The South African ccTLD manager zaDNA has a Public Discussion Document on Second Level Registrations (SLRs) in .ZA that outlines the issues and options for opening up .za to second level registrations.
Submissions are only open to South Africans whether they’re in the domain name community or the general public with an interest in the issue. Comments, feedback and proposals regarding the feasibility of second level .za registrations and the best possible way to implement them are open until close of business on 16 April.
Currently under South Africa’s ccTLD, domain name registrations are only allowed at the third level under ac.za, co.za, gov.za, org.za and net.za. But the .za policy and regulatory body says “in view of the growing trend wherein most top level domains (TLDs) now offer SLRs, zaDNA has for the last few years been inundated with requests for SLRs in .za.” They also claim that “some of the leading .za registrars, in particular, have also been vocal in their view that SLRs will enable .za to stay competitive against other TLDs, especially new gTLDs that offer SLRs.”
zaDNA note they have assessed the landscape regarding SLRs and that several ccTLDs that traditionally offered third level registrations have now shifted towards accepting SLRs. Some of these ccTLDs include .co (Colombia), .uk (United Kingdom), .nz (New Zealand) and .ke (Kenya). In addition, .au (Australia) is also planning to introduce SLRs.
zaDNA have taken the view that SLRs will help improve registration options in .za and are likely to be more attractive than the current third level registrations as SLRs will allow for shorter domain names and URLs. At the least, SLRs are likely to offer sustainable alternatives to the current third level registration model.
Submissions are open until close of business on 16 April 2018 and a Public Discussion Document on Second Level Registrations in .ZA is available here.
