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Comments on expanding the list of possible website endings (.com, .org, etc.) to include faith-based domain names such as .church and .bible will now be accepted until late September. One of the biggest objectors so far? Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic nation's Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) recently objected to 31 web-domain extensions, filing 166 comments with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The CITC disputed many applications for domains associated with items forbidden by Islamic law, including .gay and .tattoo, but also opposes the .bible application from the American Bible Society and the .catholic application from the Roman Catholic Church.
Many other commenters have entered the fray surrounded religiously affiliated domain names.
Many comments on Life Covenant Church's .church domain application express support, citing the need for unity among local communities and the ability of religious organizations to distinguish themselves from secular brands without confusion.
Others disagree, opposing the LifeChurch.tv bid out of concern of discrimination against non-Christian organizations that wish to register a .church domain, or of being "a slap in the face of legitimate organized religion."
One commenter opposes the application for .catholic based on Church of England policy.
ICANNpublished its list of 2,000 applicants for new generic Top-Level Domain names earlier this summer. Many of those domains had only one applicant; however, some religious domains, including .church, received more than one applicant.
There are currently more than 6,000 comments on the gTLD applications, and ICANN recently announced that it would extend the comment period until Sept. 26, an additional 45 days.
CT previously reported on the release of the list with faith-based website endings in June.
