Presidential candidate Ted Cruz’s domain name problem is serious: TedCruz.com and a number of other web sites that appear to be his are actually either totally unrelated to his campaign (e.g., TedCruzForAmerica.com, TedCruz.com, and TedCruz2016.com) or even have negative content about him (TedCruz.ca).
How can a candidate make their official site stand out among all its impersonators? How can the public know which web address they can trust?
Fortunately, there is a solution for him and other politicians: the new .VOTE and its Spanish/Italian/Portuguese counterpart .VOTO.
The .VOTE (dot VOTE) and .VOTO (dot VOTO) generic top level domains from Monolith Registry, a new top level domain venture backed by global registry services provider Afilias, are the ONLY web addresses dedicated to the political space that offer protection. First of all, both have a strict registration policy in place that bans deceptive names. Second, their policies require an obvious connection between the domain name and the registrant’s activities in the democratic process. Third, registrations by anonymous registrants (so-called “proxy” registrations) are specifically prohibited in .VOTE and .VOTO. And finally, .VOTE and .VOTO both have processes in place so that non-compliant names can be reported and investigated promptly.
“The public finally has the opportunity to be free from deceptive political sites that damage the spirit of democracy,” said Chuck Warren, management member of Monolith. “If any of the misleading Ted Cruz domain names were registered on .VOTE or .VOTO, they would be red flagged in the audit process and actions would be taken. .VOTE and .VOTO take it very seriously that we protect and preserve the integrity of the domains. As candidates and the public begin to embrace these domains as the political domains by default, the problem of misleading political sites can be stopped once and for all.”
We encourage Mr. Ted Cruz and other potential presidential candidates to register their .VOTE and .VOTO web addresses now.
For more information about the .VOTE and .VOTO domains, please visit: www.get.vote and www.get.voto.
