel really passionate about this, you should engage those attending the one international event where this issue may be effectively addressed – and that is the Internet Governance Forum that will be meeting in Rio de Janeiro in November.
I hope this was of help to you.
Kieren McCarthy
General manager of public participation
chiz 02.18.08 at 8:22 am
Good post. You make some great points that most people do not fully understand.
“The article did not mention Public Interest Registry (PIR), the registry operator of .ORG, but should have. The campaign is a good example of advertising for the TLD as well.”
I like how you explained that. Very helpful. Thanks.
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