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June 18, 2012
LifeChurch.tv Wants to Own .Church Domain
Should one ministry control all ".Church" URLs?
No other church has been more innovative online than the Oklahoma-based LifeChurch.tv. With over 40 online services each week, as well as a virtual campus in Second Life, the megachurch has seen digital communication as a key to its influence and mission. LifeChurch.tv was also the team behind the free YouVersion Bible app that has become one of the most downloaded apps on iTunes.
Now the church is seeking to pioneer a new online frontier. LifeChurch.tv has officially applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) for ownership of the .church domain name. If successful, LifeChurch.tv would control the distribution of all .church domains worldwide.
Bobby Gruenewald, Innovation Leader at LifeChurch.tv said:
"When people are searching for answers, one of the first places they go is online. Exploring matters of faith is no exception, and many individuals experience a church's website before they ever step through its doors. There are countless examples of the church creatively utilizing technology to maximize its ministry. The '.church' extension is another way the church can meet people where they are in this digital era."
Responding to the news about its ICANN application for .church, LifeChurch.tv said:
"First of all, the '.church' extension will help churches label who they are without awkward URLs that are difficult to type or remember. Secondly, the new extension will help those searching about faith online to easily see which sites are ministry-related. With the '.church' label, churches and ministries will be able to stand apart from government entities, corporations and other organizations and allow individuals searching to clearly find what they need.”
.Church is not the only new domain that will be introduced in the coming years. Applications have been received for others including .bank, .green, .pizza, .auto and .dentist. Reports say each application costs about $185,000. Soon the web will have dozens of industry-specific domains. Of course those who own each domain are positioned to profit from controlling their use and fee-based distribution.
If the application is approved, any church or ministry desiring a .church web address would have to seek approval from LifeChurch.tv. But Gruenewald said they are not interested in profiting from fees.
LifeChurch.tv has a history of producing digital tools, like the YouVersion app, and giving them away for free. As one pastor noted, "It seems they would control the market on it, but knowing LifeChurch's history, I don't think they are looking at it for the purpose of financial profit, I'm glad they are going after it because they are very Kingdom-minded. They are good people to control it."
For more information about LifeChurch.tv’s application go to: http://dotchurch.org/.
Comments
Yeah, I'm with the guy quoted in the last paragraph. SOMEBODY is going to control the domain, and the track record of the LifeChurch.tv folks and the way they've handled the YouVersion would indicate they are about as fair-minded and generous as anyone else could possibly be.
I'm glad Bobby Gruenewald and the team are taking the initiative in settling this new frontier. And making a place for the .church.
Posted By: jarrod | June 18, 2012 9:46 AM
"If the application is approved, any church or ministry desiring a .church web address would have to seek approval from LifeChurch.tv. But Gruenewald said they are not interested in profiting from fees."
When it comes to power it is never about the money, it is about the control of the position of power, and once control is established the money follows allowing the power to be corrupted by it's position of control; And once corrupted, to grow even more controlling and thus more powerful.
But it seems Americans are truly gullible because the examples throughout history are so glaring it is truly a wonder how we got this far...so, ignore history, ignore the voices of caution...go, and find out for yourselves....the only way any of you will ever learn is to experience the subjugation of your minds to what is proffered and not what is desired.
And it is no surprise to this author how willing so many are to enslave themselves so easily and without so much as a "Um hey!"
Posted By: sheerahkahn | June 18, 2012 11:21 AM
It makes me worried to have a church (or any one organization for that matter) in charge of something as pivotal as .church domains. The great thing about the internet is that it doesn't discriminate. If it does goes through I hope that they will be open to all churches that apply for the .church domain.
stew
Posted By: Stew | June 18, 2012 4:59 PM
People who are that concerned can stick with other domains. If life church wants to get in the registry business, that's their prerogative. If they raise the money and go through the paperwork to create a new domain extension, they get to do what they want with it.
Would we be complaining this same way if a ministry about sin wanted a .apple extension and had to go through apple computer to get it?
Anybody is welcome to pursue a new domain extension. Anyone is also welcome to register their domain with the appropriate extension if approved by the group who created it, under their terms. I really don't see a problem with what life church.tv has done here, but I hesitate to move our church domain to their system without knowing more.
Posted By: Jon | June 19, 2012 1:20 AM
I wonder why a lot of people (from other websites) are commenting that there is something fishy about this.. would we rather want a non-christian group / business entity to own the .church TLD?
Posted By: marvin | June 20, 2012 7:54 PM
I'd certainly rather Lifechurch had the domain than GoDaddy or Yahoo or some other purely commercial venture. And if they want to make some money from it, okay with me. With YouVersion, they've proven their desire to serve the broader church (and gotten a lot of people reading the Bible i the process).
So--go for it!
Posted By: Steve Dennie | July 5, 2012 2:31 PM
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