New Internet Top Level Domains becoming available

Whether you are in business or not if you do not have a presence on the Internet, some would say you are in danger of becoming obsolete. However even if you are projecting yourself out onto the 'net now is not the time to be complacent. Almost without anyone noticing, the Internet just grew bigger. Some of the sites registered under the new .info and .biz domain names are now available and just getting into action.

After years of wrangling, flame wars, and lawsuits, new top level domains are finally being implemented. Many "net smart" individuals throughout the world have already grabbed new web addresses with their new and distinctive suffixes in an effort to gain every ounce of competitive advantage.

Currently, sites on the Internet are organised around a collection of TLD’s or "Top Level Domains". Domains, such as .com, .net or .org, by their very naming convention are supposed to give us clues about what that entity or name represents or does. A ".com" Internet address is assumed to indicate a commercial organisation, a ".net" an Internet group or ".org" as some kind of not- for-profit organisation. However this has become a very murky definition for most.

In November last year, the Internet's co-ordinating body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) chose seven additional names to expand the range of Top Level Domains available on the Internet. These "domain" codes do not attach the country code domains for individual nations such as .au for Australia or .uk for Britain.

.biz - businesses

.name - individuals

.museum - museums

.pro - professionals

.aero - aviation

.coop - cooperatives

.info - general information

What is a further example of one of these domains?

.INFO is a new Internet domain name extension just like .COM or .ORG.   Anyone can register a .INFO name.   The value of .INFO names is a source of considerable debate.  Some believe that only a .COM will ever have much value.  It is their belief that "The first thing someone will ask is... 'What is the .COM?' "  Others believe that the importance of information on the Internet and the international appeal of .INFO will help it to catch on and that good .INFO names will have more value than mediocre .COM names.

How do individuals and businesses go about registering a new domain?

A registrar is an organization that registers Internet domain names for businesses and individuals for a price.   Some registrars are accredited by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the body that approved   proposals last year for new Top Level Domains (TLDs) including .INFO and .BIZ.    These registrars can be found on the Internet.

Have their been problems in getting the domains operational?

The new .info domain is having its share of controversy. It is said that up to a quarter of the early registrations for the new .info domain name could be bogus. A study of 11,000 registrations has shown a failure to stop people gaining control of domains they do not have the right to run.

Legal experts have called the whole process a fiasco, and said the company administering the .info domain could face legal challenges from those who have been denied a chance to apply for competing generic .info domains. The .info administrator, has defended its handling of the registration process saying it was now planning to mount its own investigation into bogus domain holders.

How is it possible for these false applications to occur?

From 25 July to 27 August, the .info administrators operated what it called a "sunrise" period to let trademark holders apply for control of the .info domain bearing the name they owned the rights to use. This period was intended to exclude members of the general public.

However studies indicate that some people have won control of many .info names by entering false or misleading information into the boxes on the electronic application form. Applicants used a variety of methods to fool the administrators. Some used a single trademark number for many different domains, some made up trademark numbers, and some supplied dates that implied they were awarded their trademark in 2040.

Even worse, many people apparently supplied no information about the trademarks they purportedly owned and still gained control of the .info web sites they applied for.

Why would people want to buy so many domain names?

Analysis and experience has revealed that speculators have registered hundreds, and in one case thousands, of domain names with the hope of selling them for a profit later on. Some supposedly trademarked names are already being offered for sale.

Is there a way of recovering a valid domain name?

A web site called The Internet Challenge has been setup to document the abuse of .info, and to lobby registrar of these domains. Many feel there has been an "appalling disregard" for ordinary customers.

The Internet co-ordinating body ICANN should step in and sort out the mess.

.info: for information-based services, whether commercial or noncommercial. It may be ideal for informational sites where the type of organization behind them, commercial, noncommercial, governmental, etc, is less important than the fact that it's a site with info about something. It's also useful as a TLD that's chartered explicitly from the outset as a free-for-all to be used by anybody for any purpose. Just what .com is abused as, but it's more open and honest to have a domain that's set up that way explicitly. Check the .info WHOIS server to see who got which names. See the .info official site

.biz: for businesses. The rules of .biz require that the intended use of the domain is commercial in nature, and that whoever is registering it actually intends on using it instead of hoarding and reselling it. Check the WHOIS server to see who got which names, not all may be processed yet. See the .biz official site.

.name: for individuals' and personal web sites. This serves a useful purpose, since the current domain structure offers no particular place for personal sites. The plan here is to register third-level domains so that no person can monopolise an entire surname; it will be in the form of john.smith.name. This new domain still has great potential for the millions of Internet users who don't yet have personal domain names. A definite advantage to having one is where you can use it for your e-mail and Web address rather than having it tied to your ISP, employment, geographical location, or other potentially changeable things.

There is discussion about how .name domains will be used to let people make their personal information available to merchants and others needing it. No details are given of how this is to be accomplished, and how security will be maintained. The Web site still doesn't give a clear statement of the launch schedule. See the .name official site.

.museum: for museums, including online "virtual museums". A relatively small constituency, but it could be useful within that field. The complex naming rules that are proposed may reduce the desirability of .museum, however. Museums must register in at least the third level of the domain space (and maybe even higher) instead of just "somename.museum". Names may end up more logically organised than in most other TLDs. However they may be longer and harder to type and remember. Also, museums that don't fit easily into a single category might have trouble placing themselves in this system. This TLD will be checking on the legitimacy of a museum (which must be a not-for-profit institution with exhibits open to the public) before allowing them to register.

See the .museum official site.

.aero: for services and companies dealing with air travel and the aerospace business. A possibly useful concept, though in a rather small niche. One useful feature is to assign addresses to all airports in a uniform style for functions such as checking arrivals and departures like arrivals.mascot.aero. If this is done consistently and widely used, it will be very useful to travelers who can assume what URL to go to. See the .aero official site.

.coop: for co-operative organizations. Co-ops are defined by the sponsor of this domain as being a special type of business owned by its members rather than existing to make a profit. As such, they fall somewhere between the present .com and .org categories, so a new suffix just for them makes some sense.

See the .coop official site.

.pro: for professions such as law, medicine, accounting, etc. This has some potential if the professionals can be convinced to use it, and if there can be sufficient policing to prevent con artists who are not actually accredited as professionals from abusing it. Its structure will have registrations take place at the third level, within domains like med.pro and law.pro. See the .pro official site.

Arthur Hissey
Computer Research & Technology
www.crt.net.au