• The Acquisition Campaign

last modified February 19 by tomlowenhaupt

A prerequisite to educating New Yorkers about the .nyc TLD is its acquisition.  After 7 years of effort, on June 26, 2008, our campaign to convince ICANN to issue TLDs to cities like New York succeeded!  And in 2009 we convinced New York City ­that it should apply for the .nyc TLD. But as 2010 begins, we're concerned the city is not supporting .nyc's development and operation in the public interest. The story of .nyc's acquisition is presented here.

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Acquisition Timeline

Below is the .nyc TLDs historic timeline and our projections of significant upcoming events. (As of February 2010.)

                       2012

  • Q2 2012 - The .nyc registry lives!!! (est.) 
  • Q1 2012 - Civic applications loaded.(est.)
           2011
  • Q4 2011 - Citywide awareness campaign begins. (est.)
  • Q3 2011 - ICANN appro­ves .nyc TLD application (est.).
  • Q1 2011 - ICANN accepts new TLD applications (est.).

                         2010

  • February 27, 2010 - Connecting.nyc Inc. Board of Directors meeting. Email for invitation.
  • January 26, 2010 - dotNeighborhood meeting.

                2009

    • December 23, 2009 - City accepts proposals for TLD partner.
    • December 16, 2009 - Testimony to City Council on The .nyc TLD - Innovation and Jobs .
    • October 23-28 - Attend ICANN meeting in Seoul.
    • October 5, 2009 - City of New York issues Request for Proposals for .nyc contractor.
    • October 2009 - ICANN issues 3rd Draft of New TLD Guidebook.
    • October 3, 2009 - Outline DNS/GIS/IoT at Pecha Kucha at NYU.
    • September 29, 2009 - Presentation before Future of Local Media
    • September 22, 2009 - We sponsor and make presentation at OneWebDAy
    • June 29, 2009 - Testimony to City Council on use of .nyc in support of Intro 991.
    • June 24, 2009 - dotNeighborhoods meeting at the Neighborhood Preservation Center.
    • June 8, 2009 - NTIA Comments on Cities and ICANN Representation
    • May 27, 2009 - Request for Information submission to DoITT.
    • May 6, 2009 - Sponsor first  dotNeighborhoods meeting.
    • March 1-6, Attend ICANN meeting, Mexico City.
    • March 2009 - ICANN issues second RFP for new TLDs.
    • February 12 - New Yokr City Council Speaker Announces Support for .nyc TLD.
      2008
    • December 2 - De­cember 5, 2008 - IGF, Hydeabad, India.
    • November 2-7, 2008 - ICANN, Cairo.
    • October 24, 2008 - ICANN posts Draft RFP (Guidebook) for new TLDs.
    • February 15 - Comments filed at NTIA on JPA (Joint Project Agreement with ICANN). See filing.
    • January 22 - Presentation on 2.0 features of The Civics Project. ­See report.
    2007
    • December 2007 - IRS 501(c)(3) application filed with U.S. Treasury.
    • November 12-15, 2007 - Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio. Connecting.nyc invited to participate on panel. See report.
    • October 29 - November 2, 2007 - Attended ICANN meeting in Los Angeles. See report.
    • June 23-29, 2007 - ICANN meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Connecting.nyc Inc. participates on new TLDs panel. See report.
    • April 11, 2007 - Connecting.nyc Inc. created as N.Y.S. not-for-profit corporation to acquire, develop, and operate the .nyc TLD.
    ­­2006

                2003
    • February 21, 2003 - Meet with Deputy Mayor Doctoroff's office on .nyc.

    2001

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    ­The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organization responsible for issuing new top level domain names (TLDs), has initiated a process that will result in additional TLDs being issued in 2010. (See the Acquisition Timeline at right.)

    Now that the ICANN has approved a New TLD Policy allowing New York City to acquire the .nyc TLD, we are focusing on organizing behind a TLD serving the public's interest, developing innovative TLD features, and getting the .nyc TLD application approved.

    Many tasks have been completed - business plan, incorporation as a N.Y.S. not-for profit, website, wiki, blog – and many more lie ahead. This page id­entifies and coordinates the identification and assignment of tasks to acquire the .nyc TLD.

    The following Key Task Completion Report offers a snapshot of our progress as of August 8, 2008.

    progress-bar-chart-august-2008.1.jpg

    The following identifies opportunities for involvement and ­rough estimates of task completion.

    • Framework - Create a legal form, organizational structure, identity - mission, name, logo, etc. - to support the effort. See the Operating Environment for details. (75% complete.)
    • Generate Local Support - Prepare a demonstration of support from city residents, government, businesses, and institutions. See the local networking opportunities page for ways you might help. (55% complete.)
    • Marketing - Generate media in support of local, national, and global campaign to acquire the .nyc TLD. Convince the ICANN that a .nyc TLD benefits all Internet stakeholders. (20% complete.)
    • TLD Application Preparation - Oversee and help prepare proposal responsive to ICANN RFP. Proposal is to highlight benefits New York City and the Internet. The RFP will require an application fee in the "low six figures". (See the ICANN TLD Application Process page for details.) The application development period will be short and expensive. (15% complete.)
    • Gain ICANN Approval - In previous instances, the review and award process has been long. ICANN's board members represent the global Internet community and are not readily available for face to face expositions. A variety of channels must be used to inform the traditional Internet stakeholders and ICANN board members about the need for, and benefits of, the .nyc TLD. See TLD application processing diagram.
    • Operating & Development Environments - The broad outline of the operating and development environments must be readied for inclusion in the TLD application. The Operating Environment's Domain Name Allocation Plan (DNAP) and theregistry's operation plans must be detailed in the application. And the Development Environment must be presented with general direction and modesty.
    • Advisory Network & Board of Directors - The Campaign evolved from a Community Board's desire to see the city prosper in an Internet era. Public participation and control of of the TLD is vital. This wiki, our advisory network and board of directors are part of the effort to assemble that control. See the duties and opportunities in these governance areas here. (35% Complete.)
    • Budget - The budget requirements will become more clear with the publication of the draft RFP in October 2008. Best current estimates are to gather a budget of 500K with 150K for the ICANN's application processing fee.
    • Financing - Our philosophy is to thoroughly scope the situation, create a viable plan, and present our initiative to funding sources. A few opportunities have arisen for focused development support with applications submitted to several organizations. Moderate success, i.e., ability to continue to forward to organization's mission, has been achieved. A more robust financing campaign will be initiated during Q3 2008. Because of the sensitivity of these matters, we have moved the financing campaign to a private wiki page. Should you be interested in helping out in this area, email the director.

