.cym is a GeoTLD reserved for eventual assignment to the Cayman Islands. The primary top-level domain used by the Cayman Islands is .ky. The Islands already have the international three letter code, CYM. ICANN plans to increase the number of generic top-level domains,[1] and it is through this process that a .cym top-level domain might be awarded.

The Cayman Islands were previously in competition with Wales over use of the top-level domain. A campaign named "dot.CYM", not overly supported at government level, sought to have the .cym suffix for websites concerning Wales (Welsh: Cymru), the Welsh language (Welsh: Cymraeg) and Welsh culture. However, .cym was eventually assigned to the Cayman Islands[2] because ICANN's policy states that new applications for 3-letter domains will not be accepted if they match existing ISO 3-letter codes.[3] Wales was eventually granted the domain .cymru.

.cymru and .wales

In June 2012, ICANN opened the process of applications for new top level domains. Nominet, who own the .uk TLD, applied to ICANN for both .cymru and .wales.[4]

References

  1. ^ New gTLDs — Frequently Asked Questions – ICANN, June 2011
  2. ^ "Wales loses to Cayman Islands in battle for .cym domain". BBC. 2010-11-04. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  3. ^ Smith, Lewis (2010-11-05). "Wales loses virtual turf war with Caymans over '.cym' domain name". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved 2010-12-08. Note that the reference to the UN is strictly incorrect. The UN awards the ISO 3166-1-alpha-3 three-letter country codes but is the ICANN that awards top level domain names. Nevertheless, the latter would normally respect the former).
  4. ^ Nominet latest news, 14 June 2012
Categories