The top-level domain (TLD) ‘.LECLERC’ is a branded top-level domain (gTLD) that has been registered by the French retail company, E.Leclerc. According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), branded top-level domains are a type of generic top-level domain that is associated with a specific trademark or brand name. In this case, ‘.LECLERC’ is associated with the E. Leclerc brand.
The E. Leclerc company was founded in 1948 by Édouard Leclerc. The retailer is primarily involved in food retailing but has also branched out into other areas such as fuel, travel services, and clothing. E.Leclerc operates over 600 stores in France and over 120 stores in other European countries, making it one of the largest retail chains in Europe. The decision to register ‘.LECLERC’ as a top-level domain reflects the company’s desire to assert its brand identity and presence on the internet.
The use of ‘.LECLERC’ as a TLD was approved by ICANN on 3rd April 2015 (source: ICANN). As the sole registrant of ‘.LECLERC’, the E. Leclerc company can create and manage domain names that end with ‘.LECLERC’. This could include websites for individual E.Leclerc stores (e.g., ‘storename.LECLERC’) or for specific products or services (e.g., ‘productname.LECLERC’).
ICANN’s new gTLD program, which allowed the registration of brand-related gTLDs, represented a significant change in the domain name system (DNS). Previously, organizations and individuals were limited to using a relatively small number of gTLDs such as ‘.com’, ‘.org’, or ‘.net’, or country-specific TLDs such as ‘.fr’ for France or ‘.uk’ for the United Kingdom. The introduction of brand-related gTLDs enabled organizations to customize their internet presence and assert their brand identity online more forcefully.
Critics of the system pointed out that it could potentially make the internet more commercial and less ‘open’. They argued that, if large corporations could ‘own’ large swathes of the internet’s real estate, this could potentially marginalize smaller enterprises and individuals. Despite these criticisms, the likes of E.Leclerc and other corporations around the world have embraced the new system and registered brand-related top-level domains.
In conclusion, ‘.LECLERC’ is a brand-related generic top-level domain that was registered by the E.Leclerc retail company as a part of ICANN’s new gTLD program. This move reflects a wider trend amongst corporations to assert their brand identity on the internet by registering brand-related top-level domains.
Sources:
1. ICANN. (2015). Registry Agreement. [online]
2. E.Leclerc. (2019). The history of E.Leclerc. [online]
3. ICANN. (2018). About the New gTLDs. [online]
4. Mueller, M. (2017). Will the Internet Fragment?: Sovereignty, Globalization and Cyberspace. John Wiley & Sons.
