At the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) conference next week in Seoul, South Korea, a group called the Dot Gay Alliance will lobby for the creation of a '.gay' top level internet domain under which self-identified LGBT organizations can park themselves. According to Reuters, the group's plan for the domain is to "provide a reliable and ethical source of
funding for LGBT civil rights."
The organization explains on its website: "It’s a community that gives back: 51% of all profits earned will be
returned to the LGBT community in the form of grants to leading civil
rights organizations. That means that everyone who owns a .GAY web
address automatically contributes to the fight for LGBT equal rights in
the US and around the world."
Reuters adds: "Everyone is familiar with generic web addresses (known as top-level domains)
ending in .com, .org, .net, .edu and .gov. There will soon be many more when
early next year the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) will begin accepting applications for new web addresses from cities,
companies, organizations and entrepreneurial ventures that want to create
their own."
The NY Observer reports on the origin of the efforts: "The group was founded by former Star and Details
editor Joe Dolce, who started the media strategy firm, DolceGoldin with
former NY1 anchor and MSNBC editorial director Davidson Goldin last
year. Supporters of the Dot Gay Alliance are New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, New York State Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell,
author Edmund White, attorney Paula Ettelbrick, Executive Director of In The Life Media
Michelle Kristel, and the first openly gay member of the Nepal Parliament, Sunil Babu Pant.
