Connecting.nyc is campaigning for the .nyc TLD because we believe it will help increase civic participation in New York City.  It will do this by connecting the interests of the local marketplace to the interests of local community groups.

Three audiences served

• In NYC for example, the person on the street sees the .nyc domain as a way to make information on the web more reliable and intuitively organized. "It's like a better Citysearch."
  
• Local entrepreneurs see it as a way to get a better domain name at a lower cost, and a way to brand themselves as local.
• Social entrepreneurs see it as a focal point for civic participation and a source of revenue that can be allocated to key projects.
  

A new way of managing TLDs

.com domains are a mess- it's a pure landgrab and there's no taxonomy in place. To prevent that from happening to .nyc, we want to govern the namespace, but as a completely open and transparent social enterprise. We view these domains as common pool resources like the air or water, and we want to empower the community to take control of what is rightfully theirs.

The community governs

That's where community groups and other non-market social producers come in. The .nyc TLD present an unmatched opportunity for us to apply new organizational models and theories of community governance that the web makes possible. This is our chance to forge a third way between state administration and private management of common pool resources.

Project Benefits

When we're done with dotcity, we'll have:

• community-managed information space that more effectively networks local resources
• a focal point for civic participation on the web
  

Where you come in

Our mission is to increase civic participation, and we begin by inviting your participation in our campaign for .nyc.  We want you to help us determine the policies and procedures that will govern the .nyc space.   We also need your help to build a broad base of support for this project.  It's easy to get involved.

>>Click Here to Get Started