Los Angeles Gets Own TLD

DM420 writes "On June 9th, Los Angeles officially becomes the world's first city to have its own Internet domain.Great to hear since one day I hope to be an owner of my own TLD and this is a step in the right direction. ;) The registry is located at www.la and further details at DMnews.com" Looks like an Irish firm made a deal with Laos to use the .la TLD. Looks to be on the pricier side of domains, though.

Article

[Phroggy (441)]

Wait wait wait, "officially"? Isn't the .la TLD still officially assigned [iana.org] to Laos, and they've just cut a deal with some company to promote it as a Los Angeles TLD, just like the TLDs of Western Samoa, Tuvalu and Belize are promoted as "Web Site", "Television" and "Business" respectively? Does the City of Los Angeles even know about this?

Seriously, this isn't worthy of a news article. It's just a country trying to make money and a company trying to make more money by trying to trick people into believing that anyone cares. If ICANN had assigned a TLD to a city, THAT would be news.

Re:Article

[MikeFM (12491)]

These deals always strike me as lame. I can understand why poorer countries do this but I count the companies that cut the deals among the cheesier entities online.. right after spammers and porn sites. Do we really want to advertise for these clowns?

Re:Article

[1u3hr (530656)]

And even beter, look at the source of the FA: The Online Newspaper of Record for Direct Marketers [dmnews.com]. They sound like a group we'd all like to help promote their scummy plan to deprive a whole fourth world country of their domain (yes, I know they bought it, so did 18th C slavers when buying their merchandise). So now there's a "yahoo.la", etc, etc. That really fills a need.

Re:Article

[MikeFM (12491)]

Remind me to get crapo.la. The perfect name for the perfect TDL. :P

Re:Article

[outsider007 (115534)]

namb.la

Re:Article

[sharkey (16670)]

namb.la
You're a Brando look-alike?

couldn't agree more.

[Vellmont (569020)]

I find it rather sad that this gets posted as news on slashdot, given that slashdot is supposed to be run by geeks. I'd expect this from my local newspaper, but CowboyNeal should know better.

Having said that, what happens when the people of Laos decide they want to use their TLD? I know it's a small mountainous country with very little technology, but I just heard a story yesterday about how the small country of Bhutan just got cable TV (a country where Buddhist monks outnumber soldiers). Point being it'll probbably happen eventually.

Re:couldn't agree more.

[Another AC (151302)]

Having said that, what happens when the people of Laos decide they want to use their TLD?

Actually, Laos reserved a bunch of .la domains for use within the country.. com.la, net.la, mil.la, gov.la, and about 140 more.

I believe they're getting something in the range of 20% of all revenues from the domains.

Maybe they can use the money to pay for those laonix [slashdot.org] pcs..

I agree

[WIAKywbfatw (307557)]

You couldn't be more right. But if someone's going to call .la the TLD for Los Angeles, then perhaps they should also consider these other "city-specific" TLDs, most of which have been around far longer than the Laotian domain: .au - Austin, Texas, USA (actually Australia) .ca - Cardiff, Wales (Canada) .be - Berlin, Germany (Belgium) .br - Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA (Brazil) .br - Brussels, Belgium (Brazil) .lv - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (Latvia) .no - New Orleans, Louisiana, USA (Norway) .pa - Paris, France (Panama) .pe - Perth, Australia (Peru)

Just blows the "Los Angeles is first" argument out of the water doesn't it?

Re:I agree

[AvitarX (172628)]

Noone I know calls Austin, Texas au the same can be said for every single one of the cities you listed.

OTOH,
LA is a very reconizable term for Las Angeles, At least it is here in the US.

A few of the ones you listed would work for states here. But if I said I was going to AU to visit a family I would get a retarded stare.

Other city TLDs

[1u3hr (530656)]

If ICANN had assigned a TLD to a city, THAT would be news.

Singapore .sg
Monaco .mc
Hong Kong .hk
Macau .mo
Gibraltar .gi
Kuwait .kw
Vatican .va
Luxembourg .lu
Saint Helena .sh

Of these, most are indpendent city-states (or village-states), except for HK and Macau, which were European colonies and are now Chinese ones, Saint Helena, and Gibraltar, British colonies.

Re:Holy see, Batman!

[Phroggy (441)]

Ahh, but ICANN didn't assign .va to Vatican City, the IANA did! It's a ccTLD, not a gTLD, and was assigned before ICANN existed (ICANN was created in 1998; the .va TLD was assigned in 1995). And yes, it would have been news, in 1995.

Re:Holy see, Batman!

[Cplus (79286)]

The Vatican is a country. It may be in the shape of a city, but it is entirely an independant entity and the smallest in the world. It's population is under a thousand, it's official language is latin, it has it's own currency, and a radio station [radiovaticana.org]. Don't know why I know all of this.

