The Shame of Dot-ca - Why Canadians refuse to be masters of their domain name, May 2, 2008

Letter to the Editor published in the Globe and Mail on May 5, 2008.

The Shame of Dot-ca - Why Canadians refuse to be masters of their domain name by Ivor Tossell, May 2, 2008.

Mr. Tossell compares dot-ca to dot-com numerous times in his editorial but neglects to mention key differences between them.

Dot-com is run by a for-profit commercial enterprise. A dot-ca domain name is run by a not-for-profit organization that reserves dot-ca domain names exclusively for use by Canadians.

This means when you visit a dot-ca website or send email to a dot-ca address you can be confident that you are dealing with a Canadian online. Surveys show that Canadians trust and are more comfortable conducting business with other Canadians online. Many smart online entrepreneurs in Canada are using dot-ca to differentiate themselves from the jumble of search engine results and dot-com clutter.

Canada celebrated its one-millionth dot-ca domain name registration in April. France, Japan, and Russia recently reached the million registration mark too with populations that are two, four, and five times that of Canada respectively.

One million domain names is a spectacular achievement for our nation and speaks to the strength, vitality, and diversity of the Canadian community online. To say that dot-ca is a ‘shame’ completely ignores the opinion voiced by 600,000 Canadians who have registered over one million dot-ca domain names to show their Canadian pride online.

Byron Holland
President and CEO
Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)