>[19.jul.05] Domain Names - Brazil can loose register of tourist attractions at Internet

Source: Agencia Estado
Brazil will have to register about 89 thousand sites until the end of the month. This is because Icann, US company that retain control of Internet, established last week a new domain suffix, the “.travel”. The domain suffix will be used by sites related to tourism promotion and should be target of interest of travel agencies, hotels, tourism offices and even governments that want to promote regions, places or cultures of their countries abroad.

The problem is that Icann gave until the end of the month to Brazil indicate if will register names as Rio de Janeiro, Amazônia, Bahia, Ipanema, among others various tourist places in Brazil. The government admits that may not be able to accomplish the deadline and eventually suffer economic loss.

Brasília is not satisfied with Icann decision, not only due to the relative short deadline that was given, but also because it will have to pay between 10 and 50 euros per register. “Or we pay this cost, or we can lost these names to the first one that appear to register them. Or we reserve the name riodejaneiro.travel or anyone can have it, what would create an important financial loss to the country promotion”, said Rogério Santanna, Logistic and Information Technology secretary of Planning Ministry.

Before opening the domain, Icann prepared a list of names and delivered to the countries. In the case of the Brazilian list, there are more than 89 thousand names, Corcovado, São Paulo, Manaus and Pantanal.

Another domain that will be created is the .xxx, designated to porn sites. “For caution, we also need to register site at .xxx” explained Santanna. He said that the register would not be used, but would avoid a private agent to open the website riodejaneiro.xxx that could be about sexual tourism or even women’s traffic.

In Santanna´s valuation, these problems about the register show the need of a greater participation of the countries on the decision related to the Internet and that now are made exclusively by Icann. “It is them that determine the date and we still need to pay for this decision”, argued the secretary.


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