Montenegro moves to bring .me domain management under state control
Montenegro has launched a process to establish a state-owned company that would manage the country’s .me domain, seeking greater control over a strategic digital resource and a larger share of the revenues it generates.
The government of Montenegro has initiated the process of establishing a state-owned company that would eventually manage the country’s national internet domain, .me.
A country-code top-level domain, or ccTLD, is the internet address ending associated with a particular country, such as .rs for Serbia or .uk for the United Kingdom. Montenegro’s .me domain has become particularly valuable because the extension can also be used as part of English-language domain names and branding, making it popular with users outside Montenegro.
At present, .me is managed by doMEn, a joint venture primarily controlled by GoDaddy and Identity Digital. The government’s plan would bring management of the domain under greater state control.
According to a statement from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy, the move is intended to strengthen Montenegro’s digital sovereignty and ensure that a larger share of the benefits generated by the domain remains in the country.
The announcement follows earlier government plans indicating that Montenegro intended to increase its control over the .me domain and its revenues. Previous proposals suggested that the existing operator could remain involved during a transition period, although details of how management would eventually be transferred have not yet been finalised.
