Quoting Roger Smith:
There are a few points in Roger's commentary on the .museum press
release that I suspect may reflect some confusion about the
activity behind it.
> Interestingly enough ( as an ICOM member of long standing ),
> I received this information on October 4th and collectively
> we have only until the 27th to register any support or
> opposition!
The entire timetable for the submission of proposals for the
creation of new top-level domains (TLDs), as well the the time
allowed for public comment on them, was determined by ICANN (The
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICOM had
no ability to influence this, whatsoever, and I can assure you
was profoundly unhappy about the brevity of time rendering it all
but impossible to anchor with its membership any response to the
call.
ICANN decided to open the call for TLD proposals on July 16th.
The documentation was made available to applicants on
August 15th. The call closed on October 2nd. The period of public
review referred to in the press release is also ICANN's, not
ICOM's.
> Words such as <restricted >,< limited > suggest to me a
> desire to CONTROL rather than promote and this is at variance
> with the whole ethos of the Web. In my opinion the whole
> initiative also smacks of a reactive rather than proactive
> approach to the opportunities on the web.
Restricted domains have been a part of the Internet Domain Name
System (DNS) since its very outset. Try to register in .int,
.mil, or in any of over two-hundred country code domains in areas
in which you are not a domestic business entity. The recent
dotcom real estate boom has utterly deflated much of the intended
value of all this. The domain used by many museums, .org, for
example, once had a clearly defined meaning and, in fact, was
reserved for entities in adherence with it.
ICANN wishes to restablish this meaning and they, not ICOM,
introduced the terminology which Roger finds so unsettling, with
massive community support.
> On a personal level, I have always adopted the Net as an OPEN
> platform for information sharing and credibility of a site is
> built up over a period of time, regardless of the source of
> physical location of the site owner.
Credibility is the keyword here. At present, anyone can purchase
a domain name containing the letter string "museum". In itself,
this means absolutely nothing. I believe that Roger, himself, has
used the term "dot-com startups" in reference to the less
laudible initiatives utilizing the notion of "museum" for pure
commercial gain.
The purpose of .museum is to deliniate some area in domain name
space where the six letters do have a clearly defined meaning.
Whatever value someone might ascribe to that definition, it will
at least be on public record. ICOM's contribution to this effort
is providing the normative statement of what a museum is. This is
contained in the ICOM By Laws. It is expected that this will
require modification as experience is gained in its application
to domain administration but ICOM's authority will be fundamental
to any such action. (A case in point is a pending revision of the
definition to encompass intangible cultural heritage and, in
extension, virtual museums.)
> If you are NOT a member of ICOM does your museum wish to be
> vetted by its Museum Domain Management Association shell?
Qualification for registration in .museum has no connection,
whatsoever, with ICOM membership. The Museum Domain Management
Association is a membership organization in its own right,
specifically to allow domain name owners to have a say in the way
its policy develops and is maintained. You do not need to be an
MDMA member to register a domain in .museum. You do not need to
be a registrant in .museum to join the MDMA (although the right
to vote requires such status).
> Personally, I think that if you are a museum (actual or
> virtual), then you should have the opportunity to use the DOT
> MUSEUM top level domain? What do you think?
Given that this is the precise purpose of the domain, I do not
understand the protest. The MDMA will be announcing its Web site
during the next few days and I will forward details as soon as
they are available. The full text of the .museum proposal will be
found there and I hope that MUSEUM-L memebrs will find it worth
their active attention and commentary.
/Cary
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