ELEVEN years ago a domain for Scotland was an idea with nowhere to go. The internet was restricted to the original handful of generic top level domains (TLD) – like .com, .net, .org – and a country code for every member state of the United Nations.
There was no prospect of stopping the internet so that Scotland could get on.
In 2009 a group of us got together anyway to look closely at the idea and do some basic research to see if a domain for Scotland had traction. If given the chance, we felt we could take the idea of a country code – often restricted by citizenship and/or residence – and make it into something more inclusive. The vision was a domain for Scotland and the worldwide community of Scots.
Five years later we got our opportunity. In 2014, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) opened the internet to new generic TLDs. We had already formed a not-for-profit called DotScot Registry and submitted an application for .scot along with hundreds of other proposed new TLDs ranging from .london to .wtf.
We still come across folk, some of them in high positions, who believe that .scot was simply plucked out of the air. However, the process was not an easy one for a small not-for-profit. We had to find a technical partner, establish a relationship with a AAA rated bank and meet the challenges posed by the 450-page application form and $500,000 in application fee with legal fees on top of that. Ultimately, we had to finance an international start-up business without access to investment finance.
In addition to all this, the application required letters of support from the Scottish Government, a wide range of prominent Scots, Scottish businesses, cultural organisations, sports, charities and Scottish societies both at home and around the world. As the internet is reserved, we also needed to include a letter of non-objection from the UK Government. This duly arrived signed by culture minister Ed Vaizey who, presumably, managed to resist the “fury” that some Tory MPs had expressed at the very idea of Scotland having its own internet identity (according to the Daily Mail).
In retrospect, it is a minor miracle that the application succeeded and it’s an open question whether it would be met with the same success if it had to be submitted in today’s political climate. And while a pandemic is obviously not the way we would have chosen to raise the profile of .scot, seeing gov.scot and nhsinform.scot prominently displayed during the televised Covid-19 briefings is indicative of how far we have come.
It’s not just the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland that understands the value of .scot. Thousands of other organisations and individuals in Scotland have adopted .scot as part of their internet identity and we now have a presence in 50 countries around the globe. Recent .scot features on our website include an academic, a charity fundraiser, an indie musician, Scotland’s Regeneration Forum, Learn Gaelic, the Scottish fashion industry, Young Scot, Screen Scotland and NatureScot.
While the generally positive reaction to .scot has been very encouraging, there are still challenges. It’s enervating when we approach public bodies that do not use .scot and get responses like “we’ve always done it this way and won’t be changing” or “Scotland doesn’t resonate on the international market so we have to use .com or .uk”. This despite the fact that the big public bodies that have migrated to .scot – e.g. NatureScot – have created snappy, easily remembered internet identities in perfect sync with their national and international branding.
And while .scot is for everyone (for example yes.scot vs bettertogether.scot), we had assumed that it would resonate strongly with those who want Scotland to make its own way in the world allied to its own distinct internet identity.
The Yes Movement in general has been extremely supportive of .scot but, frankly, it’s mystifying when high profile supporters of Scottish independence continue to use anonymous .coms or even have .uk as a central plank of their internet identity. The good news is that we have finally managed to stabilise the price of .scot domains by setting up a registrar at www.domains.scot.
Any profits that are realised from the sale of .scot domains go to charitable causes, especially those that deal with digital exclusion.
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