Seven New Domain Names

While it is now Dot com this and Dot com that, things may change in 2001.

Every location on the Internet needs an address. When Internet users enter: www.ebay.com in a browser, they will arrive at eBay’s Web site. Suppose they enter www.ebay.com.au? In this case, they will land at eBay’s Australian Web site, a completely different site. The very last portion of the Internet address carries the moniker Top Level Domain (TLD). More precisely, the “dot com” is a generic (gTLD) and the “.au” is the country code or ccTLD. Experienced Web surfers immediately recognize the six gTLDs: .com (commercial endeavors), .org (non-profit organizations), .net (network providers), .mil (military organizations), .gov (government organizations), .edu (educational organizations). In many cases, the ccTLD does not hold the same degree of familiarity. For example, while intuitively .fr is the French ccTLD, inexperienced Internet users would associate .de with Denmark. In fact, .de is the German ccTLD.

International expansion of the Internet has resulted in ccTLDs being added with regularity. Every country (even a very small one located in the middle of the Indian Ocean) wants “cyber real estate” on the information superhighway. However, the six gTLDs have not changed since the mid 1980s.-That is about to change.

What’s In A Name?

US taxpayers funded the early Net. Gradually, government involvement diminished as the private sector took it over. One area remains resistant to privatization – the assignment of domain names. For many years, a company called Network Solutions had an exclusive government contract to handle this task. In 1998, the US government proposed a non-profit organization be set up specifically to handle this important job. As a result, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was launched.

While ICANN has managed to remain out of the 6 o’clock news spotlight, its decisions evoke controversy. Picking from suggestions of 44 proposed new gTLDs, seven have been chosen: dot-biz, restricted to businesses; dot-info, open to all comers; dot-name, reserved for personal registrations by name; dot-pro, set aside for licensed professionals such as lawyers, doctors, and accountants; dot-aero, for anything related to air transport; dot-museum, limited to museums; and dot-coop, for co-operative businesses such as credit unions.

Even someone with only a vague familiarity with the Internet can sense problems ahead. For example, will eBay have to purchase domain names like eBay.biz.au and eBay.biz.de in order to protect its Australian and German interests? Yes, probably. Will www.louvre.fr (offical Web site for the famous museum) have to buy the domain name: louve.museum or louvre.museum.fr? Again, probably. If I wanted to purchase a domain name for my column, would it be: www.Internetinfo.info? Simple answer. Yes. On the other hand, if someone enters www.united.aero , there should be no confusion.

Keep in mind that the new seven gTLDs represent only the first timid step in opening the Internet (World Wide Web, e-mail) to a much broader naming system. ICANN now allows over 70 companies to register domain names. As a result, the normal $35 per year cost has dropped. After shopping around, bargain hunters can pay as little as $15 per year for a domain name. Current owners of domain names will also benefit from the price reduction due to the new competition.

Coming Soon

The new seven gTLDs, while not yet available, will be ready by mid 2001. Before then, keep in mind that ICANN continues to attract controversy (and lawsuits). The situation remains somewhat fluid. Incidentally, the first chairman of ICANN, Ester Dyson, after holding the position for two years, will step down and be replaced by Vint Cerf, the highly respected and well known Internet pioneer. This bodes well for ICANN’s future. We will watch with interest as the new Top Level Domain (TLD) names appear on the Net.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest: http://www.icann.org

(This is the 235th of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the Internet. Next, “Stephen King Update” is the subject on tap. Stay Tuned. Until next week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet Info for Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail comments and suggestions: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)o