Taipei Inks City Domain Agreement with ICANN to Launch Domain Suffix “.taipei”

Taipei City Government sealed a registry agreement with the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on August 20, 2014 to operate the top-level domain suffix “.taipei”.

Taiwan has had the only top-level domain suffix “.tw”, the country code top-level domain (ccTLD), which is administered by TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center) under ICANN’s authorization.  Taipei City Government has filed the application for the top-level domain suffix .taipei since 2013.  Now, with the application being approved by the ICANN, groups from private sectors will be able to use not only .tw suffix but also .taipei suffix.

As one of the top ten most innovative cities in the Asia Pacific region and the pioneer of promoting digital smart city, Taipei will be able to use the new domain name “.taipei” as the important landmark in the online world.  With the signing of the agreement, Taipei enters the ranks of international metropolises, such as, Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, and Berlin in providing the city-specific TLD registration service. 

Distinguishable and associable with Taipei’s city images, the suffix “.taipei” will be able to boost and market Taipei and to drive industrial upgrade by making invitation to well-known brands in all sectors, organizations and individuals to identify with Taipei by registering their domain name under the “.taipei” TLD, for the ultimate purpose to pave the way for the city to enjoy a higher profile in cyberspace and in the greater international community. 

Taipei City Government will begin to adopt the new domain name “.taipei” for a number of online service portals so as to satisfy the needs of digital life, including the websites of departments and agencies under the Taipei City Government and the websites for the special 1999 phone line for city residents (1999.taipei) and the public bicycle rental system YouBike (youbike.taipei) which are to be among the first websites to adopt the “.taipei” suffix this year.  In addition, Taipei City Government is subject to ICANN’s regulations to gradually and periodically open the suffix “.tapiei” for registration.  Registration of the suffix is scheduled to open to all relevant trademark owners around the world in November 2014. (August 2014) 
/CCS