The extension .green is a generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) delegated the .green extension to the Domain Name System (DNS) on June 19, 2014. The .green gTLD is used by individuals, communities, industries and environmental organizations showcasing their position in the green movement. .green websites support the spread of green awareness and information around the world. The .green TLD and those who use it promote the green economy, innovation and conservation. The organization donates a percentage of all sales and renewals of .green domain names to The DotGreen Foundation for the purpose of funding environmental sustainability projects for organizations worldwide.
Information
.green domain name registrations became available March 24, 2015 Nic.green/ went live at the end of 2014 and was the first ever .green website. DotGreen's main and current website, http://www.going.green/ went live January 26, 2015 .green domain names can be purchased at most online registrars around the world just like .com and .org.
World's environmental top level domain
The .green new Top Level Domain is under the stewardship of the DotGreen Community, Inc., which was formed for the purpose of bringing .green to the Internet through the New gTLD Program with the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN. DotGreen is a SF Bay Area company that works closely with one of the largest Registry Operators in the world, Afilias Limited in Dublin, Ireland.
In an article titled 5 ways Brands should be using new gTLDs, the author writes, "brand owners should survey the entire space of new TLDs on a consistent basis to make sure that they register and use domains in meaningful spaces to connect with consumers. For example, a company like Patagonia should consider the idea of owning the domain www.patagonia.green. The brand could use the site to highlight its work in the "green" community. Additionally, Patagonia will be able to leverage the work that the .green gTLD is doing to connect with that community and make it a known quantity amongst consumers who want to support "green" initiatives."
Long history to bring .green to the internet
The .green initiative began in 2007 after the Generic Names Supporting Organization, known as the GNSO completed the policy discussion about new gTLDs at the ICANN meeting in Los Angeles, 2007. (Aside from .Berlin proposed during an earlier round) .green was the first of what later became 1409 gTLDs and amounted to the greatest domain name expansion of the Internet since its inception. .green is the world's first environmental TLD proposed to both Internet and Environmental communities. It was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by a member of the green movement, a stay at home mother with four children. The .green initiative was originally built around a California not for profit organization called The DotGreen Foundation, established for this purpose by Ms. Annalisa Roger in 2007, and incorporated in 2008 as a Public Benefit Charity with U.S. 501 (c)3 Tax Exempt Status. It was unknown if and when the new gTLD Program would be written, approved, and implemented.
Paris, France, June 2008, ICANN announced the new gTLD Program and .green was at the forefront. At that time, the effort behind .green was run by volunteers as a not-for-profit initiative. A new group appeared with a second environmental Top Level Domain thought to be competition for .green. Later, an interesting reveal was discovered that the .eco group was backed by Al Gore and Sir Roger Moore. However, the .eco TLD soon became contentious when as many as three parties were interested in developing the .eco top-level domain as a for profit business. The volunteers behind DotGreen established a website and traveled internationally following ICANN meetings to spread awareness, growing support for .green from environmental, humanitarian, and Internet communities.
2009, DotGreen contracted with Neustar for Registry Services and with EarthShare for global distribution of funds earned through .green domain name sales. The volunteer effort behind DotGreen was funded by two women, Annalisa Roger and another local mom, Ms. Jennifer Knoll. Their team participated at ICANN for three years working with the Internet community to forward the new gTLD program. It became necessary to find additional funding to support their team and for the .green initiative to survive the long, unknown timeline of ICANN's new gTLD program. In 2011, The DotGreen Community, Inc. a private corporation, was co-founded by DotGreen Foundation's Director, Annalisa Roger, Jennifer Knoll, joined by a local investor, Mr. Jeremy Coon who offered to raise investor funding. DotGreen Community, Inc. formed a partnership with the existing DotGreen Foundation and submitted the application to ICANN. According to Roger, the proposed gTLD stands for "Global Response to Environmental and Economic Necessities" (.GREEN). June 6, 2012, Singapore, Competition for .green surfaced at ICANN's Big Reveal when three Internet veterans positioned themselves at the last minute as .green applicants. All three had filed applications for large portfolios of other new gTLDs with ICANN.
Competition
DotGreen Community, Inc., its supporters, and the global green community exercised all options within the framework of the new gTLD applicant guidebook program during every stage of ICANN's multi-stakeholder program over the following year and a half. This included an outpouring of public support where notable individuals and organizations posted fifty online comments and letters to the ICANN Public Comments Forum website, and wrote letters to both ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) insisting that DotGreen Community gain the delegation of .green over the other applicants. No other .green applicant received a letter in favor of their .green applications.
The Czech Republic, a member of the Government Advisory Committee [GAC] wrote a letter to the ICANN Board in favor of DotGreen and issued a GAC Warning (an official part of the new gTLD program) stating: "This early warning is for three applications for the string .green, they are: Top Level Domain Holdings Limited, United TLD Holdco, and Afilias Ltd. This early warning is based on concerns that these 3 applications are not directly involved or focused on the Global Public Benefit of the .green string." However, the ICANN Board did not respond to this GAC Early Warning nor the many pleas for public benefit posted in ICANN's online Public Forum. There were no GAC warnings issued to DotGreen Community's application.
The publicly traded companies, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. and Demand Media's affiliate known as United TLD Holdco Ltd. later traded under the name, Rightside and a third privately held Irish corporation, Afilias Limited planned a private auction to determine by way of the highest bidder, which one would gain the rights to manage the .green gTLD. Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (operating as Minds + Machines) was the well funded group seeking the .eco domain.
DotGreen Community, Inc. withdrew
DotGreen withdrew its application from ICANN for the .green gTLD in October 2013. In an article titled, "DotGreen calls it quits with “impossible†gTLD auction looming" the author writes, "It seems the final decision was financial â€" the cost of delays and an auction too much for the start-up to bear. It’s a pity really â€" there was some genuine enthusiasm for the cause behind this bid."
In a letter, the Founder of .green wrote to the community she said, "...the auction procedure [allowed by ICANN] disregarded DotGreen's long history in the green community, and ignored the authenticity of DotGreen's application, and the importance of public benefit which is in both the policies of the new gTLD program and stated in ICANN's bylaws."
Bloggers described the withdrawal as disappointing. The announcement came months before the fate of the .green TLD would be decided via ICANN’s auction process that saw companies with very deep pockets including Demand Media Rightside, TLDH (Minds+Machines) and Afilias all vying to become the official .green registry.
.green environmental TLD auctioned to highest bidder
February 2014, "The industry headline was, Two more new gTLDs â€" .wedding and .green â€" were auctioned off, with proceeds amounting to millions of dollars." Afilias stood as the lone and winning applicant for .green (to go along with their other color TLDs .black, .blue, .pink, .red).
DotGreen Community, Inc. rises from the ashes
On Sept. 16, 2014 almost one year after DotGreen withdrew from the race, DotGreen Community, Inc. and Afilias announced a contracted relationship to bring the world's first gTLD for the growing green economy, businesses, social and environmental initiatives to the world.
The industry responded to the news with articles and headlines: DotGreen Community Inc. & Afilias Partnership Best gTLD Story of the Year and DotGreen Rises From the Ashes and DotGreen is back from the dead
Industry blogger, Kevin Murphy wrote, "It appears to be a unique, first-of-its-kind relationship in the new gTLD space...Afilias will run the technical infrastructure of the registry, but the heavy-lifting of actually marketing the names falls on DotGreen...Given that DotGreen spent quite a lot of time in the run-up to the new gTLD application process building relationships with environmental groups, this could be an incredibly shrewd move by Afilias."
Alternative DNS roots
A .green gTLD bearing no connection to the above is supported in the alternative DNS root Name.Space.