Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is the new king of Saudi Arabia and changes to the country that holds 16% of the world’s oil reserves are already coming.

It’s not just oil that is affected, it’s the global domain economy as well.

In a message delivered via the threat to proceed with public beheadings of Saudi domainers, the kingdom is determined to outlaw gTLD domains and instead promote the local ccTLD, dot .SA.

“His Eminence the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is graciously sparing the lives of infidel domain owners, who choose not to use the Kingdom’s holy domains, and register the satanic gTLDs. Let those who ignore the King’s wish know that their beheading under the public eye will commence a week from now, and their domains will be taken away with no possibility of a pardon.”

The strict measures in the Saudi kingdom come as a surprise to gTLD domain investors, particularly as the Sultanate of Domainistan in the Persian gulf gives special privileges to anyone who is not registering dot .com domains.

The news is particularly devastating to Saudi domain registrants of .XYZ domains, who received these domains for free, as part of an XYZ Registry promotion with Network Solutions.

ICANN is surprised by the announcement as well:

“ICANN is quite skeptical over these changes in the region and currently we have no plans to host an ICANN meeting in Saudi Arabia,” said an ICANN spokesperson, adding: “We definitely want to keep our heads and bodies together.”

If you are a gTLD registrant, be aware of these new developments if you travel in the region with a bunch of gTLD domains in your luggage.

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