The archipelago of the Tuvalu Islands has understood this well, the extension of domain names is an intangible asset. And it can be very valuable.
Ironically, it was a Canadian entrepreneur who in 1998 bought the right to operate the ".tv" extension from the Tuvalu government for $50 million. A fortune for a country of 10,600 inhabitants a little lost between Hawaii and Australia. The government wanted to use this money for the electrification of some remote islands, and for the construction of schools. After various adventures, it is finally the American company Verisign which is currently in charge of marketing the ".tv". The contract is valid until 2021 and brought in several million dollars each year to Tuvalu. Some domains such as free.tv, China.tv or net.tv, have been sold by Verisign each for more than USD 100,000.
As our readers well know, in our conversations and messages, it is common to abbreviate the word "Quantum Computing" to "QC". One could then imagine significant revenues for the country that would market domain names with the extension ".qc". The first nation that comes to mind is of course the province of Québec, in Canada, whose abbreviation is QC. But after several votes, Quebecers never decided to take their independence and become a country... They cannot therefore claim, according to the rules currently in force, a two-letter extension reserved for countries and not for provinces. Too bad... because if quantum computing develops strongly in the coming decades, then the ".qc" could be worth several million dollars a year!
For several years, it was possible to register a domain name in".qc.ca", but Quebec's lack of dynamism in creating domain names finally led to the death of this double extension. Other initiatives are underway:
- A ".québec" but who would have no interest in our subject on quantum computing
- A ".qc.com" that might be interesting, but it is not an extension recognized by ICANN. "This extension is not an official Icann extension, it is the initiative of CentralNic, which delegates its qc.com domain," explains OVH.
So, will Quebec one day benefit from several million dollars in annual revenues related to domain names generated by the development of quantum computing? The province claims to be at the forefront of quantum research....
Ironically, it was a Canadian entrepreneur who in 1998 bought the right to operate the ".tv" extension from the Tuvalu government for $50 million. A fortune for a country of 10,600 inhabitants a little lost between Hawaii and Australia. The government wanted to use this money for the electrification of some remote islands, and for the construction of schools. After various adventures, it is finally the American company Verisign which is currently in charge of marketing the ".tv". The contract is valid until 2021 and brought in several million dollars each year to Tuvalu. Some domains such as free.tv, China.tv or net.tv, have been sold by Verisign each for more than USD 100,000.
As our readers well know, in our conversations and messages, it is common to abbreviate the word "Quantum Computing" to "QC". One could then imagine significant revenues for the country that would market domain names with the extension ".qc". The first nation that comes to mind is of course the province of Québec, in Canada, whose abbreviation is QC. But after several votes, Quebecers never decided to take their independence and become a country... They cannot therefore claim, according to the rules currently in force, a two-letter extension reserved for countries and not for provinces. Too bad... because if quantum computing develops strongly in the coming decades, then the ".qc" could be worth several million dollars a year!
For several years, it was possible to register a domain name in".qc.ca", but Quebec's lack of dynamism in creating domain names finally led to the death of this double extension. Other initiatives are underway:
- A ".québec" but who would have no interest in our subject on quantum computing
- A ".qc.com" that might be interesting, but it is not an extension recognized by ICANN. "This extension is not an official Icann extension, it is the initiative of CentralNic, which delegates its qc.com domain," explains OVH.
So, will Quebec one day benefit from several million dollars in annual revenues related to domain names generated by the development of quantum computing? The province claims to be at the forefront of quantum research....