cctld .ca future challenges

[impactadmin]

With the .ca TLD market growing over the last year I am curious to hear what you feel are the greatest challenges facing the .ca domain name space during the next five years?

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[PeterMan]

With the .ca TLD market growing over the last year I am curious to hear what you feel are the greatest challenges facing the .ca domain name space during the next five years?

Any thoughts or opinions?

I think the biggest thing will be the "temptation" to open up the tld to everyone... I am still on the fence as to whether or not that would be a good thing or a bad thing...

 

[trlg]

what's wrong? EVERYTHING'S WRONG!!! 'hahaha.ca' is "reserved", and yet they dont bother to set the domain up (no nameservers, no whois) properly!!!

 

[A D]

more opinions please...

-=DCG=-

 

[PeterMan]

what's wrong? EVERYTHING'S WRONG!!! 'hahaha.ca' is "reserved", and yet they dont bother to set the domain up (no nameservers, no whois) properly!!!

It is reserved because hahaha.qc.ca is registered...

strange but true...

 

[hugegrowth]

The only challenges I see are:

Canada's relatively small population - if we were a nation of 100 or 300 million, with the exposure .ca gets now, imagine what the demand for good names would be like, and the online marketing opportunities to a population like that. Not that a huge population would necessarily be good, for other reasons. If .us had the same use by government and business in the US that .ca has in Canada, then .us would be a much more valuable extension.

Restrictions on .ca ownership - outsider speculation would add more competition to the market and maybe even more quality, if for example an outside media company would develop some sites.

A smaller challenge is always .com, because it is just as good to use in Canada as .ca. But this is a lesser challenge because it's hard to find quality names in .com

Aside from those I don't see many challenges now, .ca is widely used and accepted in Canada, we have a small population but internet penetration is high, and better and easier technology will help ensure more .ca domains get developped - which helps. The same rules apply to .com though, good names will increase in demand, and crappy names will stay crappy.

 

[trlg]

It is reserved because hahaha.qc.ca is registered...

strange but true...

what the ??? u mean to say that if i were to register, say xxxx.qc.ca, that xxxx.ca would be reserved for me too?

 

[PeterMan]

what the ??? u mean to say that if i were to register, say xxxx.qc.ca, that xxxx.ca would be reserved for me too?

I am not 100% positive that it is true, but I am pretty sure...

Whois server: whois.tor.cira.ca

Status: UNAV
Domain: hahaha.ca
Code: 01114
Error: Domain name is reserved: names of other level exist. (hahaha.qc.ca)

When people pick up names in the drops that are, lets say - domain.on.ca they are able to then get domain.ca... or at least they can try to get it... I am not exactly sure how that works either...

 

[DropWizard.com]

I think the biggest thing will be the "temptation" to open up the tld to everyone... I am still on the fence as to whether or not that would be a good thing or a bad thing...

I think that would be a great move. But only after I get control of every name :lol:

There is an attitude of "do gooders" that has been present in Cira and it's board/employees that has bothered me. There seems to be a real lack of understanding of the idea of commercialism (making $$$$)

But overall CIRA has built a kick ass system for ctld.

I think we're in for a great ride in the future

 

[trlg]

I am not 100% positive that it is true, but I am pretty sure...



When people pick up names in the drops that are, lets say - domain.on.ca they are able to then get domain.ca... or at least they can try to get it... I am not exactly sure how that works either...

he who gets it first... gets it? not too sure either, but thanks for the reply!

I think that would be a great move. But only after I get control of every name :lol:

There is an attitude of "do gooders" that has been present in Cira and it's board/employees that has bothered me. There seems to be a real lack of understanding of the idea of commercialism (making $$$$)

come on now... do u really want them to be "all-commercial"? witness ICANN giving all of .com to verisign.

 

[DropWizard.com]

come on now... do u really want them to be "all-commercial"? witness ICANN giving all of .com to verisign.

Yeah you'll find my posts all over the internet against that move.

I don't want to see the equivalent of knee jerk reactions that go on because business is "bad" kind of attitude. The rules that are passed by CIRA can either encourage new use of the internet and domains or it can kill innovation. And the best rules for innovation are frequently "no rules".

