The Celtic League have written to the Scottish campaigning group who are aiming to create a dotsco (.sco) web domain name for Scottish users of the internet.
The correspondence from the League follows the announcement that a meeting has been arranged next month in Galicia for campaigners from the Basque Country, Brittany, Galicia, and Wales in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia to discuss putting together a joint bid to the world wide web administrators to gain internet domain status for their countries.
However, the Scottish dotsco (.sco) campaign group are not one of the organisations listed as taking part in the conference, despite their widespread support throughout Scotland.
The campaigns in the different countries follow in the wake of the success of the dotcat (.cat) domain name for Catalunya last year, who have seen a 33% increase in the use of the Catalan language on the web since it was formed. Campaigners in the Basque Country, Brittany, Galicia and Wales are also seeking to emulate the Catalans success.
To date Cornwall does not have an organised group dedicated to securing a dotker (.ker) domain name, but there has nevertheless been a great deal of interest and talk in the Cornish movement of establishing such a group. The Celtic League General Secretary, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, who is also a member of the Kernow Branch of the League has written to Kernow Branch Secretary, Mike Chappell suggesting that the Branch look into the possibilities of pursuing a dotker (.ker) campaign.
Normally, registered domain names are restricted to countries that are also independent states e.g. dotie (.ie) for Éire/Ireland, but there are also some like dotcat (.cat) for Catalunya. In 1996 the Isle of Mann secured permission to have its own National Top Level Domain (TLD) name, dotim (.im), and has ultimate responsibility for its use, even though it is not a fully independent state.
In Wales all parties in the National Assembly support the dotcym (.cym) campaign and England's Department of Trade and Industry have said they will not oppose the application. As for Brittany, the French Government are not likely to support the dotbzh (.bzh) application, but may have to give way if the other campaigns prove successful.
A copy of the email sent to dotsco (.sco) by the League can be found below:
"Dear dotsco (.sco)
The Celtic League was interested to learn recently that there will be a meeting of campaigners for web domain names for the Basque Country, Brittany, Galicia, and Wales in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia next month.
The meeting will discuss the possibility of putting together a coalition of bids to the world wide web administrators and it could also be a useful opportunity for campaigners to compare notes and work on joint solutions and initiatives. We were therefore disappointed to read, from early reports, that dotSco was not initially listed as one of the campaigning groups that will be present at the meeting. We would therefore like to know if dotsco (.sco) are nevertheless planning to attend and if not, why?
The dotsco (.sco) campaign has certainly attracted a great deal of support throughout Scotland and we would like to congratulate you on your efforts to date. If we can be of any assistance in helping to achieve your objective, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Yours sincerely
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot
General Secretary Celtic League"
Web Domain Campaigns:
Brittany: (voir le site) Galicia: (voir le site) Wales: (voir le site) Scotland: (voir le site) Isle of Mann: (voir le site) Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers: www.icann.org
(This article for Celtic News compiled by Rhisiart Tal-e-bot)
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
21/08/07
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