Snail mail to get its own top level Internet domain

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 03:25

IT Industry - Strategy

ICANN and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) have reached an in principle agreement for the UPU to sponsor the .post top-level domain.

The UPU is responsible for setting the rules for the universal network of international postal mail exchanges. It is a specialised agency of the United Nations, established in 1874 and is one of the world's oldest intergovernmental organisations.  (The International Telecommunication Union, also now a specialised agency of the UN, is the oldest. It was established as the International Telegraph Union in 1965).

According to ICANN, "The agreement concludes the negotiation that enables both organisations to recognise one another's traditional autonomy, mission, and core values...[and] represents a significant accomplishment for the UPU, ICANN, and the global Internet community."

ICANN CEO and President, Rod Beckstrom, added: "This validates the ICANN model for fostering expansion of and innovation in the domain name space. The UPU has also helped mark out a path for other IGOs to sponsor their own top-level domains and helps us expand our multi-stakeholder relationships in the IGO field."

Final approval of the agreement is subject to ICANN's public comment process (which will commence after ICANN concludes its meeting in Seoul on 30 October 2009), and consideration by ICANN's board of directors.