ccTLD .KP - North Korea finally gets online?

[Gerrit]

KPNIC

It seems registrations for .kp domains have finally started :o

North Korea is the most isolated and reclusive nation on earth. Getting into or out of the country is extremely difficult and there is virtually no connection with the outside world. Needless to say, .kp was one of the last ccTLD's to become active and so far only a few government-owned websites used it. From the above website it now looks almost like .kp may accept regular registrations ?



I won't even talk about the value. In a country where hardly anyone has access to the web and where many don't even know about the internet, even the best keyword will have little to no value.
But when keeping value aside, it does intriguate me because I'd never espect .kp would ever go truly online. Does this mean the country is finally step by step embracing the web? Will .kp be available for non-residents or only for companies or organisations with business contacts in the country?

If any domain would be a novelty, it for sure would be this one. Even when the value in terms of reselling would be close to zero, having a .kp domain in your portfolio would be like the rarest oddity available on the internet :tu:

 

[realtimeregister]

I saw this a few weeks ago. I registered a bunch and i would receive a detailed email with information.

So far i have yet to receive email. When i try to register the domain names for a second time it says i did register them (least that sounds positive).

 

[Gerrit]

Have you tried calling the registry? (see number on bottom of screen)

Wikipedia says that .kp is reserved for those living in or dealing with North Korea directly, but Wikipedia often is wrong, and the site mentioned in the opening post does look like they're offering the domains to anyone (unless I missed some part of the site where it says who can register).

It would be odd that anyone can register .kp domains for any purpose, including websites the regime would not like. On the other hand, I guess if nobody has access to the web, it cannot do harm to try to sell .kp domains to people abroad, it's not like the locals would be able to visit the sites ...

 

[Alex P]

4 (the criteria for registration and qualifications)

1) “GOV.KP, TRA.KP, REP.KP, NET.KP, and EDU.KP” are applicable to organizations and entities (organizations hereafter) in the DPRK.
2) “ORG.KP” is applicable to foreign missions and international institutes (foreign organizations hereafter) in the DPRK.
3) “COM.KP” is applicable to the DPRK organizations conducting business activities inside and outside the country and joint ventures in the DPRK territory.
4) Trademark owner can register his brand with “COM.KP” as a domain only to protect his trademark.
5) If need be, an applicant can register more than two KP domains.

Taken from the site

 

[realtimeregister]

Thanks Alex for pointing the criteria I did read the criteria and i still wondered what the price for a .kp wouldbe so i regged a few anyways in the hope that i would receive an email with an invoice or something.

But o well :D

 

[Animator]

What do you guys think of this: KimJongil.com.kp

 

[bluesinjid]

What do you guys think of this: KimJongil.com.kp

Kim Jong Il? He's sick as a dog! Let's reg his son, Kim Jong Un.

 

[Gerrit]

Isn't it Kim Jung Il, with a -u- ?

Anyways, he is amongst the only few who have access to the internet via a Chinese connection. Those North Koreans who have access to a computer cannot access the internet at all, but only a nationwide intranet which is tightly monitored and obviously the only sites on this intranet are those speaking positive of the regime. But Kim Jung-Il is online yeah, and he even uses email. Maybe if we'd politely ask him he'd be flattered enough to make an exception and let us register a .kp ?

 

[Showfom]

Search some keywords in KPNIC, all shows no results.

They will open soon I think.

---------- Post added at 06:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 PM ----------

site:.kp - Google Search

There are many websites using .kp domains

 

[Gerrit]

Two pages of Google results with .kp, all sites appear to be run by the government. No private registrations visable.

I thought for a moment they had developed their own counter-version to MySpace, but friend.com.kp leads to a page about Kim Il Sung ... Quite odd to call such page friend.com.kp ...

But seems no private registrations (= registrations by other people or organisations than the government) are existing, at the same time their registry seems to be up and running. Odd.

 

[Kate]

I'm really thrilled that we now have the option of dealing with a registry even less trustworthy than China.

