Dot Iraq

No, "Dot Iraq" is not a village controlled by insurgents it is a reference to the "country level top level domain" name -- .iq -- recently launched via ICANN. Commenting on this launch was Fareed Yasseen in Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs who stated, "Getting the .iq domain name has great symbolic meaning. That would be fitting representation for Iraq's presence on the Internet." (Source: Farah Stockman article for the Boston Globe)

After numerous set backs including a one year "turf war" by two Iraqi government agencies over which agency would administer the domain Iraq has finally taken its place in the cyberspace community of nations. This is another step forward in the march to a free, democratic, and open society in Iraq in terms of commerce, politics (think more websites for politicians!), more blogs, religion, and civil society overall.

While we need military forces to combat the insurgency currently harming Iraq we need to couple this effort with an entirely separate army of Internet experts, web designers, and electronic commerce consultants to assist Iraq's Internet culture and infrastructure.

I plan to do secure a .iq website when they become available to help facilitate the necessary networking between our two countries to drive free trade and the development of a civil society so if you are interested in joining this campaign here is the necessary background information:

Sponsoring Organization:
National Communications and Media Commission of IraqAl-Masbah Mahala 929Baghdad

Iraq Administrative Contact:
Administrative Role AccountNetwork Information Center of IraqAl-Masbah Mahala 929Baghdad IraqEmail: ncmc.role.account@gmail.com Voice: +964 7901427265Fax: +96417195839

Technical Contact:
Technical Role Account Network Information Center of IraqAl-Masbah Mahala 929Baghdad Iraq Email: ncmc.role.account@gmail.com Voice: +964 7901427265Fax: +964 17195839

Freedom is expanding,

Todd