.cat

Overview

• .cat (pronounced "punt cat") is a sponsored top-level domain intended to highlight websites offering content in the Catalan language or related to Catalan culture.
• It was developed with oversight from ICANN and administered by Fundació puntCAT (registry also listed as Associació puntCAT in registry records).
• The TLD is non-territorial: it applies to the whole Catalan-speaking community whether or not a site is based in Catalonia.

History

• Approved in September 2005 to serve the Catalan linguistic and cultural community.
• Delegated to the DNS root zone on November 18, 2005 (ICANNWiki) and introduced/implemented in late 2005–2006:
  • Infobox lists introduction as December 19, 2005.
  • Initial registration period: February 13, 2006 to April 21, 2006; general registrations opened April 23, 2006.
• Registry / sponsor:
  • Registry: Associació puntCAT (also referenced as Fundació puntCAT in some sources).
  • Sponsor: Fundació puntCAT.
• Technical and policy notes:
  • Direct second-level registrations are allowed.
  • DNSSEC is enabled for the TLD.
  • Dispute policies include UDRP, CEDRP and Compliance Reconsideration Policy (CRP).
• Registered domains: 109,110 (data as of May 2019).

Usage and Audience

• Intended audience: individuals, organizations and companies that belong to or promote the Catalan linguistic and cultural community online.
• Typical use cases:
  • Websites publishing content in Catalan.
  • Organizations promoting Catalan language and culture (regardless of physical location).
• Prominent users mentioned:
  • FC Barcelona, Girona FC
  • Teatre Nacional de Catalunya
  • Ara (newspaper)
  • Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
  • Museum of the History of Catalonia
• The TLD has also seen occasional non-community uses, such as feline-related domain hacks (e.g., nyan.cat).

Registration Rules

• Eligibility: registrants must demonstrate belonging to the Catalan linguistic and cultural community on the Internet.
• Ways to qualify (as described by the registry):
  • Already have content in Catalan published online.
  • Possess a special code (sometimes called ENS) issued during promotions or agreements.
  • Carry out activities that promote Catalan culture or language.
  • Be endorsed by three people or one institution already using a .cat domain.
• Screening: applications are screened both before and after registration to ensure registrants meet community criteria.
• Structure: direct second-level registrations are permitted.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Purpose-built to highlight Catalan identity online, making .cat an explicit signal of Catalan-language or Catalan-culture content.
• The creation and success of .cat helped inspire other language- and culture-based TLDs (examples: .eus, .gal, .bzh).

Notable Cases or Examples

• Government and legal incidents (2017):
  • In September 2017 Spanish authorities ordered removal of .cat domains used to promote the Catalan independence referendum; puntCAT offices were raided and the CTO was arrested.
  • Several Catalan government sites (e.g., president.cat, govern.cat) were taken down during the 2017–18 political crisis.
• Abuse and opportunistic uses:
  • Domain hacks for feline-themed sites (e.g., nyan.cat).
  • In September/October 2017 the American site The Daily Stormer was briefly hosted on a .cat address during a period when registry controls were reportedly weakened.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       CAT

organisation: Fundacio puntCAT
address:      Plaça Nova 5, 7a planta
address:      Barcelona 08002
address:      Spain

contact:      administrative
name:         Director General
organisation: Fundacio puntCAT
address:      Plaça Nova 5, 7a planta
address:      Barcelona 08002
address:      Spain
phone:        +34 936 75 03 54
fax-no:       +34 936 75 03 54
e-mail:       iana@domini.cat

contact:      technical
name:         Werner Staub
organisation: CORE Association
address:      Cours de Rive 2
address:      Geneva CH-1204
address:      Switzerland
phone:        +41 22 312 56 10
fax-no:       +41 22 312 56 12
e-mail:       dnsmaster@corenic.org

nserver:      ANYC1.IRONDNS.NET 195.253.64.4 2a01:5b0:4:0:0:0:0:4
nserver:      CAT.NS.NIC.ES 194.69.254.15 2001:67c:21cc:2000:0:0:64:47
nserver:      CAT.PCH.NET 2001:500:14:6020:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.20
nserver:      NSC.NIC.DE 194.0.11.110 2001:678:e:110:0:0:0:53
nserver:      SWITCH.NIC.CAT 130.59.31.29 2001:620:0:ff:0:0:0:2f
ds-rdata:     58737 10 2 4dce567c12f637d51a755b9585c0c3c4036aba446261ac994f7f5e91eed4c365

whois:        whois.nic.cat

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://www.domini.cat

created:      2005-12-19
changed:      2025-01-17
source:       IANA