2009 – the year for dotCYM?

We’re sorry that we haven’t sent out a newsletter recently – but as you’ll see from this edition, we’ve been rather busy! And there is plenty of genuinely encouraging news for supporters of dotCYM as we head into 2009 – the crunch year for applications to ICANN. Thank you, as ever, for your support – and we hope that it will not be too much longer before you can start making plans to buy your own .cym domain.

dotCYM meeting with the Deputy First Minister

After working closely with Assembly officers over the last few months to refine the business plan, we are now looking forward to meeting the Deputy First Minister early in March. We will be continuing to work closely with Assembly officers between now and then to make sure that any remaining questions are answered fully in advance of the meeting, and we are optimistic that the meeting will make the future of the bid absolutely clear. A considerable amount of work has gone into developing the business plan in line with Assembly requirements, and dotCYM are very grateful to all our Board members for their extremely valuable input.

dotCYM respond to ICANN draft request proposal

dotCYM have responded formally to ICANN’s draft request proposal, in which they outlined their expected requirements for bids for new domains. We noted several key points which may require further clarification from ICANN, in particular with regards to data protection legislation, and have also requested that they look again at proposals for flat fee structures instead of percentage-based fees. After receiving a number of similar concerns during the consultation period, ICANN are now intending to produce a second draft of the request proposal, which means further slippage in the expected dates for actual bid submission. However, we are still expecting to be engaged in the actual submission process by this summer at latest. We would like to thank Peter Black AM, Bethan Jenkins AM and Jill Evans MEP fod their support and for raising their concerns over ICANN’s pricing policy in their response to the draft RFP.

Cardiff City Council announce support for dotCYM

We would like to thank Cardiff City Council, and Deputy Leader Cllr Neil McEvoy in particular for announcing their support for the dotCYM bid (see www.cardiff-info.com/content.asp?id=7952&d1=0 and the Western Mail’s report at www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/01/24/council-backs-cym-domain-campaign-91466-22766480/). Support from the capital city of Wales shows that the benefits of a Welsh domain are increasingly widely recognised. Siôn Jobbins, dotCYM’s Chief Executive, says that ‘It will be a way for local businesses in Cardiff to show they’re part of the fabric of Cardiff life. This is a very good decision for Cardiff business, society and the status of Cardiff as the capital of Wales.’

Membership

dotCYM would like to thank all those who took up the opportunity of becoming members of dotCYM. Because of time constraints with responding to ICANN and developing the business case, we haven’t taken as much time of this side of the bid’s work as we would have liked! However, you will be hearing from us in more detail in the very near future. We are now taking advice regarding the most effective structures for making sure that our members play a genuine and practical part in running dotCYM, and for the time being are not accepting new members.

Gordon Brown: ‘Digital technology as important as roads’

The Westminster Government has said that all homes should have access to 2Mbps broadband by 2012, in order to help secure a competitive low carbon economy. Gordon Brown said that ‘Every aspect of our lives… will be dependent on the services that the digital network provides’ and that digital technology is as important today as ‘roads, bridges and trains were in the twentieth century’. Westminster recognises that developing digital infrastructure is vital for any modern economy, which is why they have been consistently supportive of the dotCYM bid. The bid for .cym is in the mainstream of future economic and social thought. Not having a Welsh domain in the 21st century would be as damaging as not having roads in the 20th.

Warm thanks to Tom Brooks

After putting in an enormous amount of voluntary time helping to drive the dotCYM bid forwards, Tom Brooks has now stood down from the Board in order to concentrate on his responsibilities with the Westminster All Parliamentary IT Committee and the All Party Communications Group, where he intends to continue to lobby for practical political support for the dotCYM bid. dotCYM would like to thank him for his huge commitment to the bid and his extremely hard work on the fine detail of preparing our application to ICANN. Diolch Tom.