WE MAKE THE
INTERNET FEEL
LIKE HOME
The .cat is not just a domain. It is a community of people, projects and businesses that share Catalan as their common bond.
We are .cat. We are the first domain
representative of a cultural community
on the Internet
Joan Abellà
GENERAL DIRECTOR
Beatriz Guzmán
DOMAINS DIRECTOR
Judit Martín
DOMAINS TECHNICIAN
Nacho Amadoz
LEGAL DIRECTOR
Pep Masoliver
TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR
Roman Roset
SENIOR BACKEND DEVELOPER
Pau Martín
DEVOPS ENGINEER
Meritxell Alavedra
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Ariadna Custodio
ASSISTANT COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Laura Rodríguez
OFFICE AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGERBehind the .cat domain is Accent Obert
A civic infrastructure at the service of digital Catalan that works to:
- ▪DEFEND the digital rights of Catalan speakers
- ▪PROMOTE digital creation in Catalan, connecting talent and opportunities
- ▪PROVIDE digital tools in Catalan, free and accessible
- ▪MANAGE essential infrastructures, most especially the .cat domain as a collective asset of the country
The .cat domain was born from the passion,
determination and courage of the
Catalan-speaking online community
The beginning of a movement
The Catalan-speaking online community, one of the most active in the world, begins to ask itself 'why not have our own domain to represent us on the web?'.
ICANN opens a domain creation process for communities.
ICANN, the institution that regulates Internet domains, opens up the possibility of assigning domains to communities. We ask ourselves: and why couldn't a .cat domain identify the Catalan community on the Internet?
Submission of the .cat candidacy to ICANN
16 MarchThe puntCAT Association, established for this purpose, finds the opportunity to submit the candidacy for the .cat domain. The .cat domain candidacy receives the explicit support of 98 entities and associations, 2,615 companies and 65,468 people from all Catalan-speaking territories, a number never reached by any other candidacy, a fact that significantly contributes to its approval.
The puntCAT Association is dissolved and gives way to the puntCAT Foundation
28 DecemberOnce the domain has been applied for, the puntCAT Association is dissolved and gives way to the puntCAT Foundation, established before the Registry of Foundations of the Generalitat de Catalunya, with the aim of managing the registration of the .cat domain name and, in general, promoting the Catalan-speaking Information Society.
The .cat domain is born
16 SeptemberIn April 2005, at one of its quarterly meetings, ICANN officially announced that it was entering into negotiations with the puntCAT Association to reach a contractual agreement that would pave the way for the effective creation of a .cat domain. During the approval process there were dissenting opinions regarding the creation of the domain, including that of a Spanish ambassador who contacted ICANN to protest. Despite everything, .cat was born 5 months later.
The first .cat domain
21 DecemberThe first .cat domain to ever exist was tan.cat, a small joke by the engineers of the puntCAT Foundation.
The registration process opens to the entire Catalan-speaking community
23 AprilThe .cat domain registration is finally opened to everyone, marking the end of the initial launch period of .cat.
Lluís Carulla Honorary Award
Award granted by the Fundació Carulla to individuals or organisations that have helped to strengthen the sense of national community and belonging to the culture of the Catalan-speaking countries.
Creu de Sant Jordi
18 JulyThis is one of the highest honours that a person or organisation can receive from the Generalitat de Catalunya, recognising and highlighting the promotion and preservation of Catalan identity.
Special recognition at the Pompeu Fabra Awards
23 OctoberAn award that highlights the work carried out by .cat since its creation in the promotion and normalisation of Catalan on the Internet.
Festibity Honorary Mention
28 MayThe information technology festival awards .cat for actively promoting ICT through business development and internet outreach initiatives, for making technology a tool for growth, pluralism and participation, and for being a vehicle to support language and culture.
Ànima. 15 years of the .cat Foundation
SeptemberAn exhibition in the garden of the Palau Robert (16 September - 12 October 2020) reviewing the history of the .cat domain. It includes an interactive game to discover the visitor's "digital soul". Because of covid-19, a virtual tour was also set up, and the exhibition later toured various Catalan-speaking territories until 2021.