Re:Article

[SEE (7681)]

I hope the Laos Government is getting totally screwed. Laos's government is one of the sixteen Most Repressive Regimes [freedomhouse.org] on Earth.

Re:Article

[Archie Steel (539670)]

It's also one of the poorest. A good case can be made that if the country hadn't been bombed back to the stone age by the U.S. during the Vietnam War (for no really good reason, either, since the U.S. lost anyway), then perhaps they'd have a nicer country to live in. War and widespread destruction will damage a country's social fabric, you know...that kind of environment can sometimes be good breeding grounds for totalitarian regimes.

I do hope that Laos is getting a good deal out of this, but I also hope that Laotians in general will benefit from some of it.

In the meantime, check out the Jhai foundation [jhai.org], they do some pretty good stuff. The chair of the Jhai foundation actually participated as part of a bomber crew during the Vietnam war. Having brought pain to this part of the world, he now wants to make amends by bringing peace and the internet to Loatian villagers. He's also part of Veterans for Peace and a really decent guy.

In any case, it'd be some sweet irony that one of the poorest nations on Earth would get some money for selling TLDs to one of the richiest part of the world... :-)

A more deserving city does not exist

[mao che minh (611166)]

I can't wait to see the logo for the official city site, a wonderful college in honor of such an amazing city: A pimp strolling down the av', jack-slap cocked and ready, aimed at a cowering hoe..... The blurred image of a 1990 Honda Civic racing through Watts - gang bangers adorned in blue dew rags and wielding automatic weapons hanging from the windows, teeth capped in magnificent gold..... A heavily armed police officer forcing a terrified black youth to the pavement amidst a flurry of panic - night stick held high and proud, ready to strike.

A finer city does not exist, and a no city deserves it's own domain more then the great Los Angelas.

Hey hey

[Raul654 (453029)]

Don't you know an urban warfare training ground when you see one?

LA?????

[Got-Tea-Rolls (681042)]

Won't this be confusing when the state of Louisiana gets its own domain?

Re:LA?????

[Phroggy (441)]

Won't this be confusing when the state of Louisiana gets its own domain?

Not at all, because Louisiana already has .la.us, and .la will be quickly forgotten. :-)

Pr0n connection?

[slagdogg (549983)]

Given that most of the world's porn comes out of the Los Angeles area, I'm pretty far from surprised.

Should they be promoting this?

[pgpckt (312866)]

From the www.la page.....

Premium Names

coke.la $100.00
hooker.la $100.00
pharmaceutical.la $100.00
consultancy.la $100.00

Could raise some "red" flags.

Re:Should they be promoting this?

[Phroggy (441)]

Note that this TLD has absolutely nothing to do with the City of Los Angeles; the city probably doesn't even know about it.

Re:Should they be promoting this?

[cscx (541332)]

hooker.la $100.00

Yeah but .la is really Laos.

Me so horny! Get it...remember...the war? Nevermind... :D

Re:Should they be promoting this?

[1u3hr (530656)]

the last 50 registered .la domains [www.la]:
fucknut.la, gilligan.la, sip.la, motels.la, hotbodies.la, agent.la, boob.la, dotcom.la, professionals.la, techsupport.la, friends.la, boyfriends.la, transexuals.la, fags.la, classifieds.la, nguyen.la, intercoo.la, main.la, main-street.la, postproductions.la, 90210.la, dirtysluts.la, zil.la, specialfx.la, mediatemple.la, jump.la, hel.la, teens.la, easylistening.la, microsoft.la, milf.la, thisdomainsucks.la, exit.la, wrestling.la, lazoo.la, disney.la, lay.la, phantom.la, standup-comedy.la, kenpo.la, decoro.la, areo.la, wann.la, designs.la, guess.la, limited.la, filmeditor.la, musica.la, allure.la, concerts.la

A classy neighbourhood (or should that be 'hood)

Sounds lucrative

[Mannerism (188292)]

In related news, Cambodia has changed its name to Nymbodia and applied to ISO for a new digraph.

Better yet

[John Jorsett (171560)]

www.We'reBrokeSoWe'reRaisingYourTaxes

Open NIC Open Source TLD's

[Lord Prox (521892)]

Just a quickie to plug OpenNIC [unrated.net]. It's nifty, like www.yournamehere.geek. Or even create your own TLD altogeather. Someone should tell LA about this. I already emailed the mayor of Long Beach (just south of LA) but she is an idiot. Talked to her a few times, then helped another canidate with his campagne aginster her. I'm just getting off topic hre aren't I. The point being I am having a tough time getting any local govt to listen to reason to open source/alternate IT/anything not sole by a big name crop.

Drives me insane. Sorry for the rant.

