The new domain .BIBLE which the American
Bible Society will be launching to facilitate Bible resource searches on
the net, will now join top-level domains .org and .com. When the contract with Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is finalised, the American Bible Society – the U.S.-based interconfessional organisation that has helped spread the Scriptures for almost two hundred years - will be given the green light to operate the new domain.
The organisation expects the first .BIBLE domain names to be available in 2015.
The initiative was made possible by ICANN’s decision two years ago to expand the range of so-called Top Level Domains (TDLs). Until June 2011, this was limited to 22 generic domains such as .com, .org and .net and about 250 national domains.
ICANN approved a plan to allow people to create personalized top-level domains using the domain name .anything.
This will involve paid contracts between ICANN and the interested parties. 1400 such requests have already been presented and even the Catholic Church has asked to operate the .catholic domain name (not to be confused with .cat, which is Catalonia’s official domain name).
Although the American Bible Society cannot yet assign domain names, it has launched bibleltd.org, where people can pre-register and get information of the procedure and time frame involved in getting a web address.
The .BIBLE domain will be made available to registrants who want to associate themselves, their products, services, thoughts, ideas or anything else in a positive way with the Bible.
“This is the Bible’s moment to move from Gutenberg to Google. I can think of no better way to signal to today’s generations that the Bible is wide open for a bold and promising future.”
adds Doug Birdsall, American Bible Society president,” American Bible Society’s president, Doug Birdsall, commented at the .BIBLE project launch.
United Bible Societies, an organisation which brings together 146 Bible societies present in 200 countries across the world, welcomed the idea of a personalised domain for Holy Scripture-related websites.
“We believe the Bible is for everyone so we are working towards the day when everyone can access the Bible in the language and medium of their choice,” the General Secretary of United Bible Societies said in a message to the American Bible Society.