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New
Dots? The Question of New Domain Suffixes
by Michelle Roy; Staff writer -
December
2000
There
are lots of dots out there, and soon there will be more. ICANN
(The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers)
will be taking applications until Oct.2nd for new top level
domains. There are currently six top level domain suffixes:
.com, .net, .org, .edu, .mil, .gov. There are also country
code top level domains such as .ca (Canada).
It is getting harder to find a good dot.com. All three letter
and number combinations have already been registered. Many
businesses and individuals are having to contend with the
fact that somebody else has already registered the name they
want. It is reasons like these that ICANN has decided to create
new suffixes, and is presently taking suggestions.
Perhaps .mo (for movies), or .comp (for computer related web
sites), or even .ser (for the service industry). The Consumer
Project on Technology, a Washington,D.C. based non-profit
advocacy group has indicated that it would like to create
the following new domains: .union, .complaints, .customers,
.sucks, .ecology, .shareholder, .taxpayer, and .unite. Others
have suggested names such as .shop, and .bank.
The
cost to register a domain name is relatively cheap and many
companies have realized it is wise to buy up all the different
versions of its company name, including _____sucks.com, to
avoid possible defamation.
Perhaps
creating the new suffixes will just give companies more names
to buy. But ICANN hopes it will allow people to register a
version of a name that has already been taken as a dot.com
but is now available in another form. At any rate, the new
dots will just be another name on the Internet, trying to
compete against the more known, more relied upon dot.com.
It's like real-estate. The prime, ocean-front property is
the dot.com. The lake-front smaller houses are the dot.nets.
The money will always be in the dot.coms and dot.nets. And
you should feel lucky if you've secured one. The dot.com emits
prestige, it is easy to remember, and it is the name to the
best sites on the Internet!
To
be on the safe side, it wouldn't be a bad idea to snap up
the new dot.somethings if you're worried about cyber-squatting
or about somebody else running a site under a name that is
the same as your dot.com, only with a different suffix. ICANN
will solicit public comments on the applications it receives
and is expected to announce which names have been chosen by
mid-November.
This
Issue's Internet Sites
Prime dot.com real estate is being auctioned off. Here are
some of the names and the sites...
www.america.com: the asking price for this name is $30 million
U.S. dollars. When you visit this site you won't find any
interesting content though. Just a big advertisment stating
the big asking price.
www.discounts.com: the asking price for discounts.com is $6,500,000
U.S. dollars. This is a great site offering discounts on everything
from clothing to computers, and toys to travel.
www.birds.com:
the asking price is $5,000,000. This is an amazing site. Easy
to navigate, fun to visit! It is a bird lover's paradise.
News, pictures, discussion groups, etc. Yet, if somebody is
willing to pay the asking price, they'll give up their name!
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