In joint action with the J. Paul Getty Trust,reports Wikipedia, ICOM has established the Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma), headed by Cary Karp, for the purpose of submitting an application to ICANN for the creation of the new generic top-level domain (gTLD), and to operate a registry.The museum-domain was entered into the DNS root on 20 October 2001, and was the first sponsored top-level domain to be instituted through ICANN's action.
The purpose of the museum-domain- as Wikipedia explains- is to reserve a segment of the DNS name space for the use of museums; a name space whose conventions are defined by the museum community. The museum-domain grants users a quick and intuitive way to verify the authenticity of a museum site. And vice versa: Since it is a type of formal third-party certification, museums using this name space obtain a way to assure visitors of the site's validity.
So far Wikipedia about .museum.
The museum-domain is an exclusive domain.It is open for registration by museums, organization of museums and friends of museums."But the notion of museum is understood very generously, e.g. a zoological or botanical garden belongs to it", explains Hans-Peter Oswald, CEO of ICANN accredited Registrar Secura (www.domainregistry.de) A proof to be a museum is necessary for registering museum-domains.
The museum domains have a new naming policy. In former times the museum-domains had to have a third-level-structure in the form specific.generic.museum. It was e.g. not possible to register rembrandt.museum. The three-level-domains are persisting, but you can also register second level domains like guggenheim.museum. It is important, that the second level domain is derived directly from the official name of the museum.
The managers of digital museums can register at virtual.museum, digital.museum, online.museum or cyber.museum .
Marc Mueller
http://www.domainregistry.de/...