Companies Urge Canada Domain Name Policy Change in NAFTA Rewrite

A trade group representing GoDaddy Operating Co. LLC, Donuts Inc., and other domain name companies wants a renegotiated NAFTA deal to enable U.S. businesses to register a .ca domain name without having to incorporate in Canada.

The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) is asking U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer to advocate for changes to a Canadian domain name policy, which requires that anyone wishing to register a domain name with Canada’s country-code extension be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, corporation, or trademark holder.

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s (CIRA) policy has “resulted in a grossly uneven playing field for American ...