People interested in using the national code domain, “.tw,” as a second-level domain, must file for application and have it approved by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) before they can use it, the National Communications Commission said yesterday.
A top-level domain name is installed at the root zone of the Internet name space, such as a national code domain, the commission said, adding that a second-level domain is directly below the top-level domain in the hierarchy of Internet domains.
Commission spokesperson Yu Hsiao-cheng (虞孝成) said that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) started taking applications for new top-level domain names in 2012.
Through such applications, private corporations can use their names as top-level domains, such as “.acer” or “.htc.”
According to Yu, the organization received requests from its members to use second-level domains consisting of just two letters of the English alphabet, rather than generic domains such as “.com,” “.gov” or “.edu.”
As the national code also consists of only two letters, the organization consulted various nations, he said.
Yu said that the commission supported a proposal allowing a nation’s country code domain to be employed as a second-level domain by private individuals or organizations, because it could help nations know each other better and fulfill the needs of businesses.
“However, we suggest that people apply for the use of Taiwan’s country code as a second-level domain, which needs to be approved by the ministry first,” he said. “Any employment that might severely damage the reputation of Taiwan, as well as the nation’s people and corporations should be rejected.”
Yu said that it would be inappropriate for “.tw” to be used as a second-level domain for pornography Web sites, for example.
He added that the government should not approve cases that have China’s national code, “.cn,” in the root zone either, as the Internet address “.tw.cn” would generate concerns that Taiwan’s sovereignty is downgraded to appear as part of China.
Commission research showed that Australia (.at), Switzerland (.ch), Denmark (.dk), the Netherlands (.nl), the UK (.uk), the US (.us), Czech Republic (.cz), Sweden (.se), Germany (.de) and Romania (.ro) allow people to use employ their national codes as second-level domains without any stipulations.
Spain (.es) and New Zealand (.nz) allow people to use their codes without informing the government first only if the codes are followed by new, top-level domains of business brands.
Hong Kong (.hk) and Italy (.it) ban the use of their codes, but use is possible via negotiation with the governments.
China (.cn), Singapore (.sg), Israel (.il) and Portugal (.pt) ban the use completely without any exceptions.
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