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ARCHIVE FEATURE ARTICLE (ie. old info)
SPECIAL REPORT:
Impact of the US Govt Proposals for New Domain
Names
Note: This report refers to the information contained in the following document: "A PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE
TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT OF INTERNET NAMES AND ADDRESSES DISCUSSION DRAFT 1/30/98"
Key Points
- This draft differs SUBSTANTIALLY by the plans being mooted by CORE to set up seven new top-level domains.
- There will be a transition period from the current system until at least September 30,
1998
- Up to five new top-level domains
(not the 7 proposed by earlier plans!)
- There will be one company per new top-level domain name in charge of the registration
mechanism
- NSI will keep control of .com, .org and .net, but will have to submit to additional
government controls
In Depth
The draft makes a key distinction between "registrar" and "registry".
Simply speaking, a registrar is anyone who registers a domain name i.e. fills in forms and
expedites the registration process. A registry is an organization responsible for the
maintenance of the domain name database for a top-level domain.
It proposes competition at the registrar level (just like now, where anyone and their
uncle can set up a business registering domain names). However at the more crucial
registry level, the tasks would be handled by a single organization per top-level domain
name.
The draft proposes to split responsibility for various areas of the domain name
business, as follows:-
- One non-profit organization: manage the
distribution of IP addresses and the running of the DNS root servers that provide address
mapping functions (changing mydomain.com into xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx numeric addresses). Members
selected to be representative of the Internet community.
- Up to 5 for-profit companies: Each would
act as a registry for a single new top-level domain name. These companies will be chosen
on a "who can get their act together quickest" basis -- i.e. which company can
most rapidly meet a stringent set of selection requirements. The
new TLDs would be chosen by the companies, with the first company to get first pick and so
on.
- Unlimited number of registrars: These
registrars would help to register domain names with the various registries, and charge a
variable fee to act as middle-men. There will be no rules governing who can be a registrar
Trademark disputes get a nod with a proposal to set up more stringent rules surrounding
the address and other details that have to be supplied when registering domain names.
Also, the domain name database for the new domain names must be built in such a way as to
ease the process of searching for domain names that infringe on trademarks. Registries
will not be responsible for trademark infringements, but may be subject to secondary legal
costs in some cases.
What It Really Means (8 facts to govern your domain name
experiences)
- .com names will remain valuable
- The 88 companies which paid large sums of money to CORE to become registrars wasted
their money
- The number of top level domains will expand, but slowly -- upto 5 new names maximum at
first.
- All the people who paid to pre-register domain names in the "7 new top-level
domains" probably wasted their money -- especially since the new registries have a
free choice of which top-level domain names to choose! They might not even create the
domain name that pre-registrations have been taken for...
- Nothing will happen very soon
- Lawsuits will start flying just about... now! Unhappy new registrars, companies that
have already spent money promoting services or developing hardware and software solutions
for a system that will no longer be used etc.
- There is now a chance to do things right and create a .sex or .xxx top domain to
separate adult sites from other sites in a definitive way
- Things will get more complicated, by and by.
Winners and Losers
As with any proposals, there will be winners and losers. Here is my take on the most
obvious choices...
Winners
- Network Solutions, which maintains its grasp on .com and other top-level domains. It
will even be allowed to be a registrar, as long as the two functions are clearly
separated.
- Consumers, who will have a sane, sensible system of new top domains to choose from.
- Companies that were overlooked under the former proposals, such as Image Online Design
(a good bet to become the registrar for .web)
- Owners of .com names -- these new proposals are unlikely to strip value from their names
any time soon.
Losers
- Anyone who paid CORE $10,000 to become a registrar
- Anyone who paid to pre-register a name under the 7 new top level domains, which are now
unlikely to happen
Factors to watch
- What will CORE's reaction be?
- Will existing domain name registrars behave ethically and stop taking reservations for
new domain names that are now unlikely to be created?
- Which companies will win the right to become registries? This will determine WHAT THE
NEW TLDs will be!
I trust that this analysis has been of value. Of course, I disclaim any legal
responsibility for the information above. It is correct and accurate to my knowledge, but
I could have made a mistake somewhere...
Edwin Hayward
WebMaster
Internet Gold-Rush : THE source of domain name
information
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Introduction