Re:Open NIC Open Source TLD's

[Lord Prox (521892)]

And yet your personal /. link is a .net - so nifty you're trying to talk local governments into adopting it, not nifty enough to use yourself. What to make of this, I don't know.

A valid question, with a valid answer...

1. Starting your own TLD isn't quite like a domain. It is a significant commitment to that TLD and all the domains that might register in it. That is more work than I wanted to do for the sake of ego. In addition there is a ratifacation process before you can reg the TLD (to ensure it will be put to good use of name space and prevent TLD squatting)
2. I have thought of reg'ing a domain in the .geek TLD... responsibilities for that are much less. (I would only have th be responsible for the hosts and running the authoritive DNS for that) 3. An entity like the City of Long Beach would have the resources and use for a full TLD, coupled to the fact that they are trying to attract tech business away from neighboring SoCal cities it would be a good choice for them (at least I think so) and it would be a big boost for OpenNIC as well.

Mabey it would be good. Mabey not. There may be technical considerations I am not aware of or other things (non-technical) as well. It was a suggestion.

Note: My earlier reference to the mayor O'Neil being not-so-bright was not based on this matter. Rather on several other interactions I have had with her. Including her reference to the city of Long Beach as being land locked. We have (I think) the second busiest port in california and a request for suggestions to help with the cities budget problems, to which I suggested GNU/Linux, OpenOffice etc, that fell on deaf ears. As well a few financial mini-scandals involving a retirement funds and street lights.

At last we have the fact that supporting OpenNIC is going to irratate ICANN. I don't like tyrants, I thinking that ICANN is looking more and more like that.

Look out...

[eidechse (472174)]

New York is gonna be pissed.

bah

[Wakkow (52585)]

What crapo.la. It can be yours for only $50! Too bad I don't have that much moo.la to spare.

Sorry.. That was really bad.

Soon every city will have its own domain

[Faust7 (314817)]

Won't that be nice? I'll be able to readily tell websites in Burnt Scrotum, NM from those in Navel Lint, IA. I'll never know how I got along before.

Be ahead of the Christmas rush

[the_Bionic_lemming (446569)]

register Falalalalalalaaalaaa.la

What happens when these countries get wired?

[astrashe (7452)]

What's going to happen when these countries who sell out finally get wired? What will they do for domains?

Re:What happens when these countries get wired?

[Imperator (17614)]

If they want those domains back, they'll simply take them. Country TLDs can do whatever they want subject to the laws of that country.

And I won't be shedding any tears over it either. This is similar to the rape of poor countries for raw materials and natural resources that the locals are not developed enough to exploit themselves. Once the country is ready to take over, they usually just nationalize that industry. The foreigners who made a killing (no pun intended) off local labor and land whine, and sometimes the rich country will step in with coercion.

For an example, google for United Fruit and Guatemala. It's that sort of shit that caused 9/11 and continues to cause widespread hatred of America.

Not the first city after all

[worst_name_ever (633374)]

I wonder how they can claim that L.A. is the first city with its own TLD, when the Vatican [vatican.va], which is a city as well as a country, has had its own TLD for a few years now...

Now, "First city with a TLD and drive-through breast augmentation" - that I would believe.

Your TLD.

[DarkHelmet (120004)]

Great to hear since one day I hope to be an owner of my own TLD and this is a step in the right direction. ;)

Due to the fact that you fantasize about things like this, let me guess...

.nerd

Heh.

Recently Registered

[sabNetwork (416076)]

Hahaha this is a great feature. Check out the type of domains that are already being taken.

TRASH: 16
(including porn, hair-transplant, breast/penis enlargement, lasik surgery, and other spam)
CORPORATE: 37
(companies such as FOX trying to reserve their trademarks under every TLD possible)
DICTIONARY/GENERIC: 28
(dictionary words and other obvious domain name real estate such as "1.la")
OTHER: 137
(names that I didn't recognize or didn't fit into these categories)

Wow, I have too much time on my hands.

Definitely not the first city

[jsse (254124)]

Los Angeles officially becomes the world's first city to have its own Internet domain

What about .hk? Hong Kong is a city of China(before that HK is a British colony city) and has its own TLD for years.

Toronto: .to

[Kenshin (43036)]

For years and years and years "TO" (t-o) has been Toronto's nickname, so quite often you'll see some business around here use Tonga's .to TLD.

I'd say we beat LA to the punch.

.LA is a SCAM.

[SlashChick (544252)]

Oh, man. .LA domains. Where do I begin?

Some background: .LA has been around for several years. Here [i-dns.net] is one of the initial announcements, dated February 2001.

I have a client who bought one of the initial .LA domain names. He paid $150 to the then-registrar of .LA domains for 5 years of service.

