Global Policy Forum

By David Flint

The continuing worldwide growth of access to the internet is being mirrored by an equally discernible rise in its use by ethnic, ideological and national groups anxious to assert their cultural identities. This is most apparent in the use of domain names, some of which reflect or highlight particular goals.

Among political and single issue campaigners, national designations are of less interest than the ubiquitous inclusion in the address of the term ‘sucks' to convey opposition, derision or contempt. Websites such as capitalismsucks.com, for example, is a favourite of many a seasoned protester against globalisation or the failure of western nations to reach a satisfactory settlement over third world debt.

Until recently, too, the domain address .us was scarcely used by the millions of US-based domain name holders. For whatever reason, whether as a result of the palpable upsurge in patriotism in the aftermath of 11 September, or overcrowding amongst the .net and .com designations, but there has been a distinct increase in its use.

Perhaps the rise in usage of the .us domain name designation signals that many of the citizens feel increasingly embattled, isolated from the rest of the world and determined to assert their American identity with every e-mail they send, whether internally or overseas. Certainly, behind the use of many a domain name or address there often lurks someone's need to assert their particular identity or place in the world.

The apparent drift to polarisation among the western allies, with Europe on one side and North America on the other, is typified also by the persistent efforts of the European Commission to obtain the authority to launch a .eu domain name address. Even after two or three years of trying to do so, none has yet emerged, and it is unclear who if anyone, other than the most committed Europhile, would want to use it anyway.

While the European Union, unlike the US, purports to be a quasi super-state, there are also official domain name addresses for parts of the world which, as of yet, do not enjoy sovereign status.

The Palestinians, while unrecognised as such by most Western nations, enjoy the domain name designation .ps, while the Eritrean people, who have battled bitterly over many decades to break away from the sovereign state of Somalia, are empowered to use the domain address .er.

Afghanistan, another location of current conflict, has the domain address .af and it would be interesting to know whether the Taleban made use of such 21st Century tools as the world wide web while fiercely rejecting most other manifestations of the modern world, with the exception, of course, of the likes of the AK47 assault rifle, the surface-to-air missile and the four-wheel drive, all-terrain vehicle.

The Falkland Islands too, location of one of the UK's last colonial wars just twenty years ago next month, is entitled to its own domain name designation, .fk, as is the Isle of Man and the island of Jersey, although I have been unable so far to identify one such for the neighbouring island of Guernsey.

Surf the internet and you will also find a number of websites dedicated to the cause of Basque independence, although almost all of these eschew the domain name addresses .es, for Spain, or .fr, for France, in favour of the more widespread .net or .com.

Unlikely locations too, enjoy the official recognition of the internet's regulatory authorities - .va, for example, is not the designation of Virginia, the US state which was the leading proponent of the old Confederacy, but of that state within a state, the Vatican City.

Where then, does that leave Scotland, an ancient European country which sends - sometimes - its national football team to participate among the world's other sovereign nations at the Football World Cup?

Scotland has never been given the right, so far, to indicate its distinct national, as opposed to its UK regional, identity on the web and many information technology users in Scotland, whether individuals, businesses or organisations, are frustrated that they are not allowed to register domain names which are indicative of their Scottish heritage.

David Flint is a partner in MacRoberts, Solicitors and specialises in IT and intellectual property law.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.