Frequently Asked Questions about Registration

Why do we have to deal separately with MuseDoma and a registrar to get names in .museum?

.museum is a so-called "Sponsored TLD". As such, it has a "Sponsoring Organization" charged with ensuring that the domain is only used by eligible name holders. The Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma) is the .museum sponsor and was created as a nonprofit organization exclusively for that role. A Sponsoring Organization authorizes the registrars for its domain but may not provide registration service, itself. Similarly, the registrars may not take independent responsibility for determining an applicant's eligibility to hold a name in the domain. As a consequence, acquiring names in .museum is a two stage process. The first is the allocation of a "Community-ID" by MuseDoma, certifying the applicant's eligibility to hold names in .museum. The second is the registration of the ID holder's names by an independent registrar.

We thought that we had already registered directly with MuseDoma?

As the Sponsoring Organization for .museum, MuseDoma is contractually prohibited from serving as a registrar. Special conditions applied during the start-up phase of domain activity, when MuseDoma was permitted to register names provisionally. This service has now terminated and all holders of provisionally registered names need to transfer them formally to one of the authorized registrars.

Didn't we already pay MuseDoma to register our names?

The fee collected by MuseDoma is for what are formally termed "Eligibility and Name Selection" (ENS) services. The documentation on the MuseDoma Web site and the instructions for the application forms make repeated and explicit reference to the one-time ENS fee (which is no longer invariably being charged) being separate from the annual fee for each registered name. The term "ENS services" was coined during the establishment of the Sponsored TLDs but the scope of these services is not readily apparent. We are therefore replacing the notion of "ENS process" with more appropriate reference to the acquisition of a "Community ID".

We sent in a preliminary application some time ago but lost track of it. Do we need to submit a new application or can we continue processing the first one?

We are a widely recognized museum. Why do we need to pay MuseDoma to verify that?

An account needs to be established for every applicant and the services described in the first question, above, are provided to each. The total amount of work may differ from case to case. Varying prices are, however, not practicable and a single standard fee has been set. As an alternative, we have recently begun to exempt applicants from the ENS fee if their eligibility for holding names in .museum can be established completely on the basis of the information submitted with the application without need for any further discussion.

In addition to the cost-for-services aspect of establishing the domain, we see the development of the .museum community as a valuable goal in itself. MuseDoma initiated this process with a new top-level domain as the result. The long-term utility and viability of that domain are, however, totally dependent on the active and broadbased support of the museum community. The Community-ID does not simply indicate eligibility to hold a name in .museum. It is also a certificate of support for the community of which the .museum label is but a token.

Why shouldn't we wait until more people have heard about .museum before going to the trouble and expense of registering?

Nobody can be expected to know about something new without being told about it. The obvious source for information about .museum – with no reasonable alternative – is the museum community, itself. The clearest way for museums to spread word about their dedicated top-level domain is by using it. Although there may be other useful channels for spreading that message, the strongest way to highlight any of them is by including an invitation to "visit us at http://our.site.museum/".

Adopting a wait-and-see stance toward actively supporting .museum will have the opposite effect. It will certainly slow the rate at which the domain becomes known. In the worst of cases, it might be taken to indicate that something as specialized as a top-level domain dedicated to the museum community is not sustainable.

What happens if MuseDoma doesn't give us a Community ID?

MuseDoma is obligated to restrict the holding of names in .museum to applicants meeting criteria that are clearly stated in the domain's Charter. Within that framework, MuseDoma has no interest greater than realizing the broadest possible participation in the domain. If an applicant's eligibility cannot be established during initial review, the reasons for this are clearly described. When the applicant provides notification of the corresponding change in status, MuseDoma will resume processing the application.

If this does not lead to what the applicant regards as an acceptable result, the question will be passed to an appropriate reference body – normally a professional museums association – for what MuseDoma will accept as a binding recommendation. If the applicant also finds that result unsatisfactory, there are several formal dispute resolution processes specified in the .museum Sponsorship Agreement, between ICANN and MuseDoma.

How much does a name in .museum cost?

MuseDoma reserves the right to charge an initial one-time fee of US$100 for processing a request for a Community ID. This includes conducting whatever discussion may be necessary with the applicant to establish the basis for the claim of museum status and verifying the information provided. If no such dialog is necessary in order to process the application, this fee is not charged. In either case, once eligibility has been determined, further discussion may be needed to ensure that the .museum names subsequently registered conform to the domain's naming conventions. The one-time fee - when charged - covers the processing of any number of name requests, regardless of when they are submitted.

How is the annual registration fee set?

There are substantial basic costs for the operation of any top-level domain. These costs are distributed among the holders of names in that domain by the annual registration fee. If there is a large number of names within a domain, the cost for each name can be lower than it would be in a smaller domain. Operating costs are also greater for domains with policies that require on-going enforcement than they are for unrestricted domains where maintenance can be highly automated. Prices range from the US$15 charged by many registrars for a name in the large unrestricted TLDs such as .com and .org (which count their size by millions of names), to well in excess of US$100 for many of the restricted national domains (which may contain only a few thousand names).

After careful consideration of the many relevant factors, the Sponsoring Organizations for the three sponsored TLDs created by ICANN in 2001 decided that it should be possible for a registrar to sell a name in them for no more than US$100. Since the annual fee paid by a name holder for a name in .museum is independently set by each registrar, MuseDoma set its fees to the registrars accordingly.

We've invested a huge amount in branding our current domain name. Why would we want to change?

Changing a top-level domain identity is a multifaceted and complex issue. One of the most significant support documents that will appear on this Web site discusses the various strategic and technical factors that must be considered. In anticipation of the release of that document, the following may be worth noting:

Why are there restrictions on the names we can register in .museum?

Can I participate in the further development of the policies described here?