Religious groups have long vied for prime parcels of land, planting churches on town squares and monasteries amid isolated mountains. But now theyre targeting less-tangible real estate: cyberspace./ppAt a time when answers to lifes questions seem just a mouse click away, the online land grab could become a lucrative investment for savvy spiritual leaders, said Heidi Campbell, an associate professor at Texas AM University./ppReligious groups clearly see the importance and potential profitability in ideological or financial terms to defining the Internet or Web space in this way, said Campbell, an expert on religious groups online./ppFor the first time in its history, the international nonprofit that doles out generic Internet domain names such as .com and .edu will allow more specific Web address extensions like .church./ppHundreds of companies, Internet entrepreneurs and cities have submitted almost 2,000 applications seeking the right to own everything from .app to .zulu, the Britain-based International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced last week./ppNearly 8 in 10 religious Americans are active Internet users, according to a 2011 study by the Pew Research Centers Internet and American Life Project. And 69 percent of the estimated 335,000 churches in the United States have a website, according to a separate study conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religious Research./ppCorporations like Amazon and Apple are not the only applicants for coveted online addresses. Religious power players such as the Vatican, the Mormon Church and the American Bible Society are in the mix as well./ppThe applications dont come cheap. Names and Numbers charges an $185,000 application fee and $25,000 yearly for the right to own and operate the registry. The Vatican paid $740,000 to apply for .Catholic in four languages. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints bid on .LDS and .Mormon./ppOther religious domain names applied for include: .Christmas, .Faith, .Islam, .Kosher, .Yoga, and .CBN, the initials of Pat Robertsons Christian Broadcasting Network./ppWith more than 100 million .coms crowding the Web, most Bible-related addresses have been claimed, leaving little room for new websites to spread the Word online, said American Bible Society spokesman Geoffrey Morin./ppThe domain name .Bible would open vast tracts of Internet real estate for churches and companies that want to associate themselves with Scripture./ppOpening this realm gives us a new digital mission territory to bring people the Bible, Morin said. Its where millions of people are looking for answers right now. /ppLikewise, Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vaticans Pontifical Council for Social Communications, has said that .Catholic will help his church deliver its message online./ppBut only entities, parishes and religious orders formally recognized under canon law would be allowed to use .Catholic, so people online Catholics and non-Catholics will know a site is authentically Catholic, Tighe told Catholic News Service./ppAt a time when the Vatican is battling liberal theologians and American nuns over the definition of modern Catholicism, .Catholic would also allow the church hierarchy to monitor and control its brand just as Apple is attempting to do with .Apple. /ppLatter-day Saint leaders made a similar argument in their applications, saying .Mormon and .LDS would be highly restricted to official church and church-affiliated entities. Like the Vatican, Mormon leaders carefully protect their public image and warily watch dissenters./ppMormons rely on LDS leaders for religious instruction, personal direction, and administrative instructions, according to the churchs application. Its essential that Mormons know that such information comes from a trusted online source, the church said./ppLifeChurch.tv, a multisite megachurch and technocentric ministry headquartered in Edmond, Okla., applied to create a more open-ended registry at .church./ppAs with its popular Bible app and video sermon series, the tech-savvy church wants to put digital tools in the hands of congregations, Christian or not, said Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurchs innovation leader./ppWe do a lot of things and invest a lot of time and money for the good of the global church, Gruenewald said, adding that there will be a minimal fee for .church users./ppAs long as a proposed .church address is not vulgar, illegal or a trademarked name, LifeChurch will probably allow it, he said. Their application broadly defines church as any group that shares similar religious beliefs. Ministries and companies such as pew makers will also be allowed, according to Gruenewald./ppStill, the megachurchs application raises thorny questions, said Scott Thumma, an expert on religion and the Internet at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research./ppFor example, how will LifeChurch decide who gets in-demand names like FirstBaptist.church? And what happens if conservative churches object to sharing Web space with FlyingSpaghettiMonster.church?/ppWith something as divisive and diverse as what it means to be a church and a religious community, to allow a successful evangelical congregation all of that control seems to be inviting difficulties, Thumma said./ppLifeChurch has secular competition as well. A for-profit company called Holly Fields Inc. has also applied for .church. Names and Numbers is soliciting public comments and will roll out the domain names in 2013. Rules indicate that LifeChurch and Holly Fields may have to work out an agreement./ppGruenewald said he is encouraged that many of the public comments thus far favor LifeChurch, but there is still a lengthy process ahead.
Article source: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/06/22/3671579/religious-groups-vie-for-domains.html. Creative Commons (CC)
