Proposal received from Dean Pemberton on 28 August 2002, for the creation of a new second level domain .geek.nz.
THE GEEKS OF NEW ZEALAND
Overview
New Zealand is a country striving to become one of the technological
elite. It does, however, suffer from a problem which sees some of
it's
brightest people leaving its shores. Geeks do not feel that they are
taken seriously in New Zealand, allowances should be made to
accommodate
them.
Presently the New Zealand Internet Domain Name System has not
addressed
the geek needs of New Zealand. Geeks have been forced to register
vanity names under such headings as .com, .gen or .net. This does
not
allow the Geeks of New Zealand to fully express themselves and
oppresses
their cultural expression. The majority of the Internet
infrastructure
in New Zealand was created by these Geeks, yet they are still grossly
underrepresented when it comes to the existing domain structure.
Some
could argue that a small effort was made in the past with the
<.gen.nz>
domain. This may have been the case in the early days of the
Internet.
Now however the scope of <.gen.nz> has changed, and does not allow
the
geeks in NZ to fully express a culture that they are extremely proud
of.
Qualifying Criteria
Main Principles for Registration of Second Level Domain Names
InternetNZ, the .nz ccTLD Manager, has defined the criteria for
second
level domain names. The criteria as follows
1. There is a clear common interest shared by the entities that would reside within the domain - i.e. there exists a community of interest.
2. Communities of interest do not overlap, so far as is practicable.
3. The domain name clearly indicates or describes the nature of the
community of interest.
4. The community of interest is certain of continued existence. These
requirements are addressed in the following sections.
Principle One: Community of Interest
We envisage that the creation of geek.nz will foster awareness of New
Zealand in international Geek culture, and in making Geeks around the
world more aware of how Geek friendly New Zealand is, thus
encouraging
immigration of Geeks to New Zealand, furthering the Knowledge
Economy,
and importing both intellectual and fiscal capital.
The creation of <.geek.nz> as a second level domain will serve as a
focal point for this worthwhile group, allowing Geeks to express
their
cultural uniqueness and individuality via the Internet. We believe
that
geek culture crosses all boundaries, ignoring race, gender, geography
and religion.
We are applying for <.geek.nz> on behalf of all current and future
New
Zealand Geeks.
Principle Two: No Overlapping of Communities of Interest.
It could be said that <.gen.nz> is a suitable domain for people to
make
vanity domains under the current structure. This was certainly true
for
the early days of the New Zealand Internet. This, however, was only
true because geeks were by and large the only participants in the
early
Internet.
Now that the growth of the Internet in New Zealand has expanded to
include every possible group, the <.gen.nz> domain is no longer
sufficient to describe the Geek community. We are not asking for
anything new. We are merely asking that an oversight be corrected.
It
is easy to see that the original geeks who pioneered the New Zealand
Domain Name System, would not have expected wide spread use of the
system. If they had, then they may have included .geek.nz at the
outset
of the system. The <geek.nz> domain will be widely used by
individuals
and organisations, and we predict that it will be a popular domain
name
Principle Three: Degree of Descriptiveness
The New Hacker Dictionary defines 'geek' as follows
-----
geek[n] A person who has chosen concentration rather than
conformity;
one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination,
not
mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of
neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a
term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves - and some who
are
in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they
(quite properly) regard hacker' as a label that should be bestowed by
others rather than self-assumed.
-----
"geek" is the way that Geeks describe themselves, and it is the way
they
are described by others, the world over. We make the point, that this
proposal represents a people asking InternetNZ to help them claim
their
right to name themselves. 'geek' is a generic term like 'bank' or
'shop'
and is not a trademark nor does it imply endorsement of any
commercial
organisation.
Principle Four: Certainty of continued existence
It can be guaranteed that there will always be a demand for the
<.geek.nz> domain name, as long as there is an Internet with a Domain
Name System, there will be Geeks to support it. To question the
continued existence of a Geek population in New Zealand is to
question
the future existence of the New Zealand Internet as a whole. Geeks
are
an integral part of the New Zealand Internet Geeks are involved in
every
level of the Internet in New Zealand.
The current 2nd Level domain policy has very little regard to the
this
fact. The closest current match (.gen) is so broad as to give no
indication as to the specific nature of the Geek culture. This is
not
a fair representation of a group which provides most of the expertise
for the smooth running of the Internet in New Zealand.

Conclusion
The Geeks of New Zealand believe that there is a strong case to be
made
for a <.geek.nz> second level domain name and that it meets the key
requirements as set out by InternetNZ. The <.geek.nz> domain would
be
unmoderated. We also see no issue with running the RFD for this
application being run at the same time as .bank.nz. We would request
that the RFD start right away and be for the 60 day period of
time.