 

[Gerrit]

How do you know about their trustworthyness if the registrations for the public haven't even started yet? So how can we judge their reliability then??

If Kim Jung-Il is any bit clever (...) then he tries to market the domain worldwide much like .tv and .cc did. In North Korea hardly anyone has internet access, so it's not like selling .kp domains to the outside world takes away locals' chances of getting their desired domain. Most North Koreans won't know what a domainname is. With the profits of .kp sales abroad, maybe he can feed some of his citizens fighting hunger on daily basis...

 

[Gerrit]

I saw this a few weeks ago. I registered a bunch and i would receive a detailed email with information.

So far i have yet to receive email. When i try to register the domain names for a second time it says i did register them (least that sounds positive).

So any news or update on this?

I read recently the number of .kp domains increased slightly (although it does seem to be all government-owned sites) and that a few foreign companies want to invest in telecommunications in the DPRK. Not sure if this will be allowed, they were negotiating on it.

I'd fancy a .kp as domain if it were possible. Even more iconic than the .su ones :kickass:

I live in Spain. The ONLY foreigner who is close friends with the regime in North Korea is a Spaniard. He even holds a North Korean passport and has founded an organisation to promote the North Korean regime abroad. korea-dpr.com is his website. He may have access to .kp domains? He lives less than 2 hours train drive from me... maybe I should pay this guy a visit...

 

[Kate]

I saw a documentary about that guy and the KFA association. Nuts or opportunist, you choose
That being said, the regime is insane and unpredictable. It's the last extension I would invest in. Probably that guy could get one .kp but you would be very motivated to secure what amounts to a collector's item.

Even when the regime is toppled/collapsed, NK is a total wasteland and a lost generation (not comparable to East Germany) and it will take decades before it begins to look like a normal country.
.kp are not going to be valuable any time soon :imho:

 

[Gerrit]

The Korean Friendship Association organises promotional tours to more or less swamp the tourists with some Juche (the local ideology, not too different from Stalinism) propaganda in the same way as locals get bombarded with propaganda on daily basis.

I don't know why this guy in Spain is so fond of the regime in Pyongyang. Either he needs his head looked after (and I say this as being a socialist myself so I generally support leftist politics -- North Korea is however just an insane dictatorship and cult of personality) or either it gives him a feeling of being an important person with unique privileges? I probably need to visit that guy, even if only to find out what motivates him (and maybe indeed ask politely for a cheap .kp domain )

That said, I don't think the regime in North Korea will be overthrown anytime soon, and I also don't see it collapse. They surely keep it going for much longer than anyone expected and it has survived natural disasters and other unpleasant surprises but survived all of them. I do think the regime will be around for another while... Which includes probably that the locals will not have access to the web (if they even heard of its existance at all) in the near future. In that regard, .kp indeed will be without value.

I do still see .kp as a nice collector item, a rarity like the .su domains that are kept alive for their oddity and novely feeling only. So if .kp would be open for registration and the price is low, I may feel tempted to go for one

PS: I assume the documentary you saw is "Friends of Kim"? That one specifically deals with the KFA and its Spanish president. A documentary very much worth watching is "Welcome to North Korea" by Peter Tetteroo, it's on YouTube or you can visit tetteroo.tv and see if they got a webshop. Very interesting documentary although there are still a lot of question marks left about the country.



@ RealTimeRegister: did you in the end secure the .kp domains you tried to register or have you never heard back from them?

 

[Kate]

PS: I assume the documentary you saw is "Friends of Kim"? That one specifically deals with the KFA and its Spanish president.

Yes it was that documentary. PS: perhaps you can explore local incorporation possibilities, then you are eligible. I heard NK is needing and welcoming foreign capital. It's probably going to be quite a lot of money for one domain.

 

[Gerrit]

I have considered volunteering for humanitary aid in North Korea, but it seems to be quite hard to find a bona fide organisation involved in it. Also, even the expats living there to help the locals are seen as suspicious by the government, so most of those expats working there as aid workers live in compounds to assure contact with locals is restricted to the minimum.