January 20, 2014
Monash University has become the first brand to be delegated a Top-Level Domain(TLD) - .MONASH.
The assignment was approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the Internet's global governing body.
"The .monash global Top-Level Domain name will allow the University to manage all of its domain names under the global identity of Monash," said Vice President (Information) and Chief Information Officer at Monash, Dr Ian Tebbett.
"Greater control over our content and domains will strengthen our online presence and better represent Monash as a global institution."
Its first phase rollout includes two .MONASH web sites that are expected to go live soon, While monash.edu will continue to be operated, the University will gradually phase .MONASH into its digital communications.
In what is widely considered one of the biggest changes to the Internet since it began, 2014 will see the rollout of nearly 1,000 new Top Level Domains. ICANN has received over 1,900 applications and around 90 non-brand TLDs are already active.
Becoming a master of your own domain isn't straightforward or cheap - the applicants had to go through a gruelling process and come up with more than $US185,000 for each application. From there, objections could be filed and concerns raised that would be investigated - for example, the Australian Government raised concerns with regard to a number of domains, including .FAIL, .GRIPE and .SUCKS.
Other nations registered objections concerning some of the other applications; including those for .PATAGONIA and .AMAZON.
Key Contracting statistics, as of 17 January 2014, released by ICANN:
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