Iraq starts application process for .IQ domain name

Iraq's media commission and the U.S.-led administration want to set up web addresses using the .IQ domain. The Iraqi charmain of the National Communications & Media Commission said that the .IQ domain would allow the Iraqis to stake a virtual flag in the worldwide internet community.

It is "an important tangible and symbolic milestone for this nation, as well as the freedom and hopes of the Iraqi people," he wrote in a letter dated May 20 to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The application process could take several months for Iraq because the country and the government remain unstable. Iraq officials say they modeled their application on one submitted by Afghanistan (news - web sites). The ICANN general counsel handling the Iraq application did not return a message. A spokesman said the organization does not comment on applications.

A recent surved pointed out that approx. 6% of the Iraqis say to have access to the internet, and that fewer than 2% actually uses it on a regular base. 12% of the Iraqis claims to have a computer.

At the moment more than 240 countries have domain names.

Source: Yahoo