Toronto, Ontario – 18 June 2012: To access sites on the Internet, it's necessary to type an address that is globally identifiable. Of course, without a universal system coordinated around the world, the assignment of domain names, addresses, space allocation, country codes and similar organizational tasks would be impossible. This is why the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, was created in 1998.
Recently the American Bible Society (ABS) began the process of working with ICANN to develop a new, top-level domain called .BIBLE. This is a detailed and expensive undertaking that requires, apart from legal and developmental costs, an application fee of $185,000 USD. However, with Internet users expected to double to over three billion in the next four years, the .BIBLE domain will make millions of additional URLs possible. It will also facilitate efforts by faith-based groups, including CBS and the other 145 members of the United Bible Society, to make God’s Word available to countless people in a way that fits their digital lives.
“With staggering growth online, and fewer and fewer domain names available, we are thrilled to explore offering web addresses in the .BIBLE domain”, said Geof Morin, chief communications officer for ABS. “We want to make it easier for more people to explore the messages of hope and encouragement found in the Bible”.
“As part of the UBS family, we are making the Scriptures come alive for people in new, cutting-edge ways”. Please pray that ICANN will grant the .BIBLE suffix so we can spread the Gospel message by every means possible.
About the Canadian Bible Society
For more than 100 years the Canadian Bible Society has promoted the translation, publication, distribution and use of the Bible, convinced that lives are transformed when people engage with its text. We distribute Scripture resources in more than 100 languages at home and, together with 146 national Bible Societies worldwide, distributed 380 million Scriptures last year.
