.sydney

Status:	Delegated
country:	Australia, International
Registry Provider:	ARI Registry Services
Registry:	State of New South Wales, Department of Premier and Cabinet
Registry Backend:	GoDaddy
Type:	GeoTLD
Priority #:	1352
nTLDStats
Registrations:	7,372
Parked Domains:	4,814
Parked Domain %:	65.3 %
Important Dates
Delegation:	05 November 2014
General Availability:	17 February 2015
More Information:

.sydney is a GeoTLD that was proposed in ICANNs new gTLD program. The government of the Australian state of New South Wales has selected ARI Registry Services to provide the technical registry functions for the extension. The government is also contracting out other gTLD consultancy work with Melbourne IT. ARI Registry Services beat out a joint venture between CoCCA, Sedari, and Cloud Registry, which applied for both .sydney and .melbourne. It was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 5th November, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.

Application Details

The following is excerpted from the applicant's response to question #18:

"Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the capital of Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales. The greater metropolitan area of Sydney’s 38 Local Government Areas (LGAs), including the City of Sydney, has over 4.5 million inhabitants. In 2010, Sydney was ranked 7th in Asia and 28th globally for economic innovation in the ‘Innovation Cities Top 100 Index’ by Innovation Agency 2thinknow (www.innovation-cities.com⁄innovation-cities-top-100-index-top-cities⁄). Sydney was also ranked 11th in Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s 2011 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey (www.mercer.com⁄press-releases⁄quality-of-living-report-2011#Asia-Pac).

The registration of second level domain names within the .sydney domain space will only be available to businesses registered in NSW, visitor economy service providers registered with the NSW Government, local government, community groups and residents with a NSW, Australia address. These criteria for registration are imposed to ensure that the .sydney gTLD presents reliable and trustworthy information relevant to activities, businesses, community groups, organisations and government bodies with a connection to Sydney. The .sydney gTLD will be an online space where eligible registrants are required to use domain names in a manner that is not illegitimate or inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .sydney gTLD. The .sydney gTLD is intended to encourage business viability and growth by providing a dedicated and targeted online geo-distinctive presence and innovative marketing opportunities. This will benefit internet users and promote competition in the marketplace.

The internet has created a means for global communication and interaction, allowing for greater levels of information exchange, as well as facilitating efficient business transactions. Information about Sydney is widely available on the internet, allowing internet users worldwide to easily access online information regarding work, life, entertainment or tourism in Sydney. A dedicated .sydney gTLD will, however, provide a clearly labelled and relevant resource for internet users, including visitors to Sydney and NSW, bringing together and giving easier access to information about events, businesses, communities, government bodies, landmarks, and organisations in or related to Sydney. The .sydney gTLD will meet the need for a specific online space to target NSW residents and businesses and will enhance the strength, pride and value of the Sydney brand. The number of registrations in the .sydney TLD by the end of year three is projected to be 36,122 domain names.

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Only eligible registrants, namely businesses present in NSW, service providers in the visitor economy registered with the State Government of NSW, local government, community groups and residents with a NSW address will be able to register second level domain names in the .sydney gTLD in accordance with the eligibility criteria outlined in the registration policy. Registrants will be required to warrant their satisfaction of the eligibility criteria and provide a NSW address or business registration number in order to register domain names. Ineligible registrations are considered abusive and thus fall within the scope of the Anti-Abuse Policy, which is provided in the response to Question 28.

DPC will launch the .sydney gTLD in several phases, including two sunrise rounds, as set out in the registration policy and described in more detail in Question 18(c), below. This approach will provide an opportunity for trademark holders, government bodies and businesses meeting the general and sunrise eligibility criteria to register domain names. Thereafter .sydney will be open for registrations from all eligible registrants, first during a landrush period with competing applications resolved by auction, and then in general availability on a first-come⁄first-served basis. The domain name registration processes in the proposed new gTLD will address the requirements as mandated by ICANN, including but not limited to, minimum rights abuse prevention measures such as the use of the Trademark Clearinghouse. Launch and rights protection mechanism implementation is described in detail in the response to Question 29.

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Registrants will be required to use .sydney domain names in a manner that does not contravene relevant State and Commonwealth legislation in Australia. Furthermore, the domain name must not be used in a way that is inconsistent with the mission and purpose of the .sydney gTLD.

If registrants are found in breach of the terms and conditions in the registration policy, the registry will be able to exercise the right to suspend or cancel the registration of the domain name."

Contract signed

On the 18th September 2014, the State of New South Wales received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN for .sydney after passing the Initial Evaluation.

Delegation

.sydney was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on the 5th November, 2014, completing the successful application for the string.