Will You Register New TLD Names?
June 26, 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Computers
I once mindfucked some n00bs by registering their .com, .net, and .org domain names and redirecting them to one of my sites. They were so clueless, it took them months to figure out what happened.
They shat bricks when they found out. It was a laugh riot.
Unfortunately, repeating that little prank could get ridiculously more expensive as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) mulls opening up the top-level domain (TLD) system. That means aside from the seven original TLDs (.com, .org, .net, .edu, .mil., .gov, .int), the 200+ country code TLDs, and the handful of newer TLDs (.biz., .info, .pro, .museum, etc.), ICANN could allow an explosion of .anything.
Under the current rules, just applying to register a new TLD costs $50,000. That doesn’t even guarantee approval; .xxx was rejected last year. That could all change this week.
Two sides to the debate, of course: some say let a thousand flowers bloom, some say prevent a thousand headaches now. Many businesses already spend hundreds of thousands of dollars annually protecting all their possible domain names. On the flipside, good old market forces weed out TLDs nobody cares about.
That probably doesn’t matter to you, though. What matters is whether you will register new domain names within these new TLDs — or, if you have the dough, actually register whole new TLDs. So will you get in on this new virtual land rush?
ICANN is a so called non profit who every year generates a very high excess amount of profits. So, what exactly is the need for the high price tag: The answer is, ICANN is all about the good old boys club. They have no interest in allowing small businesses to participate. Big business interests = ICANN. The good news is, ICANN has been losing market share for some time, and it’s likely that they will continue to do so as other countries around the world realize the truth: ICANN is not the internet.