Still waiting for domain registry for .ca domains

Website, Application, Performance DNS & Network
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It is now over 18 months since I raised this issue, got no answer, and had the topic closed. A few of the TLDs in my list below have been or are “about to be” added, but .ca is still not available. Given that no visible progress has been achieved in such a long time, why can’t Cloudflare simply let people like me know that it’s simply not going to happen? It’s just common decency to be honest about what is possible or likely and what is not. Thanks for listening.

I would like priority to be placed on the most widely used and useful 2-letter TLDs, such as .ca. .cc, and .me, followed by codes for the most security-and-privacy-supportive countries, such as .ch, .is, .se, etc. I also see value in supporting country codes with large numbers of domains, such as .us, .uk, .de, .fr, .jp, .kr, and so on. It would be helpful for Cloudflare to be more specific about their priorities, rather than simply saying “all TLDs” or lumping all country codes into a single category. Tasks that are given priority can be accomplished; tasks with no defined priority will inevitably be delayed forever. Please, Cloudflare, give us something more specific to be hopeful about.

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I’m not sure where you’re going with this, as you say it’s not going to happen.

I haven’t heard this, but you may have seen something I have not.

.us and .uk are already available:

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Let me be clear about why I don’t see any commitment from Cloudflare to do what they say they are doing with respect to country code TLDs.

Today the Cloudflare TLD Policies page ( TLD Policies ) says:

“Cloudflare is committed to supporting all available TLDs, with a focus on expanding country-code TLDs, and are working to expand this list. Check back soon for updates.”

As I recall, that is the same commitment statement that was on that page a year and a half ago.

My request/suggestion from June 2020 listed 12 two-letter codes: .ca .cc .me .ch .is .se .us .uk .de .fr .jp and .kr

Today, there are 302 TLDs in the main list of available TLDs on the Cloudflare TLD Policies page, only three of which are two-letter codes: .io .me and .uk

In addition, at the top of that page, three two-letter country codes ( .cc .tv and .us ) are listed as “TLDs Recently added”. (Why aren’t they in the main list, then? Isn’t “recently added” a subset of “added” - or “available”?)

Also at the top of that page, under the heading “TLDs Available soon”, is a list of nine names, one of which ( .co ) is two letters. (It makes sense that these wouldn’t be in the main list, because they are not actually available yet? I wonder whether “soon” means “tomorrow” or “next week” or “next month” or “in a year” or “it’s anybody’s guess” - the last of which is functionally indistinguishable from “Cloudflare is committed … Check back soon for updates.”, which as I have already explained, is not the least bit reassuring.)

Wikipedia ( Country code top-level domain - Wikipedia ) currently lists 248 defined two-letter country codes, including all of the above.

From June 2020 to the last day of 2021 is more than 18 months. In that time, Cloudflare has only managed to go from zero to 6 (or 7 if we give the benefit of the doubt to “soon”) two-letter country codes, or 7/248 of the available total: that is 2.82258%. At the rate of 7 codes per 1.5 years, it will take between 51 and 52 years to finish the job. I won’t be around then.

Perhaps I should count myself among the lucky ones. Of the 12 codes I was asking about, four are now available and eight are not. Compared to 2.8%, my 33.3% is about 12 times better than “average”. Maybe I’ll only have to wait another 3 or 4 years (instead of over 50)?

In my original request, I was trying to be helpful by describing criteria that Cloudflare could use to set priorities for the (perhaps labour-intensive?) work that has to be done to become a registrar for a TLD. I thought the criteria that I listed would be beneficial to a lot of domain managers, not just me. The domains that I listed seemed to me to be good examples of what I was trying to illustrate.

Since then, I have personally lost interest (and the financial resources) to become a collector of domains. I have one domain in the .ca TLD that I would really like to be able to transfer to Cloudflare, so that I can take advantage of Cloudflare’s more secure domain-management and configuration capabilities. If I could transfer that domain to Cloudflare, I would also transfer a .com domain that I own, so that I could ditch my Canadian registrar and bring all of my domain and DNS management into one place. That would be a convenience and a work-saver, but as of this date and time, I have no idea if or when that could ever happen.

Without any word from Cloudflare on their country code TLD “priority list” or “roadmap” or “work plan”, or their list of “problem TLDs that will be difficult to bring on board because of national registry restrictions”, or whatever, all I can do is stick with my much-less-than-perfect workarounds. And that sucks.

Wouldn’t you think a successful company like Cloudflare would like to attract customers, for example by building a reputation for meeting commitments and promises that they make? I don’t think that’s an unreasonable expectation, do you?

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Does Cloudflare Support ever respond to posts like this?

As my previous reply to sdayman’s reply to this post clearly shows, there is a serious disconnect between Cloudflare’s public statement of intent and their delivery on that intent.

Cloudflare customers and prospective customers are entitled to a response directly from Cloudflare concerning the facts I have presented.

I will continue to push for such a response until I get one.

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Unlikely, since this is the community forums and not support. If you have a paid plan, you are welcome to contact support but I doubt they will be able to give you a definitive answer.

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Thanks domjh,

You are telling me the same thing someone told me when I first asked this question over 18 months ago.

Thanks also, for pointing out that I have no hope of being listened to if I do not have a paid plan.

I have no need for any of the paid plan features that are not available to anyone on a free plan.

Why should I have to pay, just so I can ask Cloudflare to take responsibility for lying to the public (paying, free, prospective, curious, concerned about integrity) about their commitment and/or capability to provide domain registry services for all 248 two-letter country-code top-level domains?

Their policy statement has been in place for a long time - over 18 months. During that time, they have achieved less than 3% of their clearly stated objective. This is not a technical support issue; it’s an issue of corporate integrity.

Perhaps someone else in this community has a better idea of how to make progress here: owners of Cloudflare stock? legal experts? truth-in-advertizing advocacy groups? … a lot less talk and a lot more action …

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Cloudflare Registrar is essentially a free service, a lot of work has already gone into it and a handful of new TLDs were released recently. The community can’t help make the process happen faster or provide any insights into what TLDs they may or may not be working on.

If you want to try and take this up elsewhere, please feel free, but this community cannot help.

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Thanks, domjh.

I have moved my concern to a different support pathway.

By the way, I notice that “This topic will close 3 days after the last reply.” I first opened this topic two days ago, yet I’m sure the number of days was once something much larger, like 14 or 10 days. Are you the person who made that change? If that is so, I recognize and accept that you are doing your job in this community.

It would still be helpful to me and to others to have clarity about how the community really works. I have never written anything abusive or derogatory about another person. All I have done is to question the reasonableness of facts and statements relating to a service of a company. I’m sure the people in that company who are responsible for that service are doing the best that they can, and I can only guess about the challenges that may have placed limits on what they have been able to achieve in the past year and a half.

Thank you.

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This is what happens when we mark a solution to the thread. Yes, I did mark it as resolved because there is no further information we can offer here.

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This topic was automatically closed 3 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.