Quebec opts out on .quebec

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Quebec opts out on .quebec

Too expensive

tangor

8:25 pm on Nov 19, 2014 (gmt 0)

It was not the news the company behind the new dot-quebec domains wanted to hear.

Just days before launch, dot-quebec's biggest supporter – the government of the Canadian province of Québec – ditched its plan to move from .gouv.qc.ca to the much simpler and more convenient .quebec. Apparently the shift in websites would be too expensive.

A letter from the government's communications chief Christian Lessard, leaked to news agency The Canadian Press, noted that a financial assessment of the move had put the total cost at CAN$12m ($10.6m), and it was decided this was not a good use of public funds.

[theregister.co.uk...]
Gotta ask... anyone heard of .htaccess?

jmccormac

8:51 pm on Nov 19, 2014 (gmt 0)

Rebranding is a bit more than .htaccess. :) It is a bureaucracy - think of all that paperwork.

Regards...jmcc

tangor

5:59 am on Nov 20, 2014 (gmt 0)

Perhaps, but does it not seem a bit odd they don't just pick it up and park it for now? Heck, we all do that! If sixty bucks breaks the bank then there's other problems!

(If not obvious, that's humor!)

piatkow

1:34 pm on Nov 20, 2014 (gmt 0)

If its not considered a good use of public money then it doesn't matter if its $60 or $6,000,000

encyclo

3:05 am on Nov 25, 2014 (gmt 0)

The $12 million estimate is on the low side. The websites (although there are many) are the least of their problems, the rebranding and the email systems are much harder problems to solve. Currently, everything is on subdomains under gouv.qc.ca, they only have one main domain name.

The launch of .quebec has been an unmitigated failure, the decision by the Quebec government merely highlights this fact. The marketing has been woeful, PointQuebec failed to get any substantive media interest in the launch even within the small world of Quebec technology publishing. No major sites have any plans to convert. PointQuebec were counting on the Quebec government to be the driving force for adoption, and they will struggle now.

They have also put up significant barriers to adoption. Why are .quebec domains priced between $45 and $75 (or more), when .ca or .com domains can be had for $10? Since when does a newcomer offer their product at three times the price of the incumbents whilst offering no obvious additional value, and think it is a good marketing strategy?

They have also blocked the registration of a huge number of domains, including (for example) every common surname in Quebec for an undetermined future plan to offer email address forwarding for a fee. Their protectionism is widespread, sometimes arbitrary, and sometimes blatantly abusive. I don't mind the fact that I can't register the domain "pkp.quebec" (Quebecers will get the reference), but why is it reserved?

In short, the Quebec government made absolutely the right decision. Paying exorbitant fees for hundreds of domains from a new registry with a sketchy business plan would have been a colossal waste of public funds (which would be better spent migrating government departments from Windows XP!). As for me, I'm sticking with .ca.

jmccormac

3:23 am on Nov 25, 2014 (gmt 0)

If the local government organisations don't buy into a city gTLD, then it is a major problem and it could affect the uptake of the gTLD. It is very much a worst case scenario.

Regards...jmcc