“Many other Christians use the term ‘Catholic’ to refer more broadly to the   whole Christian Church regardless of denominational affiliation,” the Saudi   Communication and Information Technology Commission said   in its complaint.

“Other Christian communions lay claim to the term “Catholic”   such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church.”

“Therefore, we respectfully request that ICANN not award this.”

The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communication, which already   controls .va, paid the $185,000 fee to bid to create .catholic earlier this   year, saying it was “a recognition of how important the digital space   is for the church”.

The Saudi government, under the control of the royal family, added that it   objected to any group being put in charge of web addresses based on   religious terms. It complained about bids to create top-level domains for   .islam, .halal and .ummah on similar grounds.

The Kingdom also made moral complaints about an array of planned new suffixes.

It said .baby, which three bidders including the baby powder maker Johnson &   Johnson have applied to create, could be used to host and promote   pornography.

“Pornography undermines gender equality and threatens public morals by   objectifying and exploiting women,” the Saudi government said.

“The values expressed in pornography clash with the family concept and they   undermine the traditional values that promote marriage, family, and   children.”

It objected to .gay because it “will be offensive” to societies where   homosexuality is “contrary to their culture, morality or religion”, to   .tattoo as tattooing is prohibited in Islam and Judaism and to .bar on   grounds that because of its association with alcohol the term “promotes   activities that can be detrimental to public order and morals”.

A similar plan to create a .pub top-level domain aimed primarily at British   landlords also raised Saudi hackles. Sir Richard Branson will have to fight   objections from the Gulf power if he is to create .virgin, too.

The Saudis also objected to gambling-related applications in moral terms.

The barrage of complaints has highlighted the difficulties ICANN faces in   pressing through its reforms of the web’s addressing system, the most   radical in its history. There are currently only 364 top-level domains, most   referring to countries, but the United States-based quango is now   considering applications to create almost 2,000 more.

Observers fear that the process will be bogged down with complaints from   trademark holders seeking to protect their brands online, but ICANN must   also balance cultural sensitivities. The organisation is already battling   criticism that it is dominated by Western interests, and especially those of   the United States.

The first of the new top-level domains are nevertheless due to go live next   year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9475190/Saudis-attempt-to-block-Vatican-plan-for-.catholic-web-addresses.html