So it’s looking like .NYC may indeed come to fruition.
It certainly has its proponents.
Paris and Berlin are also pursuing their own domains. But the reason I see .NYC gaining traction is that the proposed registrar dotNYC is promising to return a percentage of revenues to the city — and what city is going to turn down extra money these days?
According to the NYPost, “Anthony Van Couvering, CEO of a company called dotNYC, predicted roughly $3 million would flow into city coffers each year by the third year of the domain’s existence.”
This number assumes roughly a million registered domains, renewed annually. For a city of eight million, that may not sound like much, except when you consider that the United States, with 280 million people, has only registered a few million .US domains.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who supports the domain, said, “A local business won’t have to outbid a guy in Kansas to get TonysPizza.com. They’ll be able to get TonysPizza.nyc,” Quinn said.
It’s a nice thought, assuming that small businesses want their own .NYC domains. I’m sure many do. But how will the city keep the out-of-town squatters from taking TonysPizza before Tony gets to it?
Of all the city domains, .NYC certainly stands the best chance of succeeding. Perhaps it will become as coveted as 212 once was.
But just to be safe, city council members would be wise to study .LA — offered up in 2006 as a Los Angeles domain (by way of Laos). When’s the last time you visited a .LA Web site?
