Can non-Māori can use the New Zealand Domain Name maori.nz? As the primary author of the application that lobbied InternetNZ to create maori.nz domain name in 2000, I say yes.
Further information about Māori Data Sovereignty is in Compendium of Māori Data Sovereignty.
Anyone anywhere in the world can register a maori.nz domain. But, only Iwi in New Zealand can apply for the use of the .iwi.nz domain.
I would suggest that registering maori.nz for a site or organisation that has nothing what so ever to do with Māori could be frowned upon. Likewise registering a domain name to prevent others registering your name could also be frowned upon and considered a form of digital colonisation.
We must understand that any domain name has no sovereignty. The world has over 6000 Nameservers in over 150 countries that direct traffic to web sites based on the domain name you enter.
If a web site has a .nz domain, it does not mean that the data is stored in New Zealand. It is cheaper in some instances to host web sites on international servers and and use a domain name registered in New Zealand.
Māori Data Sovereignty with domain names is possible using an alternative DNS as was proposed by Māori online activists in 2000. Today, Blockchain-based domains are registered and exchanged using a public blockchain like Ethereum and would easily recognise Māori Data Sovereignty Principles.
Another option is to pursue the many other alternatives to a .nz domain name that are also te reo Māori words including the following:
.ae
.ao
.ai
.au
.io
.eu
.ie
.itau
.kia
.kiwi
.mango
.mini
.mo
.mu
.na
.no
.pe
.re
.rio
.ro
.ru
.to
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