http://Home.nyc

April 23, 2008 - Connecting.nyc Inc., a New York State not-for-profit corporation created to acquire and develop the .nyc TLD, is seeking two additional members for its board of directors.

If you’d feel comfortable in this picture (right), chances are we don’t want you. But if you’re knowledgeable about the Internet and what it can do for New York City, particularly communities, and if you’re willing to put in one Saturday morning per month meeting with fellow board members to hear about current issues and offer your considered opinions and direction, and if you’re willing on occasion to take on a special task , e.g., pick up the phone and make a call to that special person, you might be the type of member we’re looking for.

If you think you might be interested, see our governance page for more on our thinking and how to submit an application.

And about that picture. That’s not us. We’re going to have a board with a diversity of gender, cultural experiences, and backgrounds. Suits will be optional, other than at our Polar Bear Swim on New Year’s Eve (also optional).  Again, see our governance page for more. (Thanks to CharlesFred for this Creative Commons photo.)

April 14, 2008 - Here’s a photo from a recent meeting between Dirk Krischenowski, CEO of the .berlin effort (left) and Tom Lowenhaupt from Connecting.nyc Inc.

Dirk was in the U.S. to visit with mayors and city managers of U.S. cities sharing the Berlin name, e.g., Berlin, Vermont.

April 2, 2008 - Acquiring the .nyc TLD promises many benefits to residents, community and civic organizations, and businesses in our great city. Some of these are quite practical while others seem to promise a nirvana. The practical include good domain names, identity, and a directory of the city’s resources. The more sublime involve the networking of neighbors, communities, and businesses into a humming nest of cooperation and accord. Some of these will succeed others won’t.

But these however-many features retain their advantage to the city (that’s all of us) only as long as the integrity of the namespace is maintained. That is, if we allow .nyc to become .com-like, with all its slime and sleaze, our TLD will become meaningless as a social, civic, and business development tool.

Hence our noble experiment. Over the next two months we will begin an exploration of possible operational, management, and oversight methodologies of the .nyc TLD. For example, is democratic management of the namespace possible? What are appropriate uses of .nyc names? Should (and can) we have a nexus (residency) requirement? Does viewing the namespace as a spectrum (FCC-like) with differing duties and responsibilities for different name categories offer advantage? And how we might recall “abused” names?

Following closely and intimately tied in with decisions on these matters are questions about governance - what processes are required to follow through on these decisions and what structure will best support the endeavor? How are board members selected and decisions made? What role and what channels are appropriate for oversight of these decisions? What is the size, composition, and selection process for the board of directors? What board advisory bodies should be created and what is their relationship with the board?

Over the next two months we will begin reaching out to city residents and Internet users worldwide for their views on these and other questions.  We don’t know our Noble Experiment. will turn out, indeed we might find that the experiences from the recently issued .eu and .ASIA TLDs provides a suitable model for .nyc. But with technology, the world, and the city changing, we thought it appropriate that we invite the opinions of all New Yorkers as to how they’d like to see this resource managed.

Our plans are nearing completion and we’ve created a dotCity wiki to house the effort. Take a look. Let us know what you think.

During Internet Week, June 3-10, we will present a preliminary report on this Noble Experiment. Join in. Help make it a fruitful endeavor.