Unfortunately many of the founding people in the internet were out to build shan-gri-la. And the boards like CIRA attract many of these type of mentalities.

On the other hand the appeal of swiss bank accounts can heavily sway someone like ICANN Board into bad contracts.

 

[Beaker]

With the .ca TLD market growing over the last year I am curious to hear what you feel are the greatest challenges facing the .ca domain name space during the next five years?

Any thoughts or opinions?

I see restrictions on .ca ownership as a big plus. As an owner of quite a few domains, I can see how opening .ca to the world at large would be a nice way to earn a quick buck. But on the other hand, I think that'd compromise the long term health and differentiation of .ca. Right now .ca is attractive to canadians cause it does indicate a business that's more likely to be canadian. The reason we see it on billboards and business cards in Canada is because it communicates something about the company that uses it - namely that they've made some effort to at least appear local.

Challenges:
- Large numbers of .ca held by speculators with parked pages that don't offer anything uniquely canadian (and diminish the utility of typing in any .ca at random). At the moment I'm about 98% guilty of this too, but am working on something better.
- CIRA itself. All the moves I've seen made by CIRA continue to diminish my confidence in them and their ability to look out for the interest of .ca. Example, after years of mentioning support for IDN, still have none. Another example, not long ago they surveyed asking about a switch to becoming a for-profit entity. i.e. Right now they've got a problem making too much money as a non-profit, so rather than market .ca better or decrease pricing they're testing the waters with this silly strategy.
- Usability. One of the biggest problems with .ca is ease of use. Way back when .com was a complex system, and registrars themselves managed to figure out ways to make transfers etc much easier. With .ca, CIRA holds all the cards making it difficult to make the .ca processes any easier. Now while there are a few small advantages to the ways that CIRA does it, it also makes .ca difficult to own for the average non-techie canadian. This does more damage to .ca overall than almost any other factor combined. Hard to imagine that only very recently did cira actually put on a login/password box that could be easily found and used on their own site for example. For the average user .ca registrations and transfers are way too difficult.

more opinions please...

-=DCG=-

Your opinion please

 

[liberator]

Some great insight here guys thanks for sharing

 

[vanierboy74]

Another example, not long ago they surveyed asking about a switch to becoming a for-profit entity. i.e. Right now they've got a problem making too much money as a non-profit, so rather than market .ca better or decrease pricing they're testing the waters with this silly strategy.

I have never heard of CIRA asking about a switch to becoming a for-profit entity. When did this happen?

 

[Beaker]

I have never heard of CIRA asking about a switch to becoming a for-profit entity. When did this happen?

It was a survey I received from them via email - may 24th last year. It read:

On February 1, 2006, the members of the Canadian Internet Registration
Authority approved changes to the Authority's Letters Patent which
permit the expansion of CIRA's Internet-related activities.
As a not-for-profit organization, CIRA would very much value your
opinion on how we should administer any excess revenues that may
be generated by those activities. Your input will help to determine
how and where excess revenues are allocated.

 

[whitebark]

I see restrictions on .ca ownership as a big plus. As an owner of quite a few domains, I can see how opening .ca to the world at large would be a nice way to earn a quick buck. But on the other hand, I think that'd compromise the long term health and differentiation of .ca. Right now .ca is attractive to canadians cause it does indicate a business that's more likely to be canadian. The reason we see it on billboards and business cards in Canada is because it communicates something about the company that uses it - namely that they've made some effort to at least appear local.

