.shia

Overview

.shia is a proposed community generic top-level domain (gTLD) submitted under ICANN's New gTLD Program. The string refers to Shia Islam, the second-largest denomination of Islam. The application was filed by Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. (AGITSys) as a community priority application intended to serve the Shia Muslim community.

History

• Applied for as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program (Reveal Day: 13 June 2012).
• Applicant / proposed registry operator: Asia Green IT System Bilgisayar San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti. (AGITSys).
• The application was submitted as a Community TLD and included a Public Interest Commitment (PIC).
• Priority information in the application process lists the applicant with priority 1608.
• An objection was filed by Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).

Usage and Audience

• Intended audience: members of the Shia Muslim community, Islamic religious and cultural organizations, and entities serving that community.
• The applicant states that registrants must declare they are part of the Islamic Religious and Cultural Community and accept the Shahadah (the Islamic declaration of faith) as part of registration.

Registration Rules

• Community eligibility: The PIC states the registry will "do its most to limit second-level domain registrations to those of Muslim faith, or those with a clear interest in serving the Muslim community and faith beneficially."
• Declarative requirement: To register a .SHIA domain name, registrants must electronically accept that they have pronounced the Shahadah (declaration of faith).
• Content and abuse restrictions (per the PIC):
  • The registry will not tolerate illegitimate or non-legal activity such as terrorism, online counterfeiting, piracy, or radical content.
  • The registry's PIC states it will not tolerate content that criticizes Islam and the Muslim faith and will take action against registrants promulgating such content.
  • The registry pledged to create a blacklist to pre-empt prohibited activities and to cooperate with authorities.
• WHOIS and verification: The PIC commits the registry to strive to ensure that WHOIS data is verified, authentic, and publicly accessible.

SEO and Brand Impact

• The applicant's PIC emphasizes verification of WHOIS data and restrictions on who may register, aiming to create an "abuse-free environment." Such measures are positioned to influence trust and perceived legitimacy for sites using the TLD by restricting registrations to a defined community and committing to enforcement against prohibited content.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) filed an objection to the .shia application during the ICANN application process.
• The application identifies itself as a community priority application and includes an application identifier referenced in the filing (Application 1-2129-23641) and an associated PIC document.

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

domain:       SHIA

organisation: Emergency Back-End Registry Operator Program - ICANN
address:      12025 Waterfront Dr., Suite 300
address:      Los Angeles CA 90094
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         EBERO Event Director
organisation: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
address:      12025 Waterfront Dr., Suite 300
address:      Los Angeles CA 90094
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 (310) 301-5800
fax-no:       +1 (310) 823-8649
e-mail:       eventdirector@icann.org

contact:      technical
name:         Nominet EBERO Event Manager
organisation: Nominet
address:      Minerva House, Edmund Halley Road, Oxford Science Park
address:      Oxford Oxon OX4 4DQ
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 1865 332470
e-mail:       ebero@nominet.uk

nserver:      DNS1.EMDNS.UK 213.248.217.153 2a01:618:401:0:0:0:0:153
nserver:      DNS2.EMDNS.UK 103.49.81.153 2401:fd80:401:0:0:0:0:153
nserver:      DNS3.EMDNS.UK 213.248.221.153 2a01:618:405:0:0:0:0:153
nserver:      DNS4.EMDNS.UK 2401:fd80:405:0:0:0:0:153 43.230.49.153
nserver:      DNSA.EMDNS.UK 156.154.100.3 2001:502:ad09:0:0:0:0:3
nserver:      DNSB.EMDNS.UK 156.154.101.3 2001:502:2eda:0:0:0:0:3
nserver:      DNSC.EMDNS.UK 156.154.102.3 2610:a1:1009:0:0:0:0:3
nserver:      DNSD.EMDNS.UK 156.154.103.3 2610:a1:1010:0:0:0:0:3
ds-rdata:     29999 8 2 4335c4460b7dbbbf0ce080c4d91e89a972abb52d0de7d242ac52a3c21d7d505d

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://icann.org/ebero

created:      2015-11-25
changed:      2025-01-30
source:       IANA