The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the South African .durban domain, signifying a first step towards authorised address usage.
The .ZA Domain Name Authority explained ICANN wanted to determine the financial and technical potential of the domain to achieve top-level operation.
ICANN explained: “This development is significant because it means the application has overcome the main evaluation hurdles.”
The domain establishment is anticipated by the end of 2013, when addresses such as tourism.durban and police.durban will be active online.
As a collaborative project between the ZA Central registry and the Department of Communications, .capetown and .joburg are next in line for domain application approval.
The three city domain applications follow governmental establishment of relevant metro municipalities as supported by .ZA Domain Name Authority.
Hasmukh Gajjar, chairman at .ZA Domain Name Authority, said: “We applied for the three cities because we saw a firm trend where leading international cities are planning to secure their exclusive namespaces.”
Provincial and national authorities will also have opportunity to register domain names on a first come, first served basis to be listed on a reservation compilation.
A consultation workshop on May 31 will take place to discuss the online launch plans, as well as supply applicants with feedback.
Among other criteria, ICANN also assures intellectual property (IP) rights are protected to avoid infringement.
ICANN will be hosting its Domain Name System (DNS) Forum in Durban in July, the organisation announced yesterday (Tuesday).
The forum will be aimed at establishing an African DNS platform community.
Funded by the ZA Central Registry (ZACR), the project is supported by revenue generated over time from co.za operations and related investments.