Challenges:
- Large numbers of .ca held by speculators with parked pages that don't offer anything uniquely canadian (and diminish the utility of typing in any .ca at random). At the moment I'm about 98% guilty of this too, but am working on something better.
- CIRA itself. All the moves I've seen made by CIRA continue to diminish my confidence in them and their ability to look out for the interest of .ca. Example, after years of mentioning support for IDN, still have none. Another example, not long ago they surveyed asking about a switch to becoming a for-profit entity. i.e. Right now they've got a problem making too much money as a non-profit, so rather than market .ca better or decrease pricing they're testing the waters with this silly strategy.
- Usability. One of the biggest problems with .ca is ease of use. Way back when .com was a complex system, and registrars themselves managed to figure out ways to make transfers etc much easier. With .ca, CIRA holds all the cards making it difficult to make the .ca processes any easier. Now while there are a few small advantages to the ways that CIRA does it, it also makes .ca difficult to own for the average non-techie canadian. This does more damage to .ca overall than almost any other factor combined. Hard to imagine that only very recently did cira actually put on a login/password box that could be easily found and used on their own site for example. For the average user .ca registrations and transfers are way too difficult.



Your opinion please

Agreed!

It's sad to see many of the top .ca's sitting as parked domains, but people can do what they want with their own domains. They would earn more developing them but that's for another discussion.

I tried to find it but i can't... i do remember reading a study/poll that showed Canadians themselves are very aware of the .ca brand and as such are very willing to buy/surf/signup etc etc on a .ca domain knowing it is a Canadian mark. The Internet is a wild place and a .ca to many Canadian consumers gives an impression of some safety. Look at all the major corporations doing business in Canada, almost all of them have a .ca domain under which they conduct their Internet business here. Many will do the same in other markets, but I wouldn't hesitate to guess that Canada in this regard would rank near the top.

Best stat for .ca going ahead when coupled with the aforementioned - in 2005 Canadians spent $7.9 billion online! That from a country with only 32 million people!!

 

[PeterMan]

One other thing to consider is that Canadians still have some issues purchasing goods online from US sites... Look at amazon.com, for example... We can not buy anything from there, we have to use amazon.ca, which is fine, but they do not offer nearly as much choices... Plus the difference in currency, duty, shipping, et...

When I am shopping online I usually look for a .ca site to ensure that I can get what I want...

I guess this is not such a challenge to the ca domain in general, but a challenge to companies to grow their online presence and give us (Canadians) the choices that we want...

 

[hugegrowth]

I read Frank Schilling's blog sevenmile.com fairly regularly and a repeated theme is that the best extensions to own are .com plus the cctld of your country, and countries with high internet use and online commerce (England, US, Germany, etc.). Some countries are wide open for cctld (Spain .es), but others I don't know the ins and outs of, or there are restrictions for outsiders, and language issues, so personally I find it easiest to stick to .com and .ca, plus minor .info, .mobi, .net and .org. I always ask if I was going to set up a business operating in Canada, what extension would I use - and always it would be .com or .ca.

 

[trlg]

It was a survey I received from them via email - may 24th last year. It read:

On February 1, 2006, the members of the Canadian Internet Registration
Authority approved changes to the Authority's Letters Patent which
permit the expansion of CIRA's Internet-related activities.
As a not-for-profit organization, CIRA would very much value your
opinion on how we should administer any excess revenues that may
be generated by those activities. Your input will help to determine
how and where excess revenues are allocated.

uh... i dont know about ur reading of that. I mean, one could read it as a "we'd like to play the part of a responsible non-profit, and get ur opinion on how we should deal with any excess cash". Or perhaps the fact that they were thinking of expanding their "Internet-related activities" is wrong already? what changes were made to the Letters Patent?

 

[Beaker]

uh... i dont know about ur reading of that. I mean, one could read it as a "we'd like to play the part of a responsible non-profit, and get ur opinion on how we should deal with any excess cash". Or perhaps the fact that they were thinking of expanding their "Internet-related activities" is wrong already? what changes were made to the Letters Patent?

You're right, nothing contentious in the quote, the quote is only from the email pointing to the survey not the survey itself (which is what I took issue with). To me, the survey seemed designed with leading questions to produce the outcome they were looking for (note: only my opinion, but I worked for over a year doing survey design at one time and this one seemed to have too many leading questions). I tried the survey link in that email to see if I could get you actual quotes/questions from the survey, but unfortunately the link was dead and survey inactive. So unfortunately I can only go by my memory of it. At the end of the day my impression was that they were making too much cash and were testing the idea of putting them into a for-profit entity. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm all ears if others have other knowledge on this issue. Wish I had a copy of that survey.