.kosher 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 ...

owned by

OK Kosher Certification OK Kosher Certification is a major kosher certification agency based out of Brooklyn, New York. It is one of the "Big Five," the five largest kosher certifying agencies in the United States. OK also has a large kosher presence in Asia. Early histo ...

. The filing of the application for the domain in January 2012 began a two-year process during which eleven other kosher certification agencies filed official objections, arguing that granting the application would give OK Kosher an unfair

competitive advantage In business, a competitive advantage is an attribute that allows an organization to outperform its competitors. A competitive advantage may include access to natural resources, such as high-grade ores or a low-cost power source, highly skille ...

. In January 2014, ICANN ruled that OK Kosher could begin using the .kosher domain, after which the eleven objectors filed for reconsideration.

History

Application

In January 2012, after beginning to accept applications for the creation of new

generic top-level domains 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 o ...

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 ...

received 1,930 applications for domains. One of these was an application for the domain ".kosher" by

. Filed by Kosher Marketing Assets LLC, the application stated that the company would promote the domain "through press releases and direct communications with customers of OK Kosher Certification."

Objections

In response to the application, eleven other kosher certification agencies filed official objections, including the

Orthodox Union The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...

(which has the largest kosher certification agency) as well as

Star-K Star-K Kosher Certification, also known as the Vaad Hakashrus of Baltimore (), is a kosher certification agency based in Baltimore, Maryland, under the administration of Rabbi Moshe Heinemann, with the involvement of many other rabbis. It is on ...

Chicago Rabbinical Council The Chicago Rabbinical Council (or cRc) is the largest regional Orthodox rabbinical organization in America, located in Chicago, Illinois. The cRc is a non-profit offering a wide variety of Jewish services, including kosher product supervision an ...

, Kosher Supervision Service, and Kashruth Council of Canada. These objecting agencies argued that OK Kosher would gain an unfair

by owning the domain, and that the word "

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

" should not be owned. OK Kosher stated that it had 45 groups supporting its application, including the

Chief Rabbis Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. OK Kosher

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Don Yoel Levy said that the company purchased the domain "to make sure it fell into the right hands" and was willing to allow its use by others, while the chief executive officer of the Orthodox Union kosher certification agency stated that OK Kosher had offered them an unequal partnership. In the same time period as the .kosher application, ICANN declined an application for .halal, citing the sensitivity of issues related to religion. The objecting organizations pointed out the different treatments of .halal and .kosher, stating that the objection to .halal was valid and that .kosher should have been treated in the same manner.

Implementation

An expert from the

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. ICC represents over 45 million businesses in over 170 countries who have interest ...

found that the objections to OK Kosher's application were not supported by the circumstances. On January 14, 2014, the rights to the .kosher domain were granted to Kosher Marketing Assets LLC, a subsidiary of OK Kosher. After the rights were granted, OK Kosher's

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

director expressed satisfaction with the decision and said it was "a little bit too early for K Kosherto know" how the domain would be used. He stated that OK Kosher wanted the domain to be open to "other people who adhere to the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

standards of kosher." The eleven objectors filed for reconsideration of the decision. The chief executive officer of Orthodox Union's kosher certification agency stated that "we and our friends and colleagues who joined with us in this objection will all survive very well even if we lose," while expressing confidence in their argument for reconsideration. As of 2014, this is unresolved.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * Generic top-level domains 2014 establishments Kashrut Orthodox Judaism {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosher