DOT HIVThe Internet just got a digital red ribbon. It’s the new top-level domain name .hiv—similar to .com and .org—and it’ll raise money for HIV/AIDS programs across the globe. The domain was registered by a Berlin-based nonprofit called dotHIV, and the way it works is simple. “When you buy a .hiv address,” explains HIV-positive new media consultant Michael Bouldin, “the money goes in a pool for the fight against the virus. When someone clicks on your site, they trigger a microdonation.”

Specifically, corporations can lease the domain name starting at $17 per month (nonprofits in the HIV field get them for free), and each click on a .hiv site raises about one-tenth of a cent (0.1¢). Worldwide, 2.5 billion people use the Internet, so the potential can add up.

Funds raised by dotHIV go to small, community-based organizations with the main goal of getting treatment and meds to people who need them. The first recipient is WE-ACTx For Hope in Rwanda, plus projects in Turkey, South Africa and the United States.

Of note: You don’t have to build an additional website with the .hiv name; the .hiv name could simply direct visitors to your original site. Try it out. Visit poz.hiv and you’ll land on our poz.com home page—but not before donating to a good cause, at no cost to you. Click away!