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February 15, 1999

The New Domain Names Are Back (But Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting For Them)

By Jason Levitt

ou know the Internet is getting crowded when you can't even register your own last name as a domain name. Levitt, I'd say, is a somewhat obscure last name, yet Levitt.com, Levitt.org, and Levitt.net have all been registered as Internet domain names.

Registering your last name, of course, is simply a bit of Internet indulgence, but in the booming E-commerce marketplace, domain names are increasingly important for branding. Amazon.com is a household word; and just from the name Broadcast.com, it's easy to understand what that business is all about. Unfortunately, domain names are both simple and inexpensive to obtain, and many organizations, as well as speculators ("cybersquatters") hoping to resell them at a profit, have been gobbling them up. Wouldn't it be nice if we had some new top-level domain names? (see Table 1 below)

Deja.Vu
Does this discussion sound familiar? My Internet Zone column from one year ago (http://www.iweek.com/author/internet10.htm) made it sound as if seven new top-level domains (Table 1) would be available in just a few months. Obviously, that didn't happen. In fact, it may not happen in 1999. Privatizing the domain name registration system turned out to be more messy than anyone had imagined. International concern over the growing number of intellectual property issues and trademark violations, (http://wipo2.wipo.int/process/eng/rfc3/interim2_ch5.html) as well as concern about cybersquatting and the fair privatization of the current monopoly run by Network Solutions Inc., slowed things down considerably. Plus, of course, the switchover was being run by the U.S. government.

Move Ahead Quickly
"One of the reasons the government created a new company is that they thought we could live in Internet time--they knew they couldn't," Mike Roberts, interim CEO of the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers, (www.icann.org) told me.

A few months ago, ICANN incorporated as a nonprofit agency designated by the U.S. government to take responsibility for many of the tasks leading to the privatization of the domain name registration system. In order to meet the timetable for privatization of the domain name registration system (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/proposals/docnsi100698.htm) set forth by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, ICANN will have to operate in Internet time. If all goes according to plan, then the domain registration space will be privatized by June 1.

One of the key steps in this process is breaking up NSI (www.nsi.com), which currently, under a contract from the National Science Foundation, has a monopoly on the domain registration process. Although the details of the breakup are still somewhat obscure, NSI will essentially be broken up in two ways. First, it will become just another domain name registrar, instead of being the only registrar. Second, it will no longer exclusively own the database of all names and IP addresses used in the domain naming system.

To complete the privatization of domain registration, there are three remaining milestones for 1999:

By March 31, NSI will establish a test bed supporting actual registrations in .com, .net, and .org by five private-sector companies, known as registrars, that are accredited by ICANN.
By June 1, the new privatized system, known as the Shared Registration System, will be deployed by NSI and available to support multiple licensed accredited registrars offering registration services within the global top-level domains, for which NSI now acts as a registry.
By Oct. 1, NSI will have completed reengineering of its registry/registrar interface and back-end systems to ensure that NSI, acting as registry, shall give all licensed accredited registrars (including NSI acting as a registrar) equal access to registry services through the Shared Registration System.

Don't Hold Your Breath
The domain naming system will go private this year, but even Mike Roberts doesn't know when the new top-level domain names will be added. Almost certainly they won't show up until clear, enforceable rules governing cybersquatting and trademark conflicts are available. When those domains do show up, though, you can bet I'll be waiting to nab Levitt.nom.

Sidebar Are Domain Names Passe? Some have prophesied that the rise of text string mappings for URLs will make domain names obsolete (see: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/domnam/TWB19981109S0015), but I disagree. Services such as Centraal Corp.'s RealNames (www.realnames.com) and Netscape's Internet Keywords (home.netscape.com/escapes/keywords) can help users bypass domain names in some cases, but these proprietary services are no more than glorified search engines. They have their purposes--especially for consumer-oriented kiosks and home Internet appliances--but unless a single, global naming service is available that everyone uses, they won't be replacing domain names anytime soon. (For my viewpoint on the RealNames service, check out my Internet View column from last spring http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19980330S0044). Table 1: The New Domain Names Domain Purpose Example .firm For businesses or firms ibm.firm .shop For businesses offering goods to purchase amazon.shop .web For entities emphasizing activities related to the World Wide Web frogdesign.web .arts For entities emphasizing cultural and entertainment activities smithsonian.arts .rec For entities emphasizing recreation/entertainment activities goskiing.rec .info For entities providing information services realnames.info .nom For those wishing individual or personal nomenclature; that is, a personal nom de plume levitt.nom

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