ICANN is in a very difficult situation because Turkish company Asia Green IT applied for two gTLDs - .islam и .halal. Its fate is still uncertain and apparently ICANN’s board of directors will have to make a decision. Moreover, optimal solution is still not visible.
Organization for Islamic Cooperation, the largest and the most influential international Muslim structure, has objected to the appearance of domains .islam and .halal. According to its members, this kind of domains will inevitably be seen as representing the will and interests of 1,6 billion Muslims around the world and the possibility of their misuse is a serious concern.
ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee could not come to an agreement regarding disputed domains and shifted responsibility of decision to the corporation’s board of directors. Managing director of Asia Green IT Mehdi Abbasnia wrote a letter to management of ICANN to ask ICANN to speed up the approval process and delegation of the domains. He stresses that appearance of domains .islam and .halal in the global network will become an important positive signal for the entire Islamic community. At the same time if domains are not delegated, this will not only be perceived negatively by Muslims of the world but also it will cast a shadow over the entire program of new gTLDs and ICANN itself as an organization that declares principles of equal joint Internet governance.
In short, both sides claim to care about interests of all Muslims while they defend opposite solutions. In this situation decision concerning domains .islam and .halal turns into a serious political issue and requires weighted and careful approach from ICANN.