Last December, he got a notice stating that the contract between Laos (the official holder of .LA) and the domain registration company had expired. The letter said, in part, "On 11 December 2002 ICANN announced its decision to re-delegate the ccTLD .la to the Lao Government, specifically the Lao National Internet Committee (LANIC). DotLA and Sterling were not aware that this change was being contemplated by ICANN or IANA, and we were not contacted by ICANN/IANA for our comments either before or after ICANN made its decision."

The letter goes on to explain that ICANN changed the official name servers for .LA to an as-yet-unnamed company. My client's domain name continued to work, but he knew he was borrowing time.

Suddenly, Dreamhost (the current .LA registrar) waltzed in and paid a handsome sum of money to become the official .LA registrar. Of course, they chose not to honor my client's 5-year registration, and demanded that he pay MORE money or have his domain name cease to work.

This has been a frustrating 6 months. My client has since registered a .biz domain, which is controlled by ICANN and not by any specific company. This means that there is no "official" registrar for .biz domains, and that there aren't going to be any disputes over who owns the TLD.

After the $150 that has been wasted by my client for a "5-year" registration, what's to say that Dreamhost won't also get into a dispute and dump .LA completely? At that point, all current .LA domain name holders would be in the same position as my client -- forced to change their web address because the company can't get it together, and losing money in the process.

.LA is a mess. I would not recommend registering a .LA domain until the whole mess stabilizes a bit.

Now we can pull a Serpentor

[KoopaTroopa (549540)]

Cobra.lalalalalalalalalala!

This I command!

some of the names are already taken...

[thanq (321486)]

breast-implants.la
plastic-surgery.la
hair-replacement.la
tittiesandass.la
tittyandass.la
botoxcosmetic.la

Apparently LA is hard at work to hold up its image...
I bet that once they decide to have a TLD .nyc, well see something along the lines of...

laywers.nyc
sueyourass.nyc
eytonycomovahhere.nyc

Godzilla!

[maliabu (665176)]

can't believe no one mentioned Godzil.la yet, although it's already registered.

but wait, zil.la is still available, so you can still have http://god.zil.la/ and this is a better choice because (1) you have a god in your URL, (2) zil is 3 characters, and is more rare than 6 characters domain names :)

Invalid Domain names

[Igmuth (146229)]

On the front page of www.la [www.la] they have the following site listed:

café.la $100.00

However when you click on it to register it throws an error message becuase of the 'é' not being a valid character
I would feel sorry for any company if they actually registered that domain since almost noone would be able type the 'é' to visit their site.

(Yes I know there are ways of doing it, but most people couldn't figure it out)

ATTENTION

[by Anonymous Coward]

*** !!! ***

If you sign up for a domain name, type in some random number for the "Money Order #" method, the domain will appear to be REGISTERED! When you whois, it will say that it's been registered! This is a serious issue; even if the domain is in fact not registered until it's manually processed, people can not register that domain until its rejected (if indeed that happens, what are the chances that the registration actually goes through?)

Use this knowledge at your own risk.

Re:Why not under .us?

[psykocrime (61037)]

Cities should not have TLDs. There's too many of them. At the very least they should be under a .us domain or, even better, under a .ca.us domain.

Why are there too many? Why should there even be a limit on the number of TLD's? If you really think about it, what significance does a TLD really have? It's just one small part of a globally unique identifier...

I mean, yeah, nominally the TLD's mean something... but in practice, whatever geographic or functional distinctions are supposed to exist between the TLD's, are ignored. Take my own website [cpphacker.co.uk] for example... it's registered in .co.uk, even though I live in Chapel Hill, NC, USA, not Great Britian. They (the registrars) don't seem to enforce many (if any) restrictions on TLD's, so why worry about them?

As long as it's unique, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to have a domain like:

phillip.rhodes.loves.elisabeth.shue

or whatever.

Re:Why do they need top domains?

[Phroggy (441)]

Why do we need more top level domains?

This isn't a new TLD, it's an old one that's been sold.

Personally, the new TLD I'd like to see is "movie", as in www.spider-man.movie or www.matrix.movie or www.lotr.movie. It should be available to movie producers only (not just Hollywood studios, but independent and foreign as well).

Every movie has a web site now, and none of the URLs are consistent at all. If they had a .movie TLD, maybe they could quit polluting .com?

Re:woah woah woah

[Triumph The Insult C (586706)]

No. Holy See is it's own country [cia.gov], comprised of one city, Vatican City.

Re:Why not?

[Phroggy (441)]

It's a separate country...or maybe even a planet. ;)

Do you mean Los Angeles or Laos?

Re:What's next?

[gearheadsmp (569823)]

With IPv6, you could probably assign an IP to every mammal* on the planet. 4 billion * 4 billion * 4 billion, as I recall it being said 4 billion * 4 billion * 4 billion times on Slashdot. *excluding every organism but mammals