Registry of XYZ.com domain is willing to support Internet censorship that exists now in China. Supposedly, words and phrases that are forbidden to use as domain names by the Chinese authorities will be forbidden in all domains managed by XYZ.com all over the world. Apart from .XYZ these are .COLLEGE, .RENT, .PROTECTION and .SECURITY. Registry has already applied to ICANN asking to implement this policy, Domain Incite reports.
According to its representatives, this measure is required in order to comply with Chinese law. Obviously, XYZ.com’s standpoint here is understandable: almost a third of all domains in .XYZ are registered by Chinese users, it’s unforgivable to lose this market. According to Chinese law, citizens of China can register domains in foreign registries. However, they cannot actively use them as long as the registry doesn’t comply with the requirements of Chinese government. One of these requirements is precisely the ban on registration of certain domain names, for example, “human rights” and “democracy”. This list, according to some estimates, includes tens of thousands of words and is updated regularly.
These are words in Chinese language of course. However, the ban that the registry wants to implement will cover all countries where it is possible to register names. This means that a Chinese speaker in Russia or the US won’t be able to register a domain because it was forbidden by the Chinese government.
