John Demco established .ca domain name
Canada’s identity on the internet was secured 25 years ago by the visionary work of John Demco, then Computing Facilities manager in the Department of Computer Science. Demco established the .CA domain name in 1987 – two years before the World Wide Web even emerged. Working with a team of fellow volunteers, he maintained the .CA registry until 2000, registering and recording more than 100,000 names before the registry was handed over to the Canadian Internet Registry Authority, a not-for-profit corporation that Demco helped establish in 1998. In 2012 the two millionth .CA domain is expected to be created for a Canadian business, individual or organization, making it one of the most recognized domain name extensions on the internet. (Source: TREK Online)
- 1987 May 14: responsiblity for the .CA domain was delegated by Jon Postel to John Demco
- 1988 January 12: the first .CA domain, upei.ca, was registered
- 1988 January 13: ubc.ca was registered
- 1997 June: plans were begun to reorganize the .CA registry
- 1998 December 30: the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) was incorporated
- 2000 May 9: an agreement was reached to transfer the .CA registry from UBC to CIRA
- 2000 June: Webnames.ca began offering services
- 2000 December 1: responsibility for .CA was formally transferred from UBC to CIRA
Webnames.ca is a spinoff from UBC founded by Stephen Smith, Cybele Negris, Matthew Lane, and John Demco, with the assistance of the University-Industry Liaison Office. The .CA domain registry had been operating on a volunteer basis out of the Computer Science department since 1987, and in 2000 when the registry was transferred to a new non-profit corporation known as the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the opportunity arose to create a company to offer domain registration services to the public. Webnames.ca is an Internet solutions company with services including domain registration, web hosting, email domain portfolio management, SSL certificates, website design, and more. Webnames.ca is committed to supporting its customers with industry leading systems and exceptional customer service.
