UK.gov gives nod to .scot

Ye can take oor lives but ye'll nivver take our gTLDom

While the Coalition government may oppose Scottish independence, it has nevertheless given the go-ahead to a Scottish move for independence on the internet.

The UK government has reportedly granted Dot Scot Registry, a not-for-profit company, with approval to apply for .scot, a new internet top-level domain.

The wannabe registry can now apply to domain name policy oversee ICANN for .scot, paying a $185,000 (£116,970) application fee for the privilege.

Under ICANN rules, any proposed new gTLD that purports to represent a geographic region needs to get a letter of approval or non-objection from the relevant local government.

Dot Scot Registry now has that letter, according to The Scotsman .

A spokesperson for Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond told the newspaper: “Scotland is well on the road to independence, and it looks like we will soon be independent in cyberspace too – the dotScot domain name will be a great boost in promoting Scotland around the globe.”

The Scotland Office is reportedly "relaxed" about the move.

Elsewhere in the UK, plans are afoot at .uk registry Nominet to apply for both .wales and .cymru to represent Wales in English and Welsh.

Official London PR agency London & Partners has also put out a call for partners for a .london bid, but has not yet announced a winner a month after saying it would do so.

ICANN's deadline for new gTLD application registrations is looming: last call will be this Thursday. ®