.vlaanderen is a

generic top-level domain Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of ev ...

for

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

first introduced in 2014.

History

In mid-2011,

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

, the umbrella organization for

domain names In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. D ...

, decided that organizations could apply for their own Top-Level Domain (TLD). In addition to the existing

country codes A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed. The term ''country code'' frequently refe ...

such as .be and generic extensions such as .com, extensions such as .ibm, .shop or .limburg were also possible. The first applications could be submitted to ICANN from 12 January 2012. This expansion is particularly interesting for brands, but also for geographical, ethnic and linguistic organizations and institutions. All newly created extensions belong to the group of

gTLDs Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of ev ...

or 'generic Top Level Domains', as opposed to the country codes, which has consequences for their management. DNS.be was immediately one of the candidates to drive the geographical gTLDs. At the beginning of 2012, the

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

governments respectively assigned the management of the gTLDs .vlaanderen and .brussels to DNS.be.

DNS.be DNS Belgium is a non-profit organisation responsible for managing the ccTLD top level domain, as well as the new gTLD domain extensions and . Domain names are registered by the various agents of DNS Belgium, on behalf of their individual clients, ...

prepared and submitted the application file for ICANN. After approval, it is responsible for technical and commercial exploitation for 10 years. The formula chosen for the partnership is that of the service concession. In 2012, three applications were submitted to ICANN for generic top-level domains for Belgium. These places were raffled, putting .gent in the 1,021th place, .vlaanderen in the 1,416th place and .brussels in the 1,518th place. Because ICANN handles about 1000 applications per year, it was already bet on a commissioning in 2014. In 2013, after the extension was officially approved, criticism of the name came from the Flemish business community. A survey of 291 Flemish companies by BeCommerce revealed that 73% of companies were critical of a new top-level domain. On the other hand, a survey by the Flemish government in 2013 showed that 62% of the 258

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

are positive about the new extension. On 7 February 2014

DNS Belgium DNS Belgium is a non-profit organisation responsible for managing the ccTLD top level domain, as well as the new gTLD domain extensions and . Domain names are registered by the various agents of DNS Belgium, on behalf of their individual clients, ...

(now renamed) signed the contract with ICANN for the management of .vlaanderen and .brussels. ICANN reported on 21 March that year that the applications for .vlaanderen and .brussels have passed the technical tests. On 18 June 2014 ICANN announced that .vlaanderen and .brussels have been delegated, adding them to the

DNS root zone The DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in the hierarchical namespace of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Before October 1, 2016, the root zone had been overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ...

. As a result, the first

URLs A uniform resource locator (URL), colloquially known as an address on the Web, is a reference to a resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identi ...

with these new extensions also exist: nic.vlaanderen and nic.brussels. On 9 July 2014 ICANN approved the startup information. That is the information about the different launch phases and their timing. This also means that all data of the different phases are officially recorded: * Brand owner phase: 01 Sep 2014 - 01 Oct 2014 * Phase for local authorities and organizations: 02 Oct 2014 - 03 Nov 2014 * Phase for individuals: 13 Nov 2014 - 15 Dec 2014 * Landrush 16 Dec 2014 - 15 Jan 2015 * Free registrations since 20 Jan 2015 At the end of January 2016, the number of registrations stood at approximately 7000. About 1000 were allocated to institutions of the Flemish government and related organizations. As a result, the number fell short of government expectations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bcn Sponsored top-level domains Internet in Belgium 2014 establishments in Belgium

History

See also

References