Is .Quebec The Motivation For The UDRP on Quebec.com?

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We broke the news this morning that an agency of the Provence of Quebec filed a UDRP on the domain name Quebec.com.

Anything.com has owned the domain since at least 1998 making the domain some 15 years old.

The domain is parked but according to Screenshots.com has been parked since at least 2004 or about 10 years.

So why now?

Why did the government of Quebec decide to go after Quebec.com after all this time?

We think the answer is that the government is supporting the new gTLD of .Quebec which should launch next year .

PointQuébec Inc is the company that applied to operate the .Quebec registry.

A Geographic based new gTLD application must have the underlying support of the government.

We don’t know of course what the financial arrangement is between the registry and the government but typically registries pay the underlying government a percentage or fee for each domain name registered and renewed.

So the government of Quebec will make money off of the success of .Quebec which could be the behind the scenes motivation for the UDRP.

At least one of the principal’s of  PointQuébec Inc,  is  also the one of the principal’s of the SX Registry SA which operates the .SX ccTLD for Sint Maarten.

 

 

 

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 8K domain names . Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest.

Comments

  3. Jothan Frakes says

    Mike-

    I think, personally, that the UDRP on quebec.com is as inappropriate and ham-fisted as the one by the city of Paris, and will be watching the issue peripherally but hope we will see a similar outcome.

    On the article, I did a whois on the link to the registry that you have in the article, and I think there is a slight friendly amendment needed.

    The actual registry URL is http://www.pointquebec.org/

    I scoured through the official registry site and any publicly available correspondence and I could not see any direct lines of influence or connections between the registry operator and the parties involved in the UDRP, other than that the city had provided support of the TLD as required by ICANN. I don’t know if it was a fair connection to make between the TLD and the UDRP, as it paints .quebec into a corner. Seems like a stretch.

  4. Michael Berkens says

    For our English speaking friends that last comment ^^ translates into

    “”They choose the aurraient Qc. Inftead why choosing the ca. Of. Canada?

    Here in quebec we would have Qc. :)””

  5. puckerhuddle says

    As a Canadian I can assure you that anything that has to do with “Quebec”,language, or culture is fully intertwined with the politics and government of Quebec. Never a dull moment in the world of Quebec politics.

    Robin

  6. confer says

    “Ils aurraient du choisir le .Qc pourquoi avoir choisi le .ca aulieu du .Canada?
    Ici au quebec on aimerais avoir le .Qc”

    The Google translation (provided above) does not do this comment justice.
    _____

    I think the general point of this comment is that this UDRP filing would be moot if Quebec (like other national & ‘quasi-national’ geographical regions) was allowed to control the .qc ccTLD (which this individual is in favour of).

    The example of Canada is given (it controls .ca; and can veto any .canada application, so ownership of Canada.com is less of a concern).

    Quebec on the other hand has no ccTLD. Thus, it likely has a stake in the .quebec application, which as we know, will cause some confusion and bleed traffic to Quebec.com (the domain at the heart of this UDRP dispute). Ideally, Quebec would instead prefer to focus on building a strong .qc ccTLD (and use its subsequent veto power over any .quebec applications; thereby minimizing concern with Quebec.com).

    For additional context, one might compare Quebec vs. Martinique:

    Quebec (no ccTLD) is the 2nd largest Canadian province, and the only predominantly French-speaking region throughout North America. It has a land area of ~1,542,056 km2 (595,391 sq mi) and a population of 7,900,000.

    Martinique (ccTLD: .mq) is an overseas region of France (*NOT a country), with a land area of 1,128 km2 (436 sq mi) and a population of 390,000.

    ____

    Please do not shoot the messenger … I’m just trying to add context to the comment above, and also lay out larger ccTLD supporting argument as it’s been explained to me.

    Cheers,
    Steve

  7. Jothan Frakes says

    @confer Wait… What?!?!? Steve are you saying that Quebec has seceded from Canada (.ca) and is now an overseas region of France akin to Martinique? From what I understand, Quebec simply benefits from a rich French culture but is within and part of the country of Canada. That may not have been a maple leaf in your pipe.

  8. Cartoonz says

    someone needs to learn what a “cc” TLD is… that stands for “Country Code” Top Level Domain.

    Unless there’s been a succession, Quebec is not a Country. The is no “.qc” ccTLD even!

    Using that logic, California should own the .ca ccTLD… 😉

  9. Domo Sapiens says

    rock-paper-scissors-NewZealand.com

    The Complaint is dismissed and the Panel upholds the allegation of reverse domain name hijacking.

    The Winners: lawyer$ in both side$

  11. Xavier Lemay-Castonguay says

    @confer. You are right. Here in quebec, we like to type “qc” instead of quebec. Only online. Its shorter and we all know what it means.

    They may have choose .Quebec beacause its not a cctld but a gtld. But the martinique have .mq.

    Will google see .quebec as a gtld or cctld?