Global by Design

I recently came across a chart of the most popular domain extensions, compiled by Stephane Van Gelder. Although I keep track of ccTLD registrations for the Country Codes of the World map, Stephane tracks all domains, including .com, .net., etc. And when I saw it I got to thinking…
Here’s a screen grab of the figures [...]

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Can an international crisis be started over a country code?
That’s what I can’t help but wonder when I read that Kosovo has requested its own country code domain.
Serbia (and it’s powerful backer Russia) do not accept Kosovo’s independence and are not going to be happy if Kosovo does get its own ccTLD. But ICANN may [...]

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I’ve got about a hundred copies of this map remaining and I’m offering them for $3 each for orders of 25 or $2 each for orders of 50 (plus postage).
The map normally sells for $12 each, so this is a nice discount — and a great way to get your whole office a copy of [...]

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The NY Times reports that China has surpassed the US in terms of Internet users. This comes via China’s state-controlled  Internet Network Information Center. Here are the key numbers:
United States
220 million Internet users
70% penetration
China
253 million Internet users
19% penetration
For readers of this blog, this development is hardly news. But it’s significant nonetheless. After all, the US [...]

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ICANN, the folks who manage Internet domains, recently decided to open up the generic top-level domain (gTLD) space to anyone who can afford it and can navigate ICANN’s complex approval process.
gTLDs are those domains to the right of the dot in the URL, such as .com and .biz. Currently there are 21 gTLDs. But going [...]

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Simon Johnson, co-founder of Domainer Income, interviewed me by phone recently on our Country Codes of World map.

If you’re curious about how the map came to be — as well as what areas of the world .me, .bv, and .aq refer to, you can listen to the interview here.
PS: Simon is based in .au.

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