> That's a misnomer. Any perception of that is based on a fallacious
> understanding of the domain.
Please allow an indulgently longish, and speculative post to the
discuss-list:
Salut, Tout le Monde
Though Bill-X is correct ( comme d'habitude ;) about .NET/ORG,
I have to agree with Philipe's general sentiment on the original nature
of these gTLD's
I also think it's too bad that the once mandated natures of .ORG and .NET
have been homogenized (coopted?) by the truly "generic", and
commercially driven "get your domain now!" appeal of the .COM namespace.
A space which (if we can be honest) implied no defined purpose or
identity as a TLD beyond (either of?) the words "company" or "commercial".
Long before there were any financial transactions being conducted
online, the defining factor for the .COM TLD was that it offered name
resolution for domains relating to a company or business. This soon became
any Registrant that had no .MILitary or .EDUcational claims, and who
didn't fall under the descriptions of the other TLD's in RFC920.
Specifically those involved with the building, maintainence, or
population of the networks themselves in the .NET space. Or the more
humanely distinctive .ORG space that encompassed any and all entities that
were not associated with any commercial concerns. This came to be defined
as non-profit organizations wanting to establish the purely social, or
philanthropic elements within this expanding Internet, without having
access to a University or .GOVernment network in order to do so.
Though originally considered as the catch all TLD, the .ORG space had
much more universal and consistent visibility with this standard
as the network label for people and organizations who simply
wished to communicate via the Net.
By contrast the .COM TLD catered to any one individual who did not
consider themselves as part of an official organization. The .COM
namespace has since become filled with private vanity domains, and clever
homesites that will likely never turn a cent over. Leaving .COM's
main defining factor to be its generic "rememberability", or common usage
more than anything else. A TLD that was further stripped of its identity
as an open TLD for "business" when NSI tried to claim it as it's own in
the late 90's under the guise of "intelectual property rights". in it's
IPO propectus.
At this point perhaps someone could clarify what actually happened to the
social ideals behind the .ORG namespace and the technical nature of the
.NET TLD ??? Did they simply succomb to commercial anarchy, and
voracious demand for new registrations, or do redundant registrations for
the sake of preserving brand identity come into play at this point.
( eg: free market forces + weak mandates = extra Registrar revenues )
Then again, it's this kind of dilution of purpose that has helped set the
stage for other TLDs to now be equally as meaningless as the gTLD trio,
IMHO.
ie.
What (in the name of overdue progress) does .TV really have to do with
television, broadcasting or even the island of Tuvaloo for that matter ?
At best it's an open-ended promise of HappyDays.tv yet to come. That is
after the domains get bought back byStudios/Producers/Lawyers from the
systemic leaches who would pick them up in the first round draft. Though
this time it is the Registrar itself that is speculating on the domain
diredtly...we appear to have come full circle with this TLD.
Or perhaps the market simply crashes under the weight of speculation...Que
sera, sera.
"Cash Grab" is such an ugly term.
or/
Besides it being a slightly more specific descriptor, what difference
would a .BIZ domain offer to the browser that a .COM couldn't ?
Or is .BIZ just a renewed effort to protect the rights or
identities of trademark and copyright holders via a refreshed "namespace
race" - Versus simply expecting the ICANN UDRP to work as it should for
the present TLD's.
I'm sure the lawyers are dissapointed in one sense, though enthused in
another...as I suspect the prospect of parasitic speculators and squatters
is still alive and well even in this new namespace. Though I really
should research such .BIZ statements first...as I'm certain I saw some
Marketing info floating about...
In the end:
Is this incremental growth in available TLD's all just about getting more
cars on the road ( or printing more vanity license plates, to be more
specific ) - in time for IPV6, or a Tech stock rally ? Gradualy
increasing the supply, without outstripping demand, in the interest of
maintaining price levels ?
If all the TLD's resolve equally, what assurance does the .BIZ owner have
that the equivalent .COM won't undermine his traffic ? What's the point of
more TLD's if it just means more duplicate registrations to preserve brand
identity ? There must be more to this...and I'm all ears !
Personallly I'm hoping that the various communities behind this Tech
actually have a vision for TLD's - One that will innovate upon the (as
yet) relatively free and open networks, and possibly spawn some groovy new
RFC's that will impact everything right up to the application layer?
Hopefully offering opportunities that can advantage these publicly
accesible peer-driven networks built on open standards, that defy
borders, taxation...and other forms of encroaching Imperialism.
Either way, the .COM legacy of generic ambiguity will surely make for some
interesting historical notes someday...
In some distant retrospective on this golden era of Networking.
In the Public Domain...
Jo Ferguson
Toronto
On Mon, 25 Jun 2001, William X. Walsh wrote:
> Hello Philippe,
>
> Monday, June 25, 2001, 9:55:27 AM, Philippe Landau wrote:
>
> > .org is mainly perceived to stand for non-profit organizations,
> > so it seems a perfect match for your open source efforts,
> > but for the registrar stuff it could be seen as misleading.
>
> That's a misnomer. Any perception of that is based on a fallacious
> understanding of the domain.
>
> > it's sympathetic to avoid the .com for what you do,
> > and .net is used for commercial network-operations since years,
> > so it could be a nice fit.
>
> .net is also an open unrestricted TLD.
>
> --
> Best regards,
> William X Walsh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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