    Media Coverage

    • CircleID - The Battle for ".nyc": Is RFP the Answer?
    • The Villager,  October 14, 2009 - ".nyc cyber struggle pits local pioneer vs. city and Kotch, too"
    • Inhabitat, October 7, 2009 - "Crowd-Sourced Initiatives to Create a More Livable City"
    • Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2008 - "Naming Rights - Are you plagued by a bad online address? You may soon have a shot at a better one"

    Marketing Materials - Extant

    Marketing Materials - Needed

    Suggestions for needed materials such as videos, animations, games, a jingle, and events may be found on the marketing materials page.

    Digital Campaigns

    With the social networks boom, many opportunities exist to promote and develop the .nyc TLD. We've opened accounts on the following, but day to day management is lacking. HELP!

    • Facebook - Started this group on August 22, 2007 and this cause on October 25, 2007. Add your two cents.
    • Idealist.org - Initiated on August 17, 2007
    • MySpace -
    • Meet-up - To support local meetings in support of the .nyc TLD.
    • Ning - Started February 3, 2008
    • Pmog - A useful game for leading supporters around city websites in a search for supporters of .nyc.
    • I'm On Board - This page guides a mecrhanism for organizing support for the .nyc TLDs acquisition.
    • The Point - It's like a tipping point for a certain action. Need to pick an action and work it.
    • UserVoice - Here we take in public opinion in its rawest form.
    • YouTube Page -

    Atomic Campaigns

    These are face to face opportunities for connecting with fellow Neworkers.

    • Internet Week 2008 - Flyer distribution to acquire civic domain name suggestions. 
    • Civic Names - Follow our effort to connect with the city's 59 community boards.

    Volunteer and Intern Levels of Involvement

    The following was prepared by Open Plans as part of a discussion of levels of commitment with civic engagement.

    time-committment.1.png

    ...............

    Opportunities

    We are seeking volunteers and interns to help with a variety of tasks.

    • Bookkeeper / Financial Guidance - see posting on Idealist.org.
    • Public Relations - posted request on Idealist.org, for intern and volunteer.
    • Brochure Designer - posted needs in Idealist.org. 
    • Online community sites: Facebook, Idealist, Meet-up, Linked In, etc.

    Prize .nyc

    Those making a code contribution in support of the .nyc TLD have the opportunity to receive The Prize .nyc. See details here.

    The Creative Trust

    Opportunities arise to present the .nyc TLD message in new locations and media requiring creative reconfiguration of our message. These opportunities are presented and addressed on The Creative Trust page.

    Things We've Done

    To Do

    • Do a report like this Central Park report detailing the advantages of an intelligently developed .nyc TLD.
    • Generate Local Support
      1. Arrange and/or make presentations to individuals, business, civic, and government organizations. See the local networking opportunities.
      2. Make presentations to Borough Boards
      3. Monserrat on immigrant opportunities.
      • Win ICANN Support - After hearing about our application and from various stakeholder groups, the ICANN's board of directors will make the final decision on issuing a .nyc TLD.
      • Send GIS and IP addresses article to GISMO list. (Tom)
      • Contact Bill on oldline directories.
      • Letters to solp group.
      • Put the Prague presentation on web.
      • NTIA update.
      • Plan .nyc public presentation. Contact ISOC-NY about co-sponsoring a panel on city-TLDs.
      • Work on the Sweet Fruits page.
      • Geographic Mesh of IP Numbers.
      • Get server operating partner.
      • Create accounts on MySpace and Friendster for the issues related to our mission / campaign. Members will be able to us as a friend. Include information about our organization, issues, the campaign with a link to our website.
      • Do something like a "startup weekend".

      Supporters

      Those providing support for the campaign can be found here.

      About This Wiki

      This wiki follows up on a 2001 resolution by a New York City community board calling for the acquisition of the .nyc TLD. In 2006, with the TLDs need and benefits increasingly apparent, Thomas Lowenhaupt initiated this wiki. A longtime community board member, his public involvement with the Internet dates to comments filed with the Department of Commerce in 1997 advocating set-asides for entities not then engaged with the Internet. In June 2006, as the opportunity to acquire .nyc rose again, Mr. Lowenhaupt initiated this wiki and other activities to support the TLD's acquisition. In his capacity as the campaign's interim director, he invites all New Yorkers and Internet users from around the sphere to join the campaign.

      Storage /Completed Tasks

      View/Add to our completed tasks archive.

      Resource Links

      Key .nyc Pages