ABS ‘.bible’ policy too restrictive, scholars say

NEW YORK — A group of Bible scholars is objecting to the way the American Bible Society (ABS) is running its recently acquired “.bible” domain name, which they say strictly limits a wide range of faiths and essentially excludes any group with a scholarly or secular orientation.

ABS acquired the “.bible” top-level domain name — an identification string like “.com” or “.org” — in 2016 and then applied restrictive policies on who can use it. So far about 1,190 groups have been granted a website using the domain name.

But until a few weeks ago, ABS prohibited registrants from posting any material that “espouses or promotes a religious, secular or other worldview that is antithetical to New Testament principles, including but not limited to the promotion of a non-Christian religion or set of religious beliefs.” ABS modified its policies in February, inviting the participation of Jews, but scholars say this does not go far enough. (RNS)