Bahrain TRA publishes Arab League’s Request for Information on Management of Internet Generic Top-Level Domain ‘.arab’ and ‘.عرب’

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain (TRA) today has published the Arab League’s Request for Information on the Management of the Internet Generic Top-Level Domain “.arab” and”.عرب” .

TRA’s ICT Director, Mr. Ahmed Aldoseri, said, “Under the leadership of TRA Bahrain, the Arab League is currently gathering information for the purpose of finalizing its plan to apply for the “.arab” and “.عرب” top-level domains and establish the registries pertaining to Generic Top-Level Domain.”

Mr. Aldoseri went on to say that “.arab” and “.عرب” will encourage Internet use for those who cannot deal with Latin script and will encourage and increase the Arabic content on the Internet.”

The purpose of this Request for Information is to gather ideas and validate proposed concepts to establish and run the domains in the most efficient manner possible. The League of Arab States has decided to involve individuals, companies, organizations or government bodies and other interested parties to participate in enriching existing ideas and approaches that help in establishing the high-level organizational, structural, management, marketing, technical and financial functions of the intended registry for the “.arab” and “.عرب”.

The new “.arab” and “.عرب” domain name program will create opportunities for consumers, businesses, organizations and governments within the Member States of the Arab League and beyond to underline their identity using their own language and script.

Work conducted for the Arabic domain names is spearheaded by the Arab League Steering Committee for Arabic top-Level Domain Names, which is currently presided by Mr. Aldoseri. Other member countries of the Steering Committee are Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Yemen, and Morocco.

The Request for Information document can be found on TRA’s website. Interested parties can submit their responses to this document directly to the General Secretariat of the Arab League by 4 pm on Thursday 17 June 2010.