.cat
 | |
| Introduced | 19 December 2005 |
|---|---|
| TLDtype | Sponsored top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | Associació puntCAT |
| Sponsor | Fundació puntCat |
| Intended use |  Catalanlinguistic and cultural community |
| Actual use | Sees some use in Catalonia and Catalan-speaking areas; occasionally sees use forwebsites related to cats |
| Registered domains | 109,110 (May 2019)[1] |
| Registration restrictions | Screening is done both before and after registration to ensure registrants are part of applicable community |
| Structure | Direct second-level registrations are allowed |
| Documents | ICANN New sTLD RFP Application |
| Dispute policies | UDRP,Charter Eligibility Dispute Resolution Procedure (CEDRP),Compliance Reconsideration Policy (CRP) |
| DNSSEC | Yes |
| Registry website | Domini.cat |
.cat(pronounced inCatalan:punt cat[ˈpuŋˈkat]) is asponsored top-level domainintended to be used to highlight theCatalan language.Its policy has been developed byICANNand Fundació puntCAT. It was approved in September 2005.[2]
History
[edit]Before.cat was available, and given the reluctance of certain Catalan institutions, companies, and people, to use.es,.ad,.fr,.itdomains (depending on the state respectively) for their domains, alternatives emerged.[3]An example of this was the website for the city ofGironainCatalonia,which preferred to use a.gidomain ( "ajuntament.gi", the word "ajuntament" meaning both "city council" and "town hall" ), even though.gi is thecountry codeforGibraltar,instead of the corresponding.esas a Spanish local authority.[4]
To solve this matter, in September 2005 the.cat TLD was approved, designed to meet the wishes and needs of the Catalan linguistic and cultural community on the Internet. This community is made up of those who use Catalan for their online communications, and/or promote the different aspects of Catalan culture online and prefer it to any other domain. The initial registration period went from February 13, 2006, to April 21, 2006. The registry was open to everybody starting April 23, 2006.[5]
In September 2017 a Spanish court ordered that all.cat domain names that were being used to promote theCatalan independence referendumshall be taken down.[6]On September 20 theSpanish policeraided the offices of puntCAT and arrestedCTOPep Masoliverfor sedition.[7]Following this, puntCAT released several tweets and a press statement on their website that condemned this action, calling it "shameful and degrading, unworthy of a civilized country [and] immensely disproportionate".[8]
On October 31, 2017 severalCatalan Governmentwebsites includingpresident.cat,govern.catandcatalangovernment.euwere taken down due to thepolitical crisisin Catalonia and due to the take over of authority by theGovernment of Spain.
Restrictions
[edit]The.cat domain is not territorial, but applies to the whole Catalan-speaking community, whether or not a site is based inCatalonia.In order to be granted a.cat domain, one needs to belong to the Catalan linguistic and cultural community on the Internet. A person, organization or company is considered to belong if they either:[5]
- already have content in Catalan published online.
- have access to a special code (sometimes called ENS), issued during special promotions or by agreements with certain institutions.
- develop activities (in any language) to promote the Catalan culture and language.
- are endorsed by 3 people or 1 institution already using a.cat domain name.
Despite the restrictions, the domain has been exploited forfeline-relateddomain hacks,such asnyan.cat.[9]In September 2017, with the domain's filters weakened after the raid by Spanish police, American neo-Nazi websiteThe Daily Stormerwas briefly hosted on a.cat address.[10][11]
Impact
[edit]Following the success of the.cat domain, other language and culture-based domain names have emerged, such as.eusand.galfor theBasque languageandculture(Euskal Herria) and theGalician languageandculture(Galicia), respectively, as well as the.bzhdomain-name dedicated to theBreton languageandcultureinBrittany.[12][13][14]
References
[edit]- ^"Growth of the.cat domain".fundacio.cat. May 15, 2019. Archived fromthe originalon October 1, 2019.RetrievedOctober 1,2019.
- ^"CAT".Domini.cat. Archived fromthe originalon October 29, 2013.RetrievedOctober 24,2013.
- ^The.addomain is somewhat of an exception here, for Catalan is the main official language espoused by the government ofAndorraand therefore there is no serious reluctance by the Catalan-speaking community to use the.ad domain there, since it is not associated with any perceived officially-fostered encroachment by other languages or with any perceived official sidelining or silencing of Catalan.
- ^Currentlyhttp:// ajuntament.gi/Archived2004-03-17 at theWayback Machineredirects tohttp://www2.girona.cat/caArchived2018-10-09 at theWayback Machine
- ^ab"CAT".Domini.cat. Archived fromthe originalon August 28, 2013.RetrievedOctober 24,2013.
- ^Michele Neylon (September 20, 2017)."DotCat Registry Offices Raided by Spanish Police".Internet News.
- ^Kevin Murphy (September 20, 2017)."puntCAT head of IT charged with 'sedition'".Domain Incite.
- ^"Intervention at Fundació puntCAT's headquarters".September 20, 2017. Archived fromthe originalon August 30, 2018.RetrievedSeptember 21,2017.
- ^"Domain Hacks - 100 Sites Using Unusual Top-Level Domains".webhost.al. May 14, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon June 23, 2017.RetrievedMay 14,2015.
- ^Redondo, Mónica (October 6, 2017)."'The Daily Stormer' consiguió hacerse con el dominio.cat "(in Spanish). Hipertextual.RetrievedOctober 7,2017.
- ^Jeffries, Adrianne (October 6, 2017)."The Daily Stormer just lost its new.cat domain".The Outline.RetrievedOctober 7,2017.
- ^"Navegar en català"( "Navigating in Catalan" ),Vilaweb,16 May 2014. (Article in Catalan)
- ^Internauta Radio Programme from 13 May 2014,about the.cat domain on the web and on the PuntCat Foundation,Vilaweb.(Programme & interview in Catalan). It can also be found here:Internauta Podcasts
- ^PointBZHArchivedMarch 28, 2009, at theWayback Machine,Association bzh, Quimper. (Site inBreton,FrenchandEnglish)