The first site to go live under the highly-anticipated.kids top-level domain is now online, and the registrar has revealed that it intends to begin selling domains near the end of this year.
DotKids Foundation’s registration website may now be reached through the contractually obligated use of the domain name nic.kids, which leads there.
DotKids, which is situated in Hong Kong and has close relations to DotAsia as well as ICANN director Edmon Chung, stated that the objective is to begin a sunrise phase in the third quarter of this year and then move on to public availability in the fourth quarter of this year.
In addition to this, there will be a separate registration window for organizations that advocate for children’s rights, as well as a “Pioneer Program” for early adopters in the third quarter.
Although the specific policing regulations have not yet been drafted, the purpose of the gTLD is to create an environment in which all material is seen as being appropriate for users under the age of 18. DotKids adheres to the definition of a child provided by the United Nations.
It will be challenging to strike the right balance. My nephew, who is now fifteen years old, is dissatisfied with entertainment that does not entail the disintegration of tentacled animals by laser beams. However, when he was ten years old, he was content to watch Peppa Pig on repeat for several hours each day.
In 2019, DotKids was able to trump competition from Amazon and Google to get the rights to the.kids domain extension. During the course of the previous year, it entered into a highly peculiar Registry Agreement with ICANN.
Previous attempts to create domains that are kid-friendly have not been effective.
DotKids has its work cut out for it if it wants to make.kids a commercial success; however, because it is a non-profit organization and the only applicant for a new generic top-level domain to qualify for the Applicant Support Program, the majority of DotKids’ ICANN costs were waived.