Germany plans new gTLD: .gesellschaftmitbeschränkterhaftung
The German Department of Commerce has announced plans to apply to ICANN for a new gTLD, .gesellschaftmitbeschränkterhaftung, to represent German companies on the web.
It’s believed to be the first public announcement of a new gTLD by a government agency anywhere in the world.
“For far too many years German companies have had to rely on dot-com domain names to conduct their affairs online,” German business minister Hans Vottisyornäm said in a statement.
“Dot-com has no meaning in the German language, confusing German internet users,” he added. “As soon as ICANN approves our plan, we believe dot-gesellschaftmitbeschränkterhaftung will quickly become the TLD of choice for German businesses on the international stage.”
Gesellschaftmitbeschränkterhaftung, which roughly translates as “com”, will have prices starting at $149 per year, but registrants will receive a free .aktiengesellschaft name with every purchase, if they can present the correct paperwork.
Go Daddy has already backed the TLD, and is planning a multi-million-euro TV ad campaign starring David Hasselhoff and a horde of busty Bavarian beer wenches.
“This could be the biggest thing since .tel,” Bob Parsons said in a statement.
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For people arriving via search engines: this was an April fool’s joke.