Gets .Spa domain name — “Spa Community”
Group wins Community Priority Evaluation for .Spa.
Asia Spa and Wellness Promotion Council Limited has won (for now) the sole right to operate the .Spa top level domain name following winning a Community Priority Evaluation for the name.
The group scored 14 points (pdf) out of 16 to prevail. It lost one point for “Content and Use” and one for “Community Endorsement” under support.
As stated by its application, Asia Spa and Wellness Promotion Council Limited “is the regional coordinating body for the promotion of spa and wellness centres. We assist national and regional organisations in promoting spa and wellness centres both inter- and intra-regionally to an audience of wellness tourists, health practitioners and other stakeholders.”
As the group’s name and description implies, ASWPC certainly doesn’t represent the entire spa community. I could tell you more regarding the group, but its website is down since it has exceeded its bandwidth capacity.
As a result of the decision, Donuts is right now out of the running for the domain name. It by now fought off a challenge by the Belgian government, which argued that the name is derived from a modest Belgian town. ASWPC struck a deal with the town.
Don’t expect this to be the end of the fight for .Spa, though. Donuts Vice President of Communications and Industry Relations Mason Cole released this statement to Reglike:
Donuts is aware of the community priority evaluation note recommending that ICANN grant community status to another applicant for the .SPA gTLD. Clearly the panel’s recommendation is in contravention of the Applicant Guidebook as the applicant did not meet the criteria set forth for community names. Donuts will vigorously oppose this ruling and will make all use of all available remedies at its disposal.
Minds + Machines originally applied for .spa, but withdrew its application in 2013 over concerns regarding government action on the name.
