Scotland’s vote for independence this Thursday brings with it a stack of issues to consider, including the potentially sovereign nation’s currency, economic stability, budget deficits, taxes and involvement in the European Union. But Scotland also faces another kind of fight: a digital one, involving its country code TLD.
If Scotland decides to leave the United Kingdom on September 18, it could begin the process for acquiring its own country code domain. But the nation’s TLD wouldn’t be an obvious one, as all the logical “.s-something” names are already taken. What’s left? According to Stuart Fuller, director of commercial operations at NetNames, only .SF, .SP, .SQ and .SW remain. The Seychelles already claim .SC, which would have make the most sense for Scotland.
The next best option for Scotland is the new gTLD .SCOT, which will be made available for general registration on September 23. Some companies have already swooped in on their .SCOT names, while others are putting efforts toward solidifying an official Scotland ccTLD. Regardless of what becomes of Scotland’s official domain, the country’s residents and businesses can use .SCOT – just as the UK uses .co.uk instead of its assigned code, .gb.
As Thursday approaches and opinion polls suggests a close result, we stand behind Scotland’s success politically, economically and, of course, on the web! Source