Join Webnames.ca in waving a virtual Canadian flag to celebrate the 20th anniversary of.CA!
May 14th, 2007 has a special significance for the Webnames.ca team. Twenty years ago on this date, the management of the .CA country code domain name was officially allocated to Webnames.ca founder and Canadian Internet Pioneer John Demco. For the next 13 years, John Demco managed the .CA domain space on behalf of all Canadians.
of his University of British Columbia office, John ran the .CA Registry, allocating and administering .CA domain names at no charge to users on a voluntary basis. By 2000 an amazing 100,000 .CA domain names had been registered under John’s care, exceeding the capacity of a volunteer undertaking. Later that same year, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a not-for-profit corporation took over the operation of .CA.
Today, there are over 835,000 .CA domains registered, making .CA the 13th most popular country code domain in the world. And twenty years on, John continues to play a role in managing Canada`s domain-of-choice by serving on CIRA's Board of Directors. "John's efforts laid the foundation for .CA domain names and he has been a constant throughout its evolution," says Bernard Turcotte, President and CEO of CIRA, "20 years and almost 1,000,000 .CA domain names later, John`s contributions continue to benefit the Canadian Internet community."
We're proud that Canadian individuals and companies prefer to use the .CA extension over .COM, proudly demonstrating their national identity on the World Wide Web. Sales of .CA also generate multi-millions of dollars in revenue for the Canadian economy, employing thousands of people. All of this is possible because of John's foresight, vision and commitment.
We're very proud that .CA has its roots at The University of British Columbia," said Angus Livingstone, Managing Director of the University Industry Liaison Office at UBC, "We look forward to commemorating John's efforts by naming a Learning Centre at the Computer Science Department later this year." For his efforts launching and protecting Canada's identity on the Internet, John Demco has previously been awarded the Canadian New Media Lifetime Achievement Award 2006 and the CANARIE IWAY award for Community Service in 2001. He was also recognized by the Prime Minister as one of the founders and builders of the Canadian Internet in 1997.
CA at a Glance - History and Facts
- As of May 2007, more than 835,000 .CA domain names have been registered
- May 14th, 1987, the .CA country code domain name was allocated by Jon Postel, operator of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), to John Demco of the University of British Columbia (UBC) on John Demco conceived and managed the .CA registry until December 2000 on a volunteer basis.
- The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) assumed operation of the .CA ccTLD on December 1, 2000
- .CA domain names were free to register until 2000; the websites associated with many of these domain names were among the earliest Canadian content on the World Wide Web
- .CA is the 13th most popular country code domain in the world
- .CA is the seventh most represented extension on Google, behind only .UK for country codes
- 71% percent of Canadians prefer using the .CA extension over all others
- More than 90 certified registrars for .CA (including Webnames.ca) are currently in operation
About John Demco
John Demco is the Director of Webnames.ca and until a few months prior, was Manager of Computing Facilities in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Some of John's accomplishments include: managing the Canadian academic and research network CDNnet (1985-1990); helping establish a connection to the U.S. NSFnet (1988); hosting the first Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) held outside the U.S. (1990); sitting on the board of the BCNET Networking Society (1996-2001); and participating in CA*net, the Coordinating Committee on Intercontinental Research Networking, CANARIE, and the Internet Society.
John conceived the .CA country code domain name in 1987 and served as its initial Registrar, chairing the CA Domain Committee until 2000. He participated in the Canadian Domain Name Consultative Committee which made recommendations concerning the structure and organization of the .CA and helped establish the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) where he continues to serve on the Board of Directors. John is playfully referred to by many as the "Godfather" of .CA and has been recognized by the Prime Minister as a founder and builder of the Canadian Internet (1997).
More Information
Vancouver Sun Article, May 2001, "He Put the .CA in Canada"
Vancouver Sun Article, April 2001, "Custodian of Canada's .Ca Domain Wins Canarie Award"
Edmonton Journal Article, September 2000, "Demco's Domain Deal"
Vancouver Province Article, October 2000,"Canada's First Host"
Vancouver Sun Article, June 2000,"CA Registration Turned over to Non-Profit Body"