Francesc Macià Memorial - Nit Irla 2021
29 SeptemberThe Josep Irla Foundation grants Fundació.cat, in the collective category, the Francesc Macià Memorial, in recognition of its work in favour of the Catalan language and culture on the internet.
The .cat domain wins a grant from the ICANN Grants programme
29 MayThe .cat domain leads a joint project with 11 geo-territorial domains (.barcelona, .bzh, .cologne, .eus, .gal, .koeln, .london, .quebec, .scot, .wien) selected by the ICANN Grants programme to develop an open, replicable and open-source methodology to analyse how traditional and AI-powered search engines treat this type of domain.
The .cat Foundation becomes Accent Obert
3 JuneTwenty years after its creation, the organisation changes its name and broadens its mission beyond the .cat domain, structuring itself around four areas: digital rights, Catalan tools, its own infrastructures and the promotion of digital talent.
Climent Garau Award
12 NovemberObra Cultural Balear recognises Accent Obert, heir to the puntCAT Foundation, with the Climent Garau Award, part of the 31 December Awards, for its defence of the Catalan language and culture in the digital sphere.
20th anniversary celebration of the .cat domain
12 JuneA meeting with the industry featuring the domain's initial promoters and international representatives from ICANN, registrars and other TLDs that were inspired by the .cat example. The domain observatory is presented for the first time as a mirror of the reality of Catalan-speaking society over these 20 years.
.cat, connected with the main players on the Internet
ICANN
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the international body responsible for coordinating the domain name system on the Internet, assigning IP addresses and managing the root servers that make the worldwide operation of the network possible.
Visit ICANN's websiteCENTR
CENTR (Council of European National Top-Level Domain Registries) is the European association of national top-level domain registries (ccTLD). It promotes debate on policy issues affecting registries and acts as a communication channel between its members and the main Internet governance bodies.
Visit CENTR's websiteGeoTLD
The GeoTLD Group is an international non-profit association that represents the interests of geographic top-level domains (geoTLDs) that identify a city, region, language or culture. The members of the GeoTLD Group work together to promote local identities and foster their growth in the digital world.
Visit GeoTLD Group's website
Projects that are already .cat
Great projects are already sporting their .cat
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT US
Who manages the .cat domain?
Who manages the .cat domain?
Accent Obert is the Registry of the .cat domain. It is a private organisation, with no profit motive or political affiliation, born from a civil society initiative.
As the Registry of the .cat domain, our purpose is to promote all kinds of activities related to the creation, management and control of the .cat domain name registration and, in general, the promotion of the Catalan-speaking Information Society.
We are self-financed through the sale of .cat domains and we reinvest the profits to ensure the continuity and viability of this domain, taking action to normalise the use of the domain, as well as to promote the Catalan identity, the normalisation of the use of Catalan in the field of Internet and ICT, and to enhance the social and digital transformation through the Internet.
Here you can find more information about our history or about us.
Who authorises the .cat domain at a global level?
Who authorises the .cat domain at a global level?
The .cat domain is authorised by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the international body responsible for coordinating the domain name system on the Internet.
The authorisation was formalised on 16 September 2005, when .cat became the first domain representing a cultural and linguistic community to be recognised by ICANN.
You can consult the contract signed with ICANN for more information.
Who is Mixu, the .cat mascot?
Who is Mixu, the .cat mascot?
Mixu is the cat of the .cat domain: always present when you need help. You can find him in two places on the website:
- In the chatbot, where you can ask him anything you need to know about the .cat domain. He resolves your queries 24 hours a day and guides you to the information you are looking for.
- In the AI domain generator, where he proposes original ideas when you can't find inspiration to choose the name of your .cat.
But behind Mixu, there are people. Mixu is a fast and always available first line of support, but he does not replace human attention. There will always be real people at .cat whom you can call or write to if you prefer to speak with someone directly. You can contact our team through the email, phone or address you will find on the contact page. We will serve you in Catalan.
How can I contact .cat? Will you assist me in Catalan?
How can I contact .cat? Will you assist me in Catalan?
It is very important for us to provide good service to the users who have questions about the .cat domain. That is why you can contact us in the following ways:
- Email: suport@domini.cat
- Phone: +34 936 750 354
- Address: Plaça Nova, 5, 7th floor, 08002 Barcelona
Yes, we will serve you in Catalan.