Taipei will be one of the first cities around the world to have its own domain name, enabling local businesses and residents to start using the “.taipei” domain name next year, the Taipei City Government announced yesterday.
The city’s petition for the creation of a special suffix was approved earlier this month by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the California-based non-profit organization responsible for managing the Domain Name System and Internet Protocol addresses.
Taipei will be one of 52 cities to have their own domain names, along with New York, London, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the approval for the city to use “.taipei” is a recognition of the city’s development of information technology, and a great marketing measure to put the city on the digital landscape.
“The ‘.taipei’ domain name is a specific doorplate for Taipei. We are very excited to be able to use the Taipei suffix so our city can be more easily recognized in the online world,” he said.
The city government must still run tests of the new domain name and finalize a contractor to manage the program.
Taipei Department of Information Technology Commissioner Chan Te-tsun (詹德存) said the overall operation and maintenance costs for the new domain name will be about US$60,000 per year, including a US$25,000 registration fee to the ICANN.
The city will first change the Web address of city agencies next year, before opening the use of the domain to businesses and residents.
Taipei 101 Mall and Asustek Computer have expressed support for the city’s move, and said they will register for the domain next year.
Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu (劉家豪) said the company is in the process of redesigning its Web site, and it expected to change the site’s address from Taipei-101.com.tw to Taipei101.taipei.
The city said the detailed plan for the domain registration will be finalized later this year.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS