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and if it can be made easy enough for people to update their network settings to do so (on the order of "lynx -source http://go-gnome.com/ | sh" for example, or maybe just "click here and then select OK when Windows asks if you want to update your settings") then there will be a mass movement to alternate DNS

America is a free country Ð at least thatÕs what they told me when I was little. So why do we need an organization like ICANN to approve what names will become available for TLD usage? Someone should rethink this whole idea and come up with a different organization whose sole purpose would be to process applications (for a REASONABLE fee) and approve them on first come - first serve basis. Who are they to decide who gets what? Are they descendents of witch hunters, who just managed to keep high positions in the family? Every era seems to bring some other kind of control freaks, who are given the power to make decisions. LetÕs analyze the abbreviation ICANN. Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers. For ASSIGNING Names and Numbers. So why donÕt they start ASSIGNING? Or should I say why donÕt they start doing their jobs? Name.Space, from New York City, is a company whose ideas I have been supporting from the end of 1998, when I found out about their main area of interest. Name.Space has been trying to introduce new TLDÕs ranging from "dot art" to "dot zone". They have a long list of satisfied clients (I am one of them) who use those TLDÕs. We the clients have been patiently waiting for those TLDÕs to be approved by BPPÕs (Big People in Power), so that we can do with them whatever it is we plan to do. Enlighten me if I missed something Ð but Ð does someone own the Internet? Or is it free for everybody to use for whatever purposes they wish to? (Providing that they donÕt commit crimes). Name.Space has been serving the needs of us clients, who wish to have domains under "dot art" etc, for a number of years. We are repeat customers, who believe that the inevitable future of the Internet lies in an unlimited number of TLDÕs in all languages, scripts or numbers of the world. I personally disapprove the control any organization or individual claims to have over the Internet, which is not supposed to be owned by anyone. If you own something, only then should you be allowed to be in control of it. If this is not the case than you can become a user like everybody else on the Internet. The Internet is very much in its infancy. LetÕs not make it another communist regime or dictatorship Ð letÕs make it the free network for people to use. LetÕs join forces with Name.Space and similar organizations and individuals with similar ideas and free up the Internet for all. Cheers, Igor

America is a free country Ð at least thatÕs what they told me when I was little. So why do we need an organization like ICANN to approve what names will become available for TLD usage? Someone should rethink this whole idea and come up with a different organization whose sole purpose would be to process applications (for a REASONABLE fee) and approve them on first come - first serve basis. Who are they to decide who gets what? Are they descendents of witch hunters, who just managed to keep high positions in the family? Every era seems to bring some other kind of control freaks, who are given the power to make decisions. LetÕs analyze the abbreviation ICANN. Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers. For ASSIGNING Names and Numbers. So why donÕt they start ASSIGNING? Or should I say why donÕt they start doing their jobs? Name.Space, from New York City, is a company whose ideas I have been supporting from the end of 1998, when I found out about their main area of interest. Name.Space has been trying to introduce new TLDÕs ranging from "dot art" to "dot zone". They have a long list of satisfied clients (I am one of them) who use those TLDÕs. We the clients have been patiently waiting for those TLDÕs to be approved by BPPÕs (Big People in Power), so that we can do with them whatever it is we plan to do. Enlighten me if I missed something Ð but Ð does someone own the Internet? Or is it free for everybody to use for whatever purposes they wish to? (Providing that they donÕt commit crimes). Name.Space has been serving the needs of us clients, who wish to have domains under "dot art" etc, for a number of years. We are repeat customers, who believe that the inevitable future of the Internet lies in an unlimited number of TLDÕs in all languages, scripts or numbers of the world. I personally disapprove the control any organization or individual claims to have over the Internet, which is not supposed to be owned by anyone. If you own something, only then should you be allowed to be in control of it. If this is not the case than you can become a user like everybody else on the Internet. The Internet is very much in its infancy. LetÕs not make it another communist regime or dictatorship Ð letÕs make it the free network for people to use. LetÕs join forces with Name.Space and similar organizations and individuals with similar ideas and free up the Internet for all. Cheers, Igor

America is a free country Ð at least thatÕs what they told me when I was little. So why do we need an organization like ICANN to approve what names will become available for TLD usage? Someone should rethink this whole idea and come up with a different organization whose sole purpose would be to process applications (for a REASONABLE fee) and approve them on first come - first serve basis. Who are they to decide who gets what? Are they descendents of witch hunters, who just managed to keep high positions in the family? Every era seems to bring some other kind of control freaks, who are given the power to make decisions. LetÕs analyze the abbreviation ICANN. Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers. For ASSIGNING Names and Numbers. So why donÕt they start ASSIGNING? Or should I say why donÕt they start doing their jobs? Name.Space, from New York City, is a company whose ideas I have been supporting from the end of 1998, when I found out about their main area of interest. Name.Space has been trying to introduce new TLDÕs ranging from "dot art" to "dot zone". They have a long list of satisfied clients (I am one of them) who use those TLDÕs. We the clients have been patiently waiting for those TLDÕs to be approved by BPPÕs (Big People in Power), so that we can do with them whatever it is we plan to do. Enlighten me if I missed something Ð but Ð does someone own the Internet? Or is it free for everybody to use for whatever purposes they wish to? (Providing that they donÕt commit crimes). Name.Space has been serving the needs of us clients, who wish to have domains under "dot art" etc, for a number of years. We are repeat customers, who believe that the inevitable future of the Internet lies in an unlimited number of TLDÕs in all languages, scripts or numbers of the world. I personally disapprove the control any organization or individual claims to have over the Internet, which is not supposed to be owned by anyone. If you own something, only then should you be allowed to be in control of it. If this is not the case than you can become a user like everybody else on the Internet. The Internet is very much in its infancy. LetÕs not make it another communist regime or dictatorship Ð letÕs make it the free network for people to use. LetÕs join forces with Name.Space and similar organizations and individuals with similar ideas and free up the Internet for all. Cheers, Igor

IOD has to recognize that there is no battle for '.web' specifically. Everyone interested in operating new TLDs is being restrained by NSI, ICANN, and the DOC. IOD was running around for years claiming to 'own' the .web TLD. Well, that didn't work out.. I have nothing against them, but I'm glad that they failed in their '.web' trademark claim. Private companies owning TLDs as private property and as trademarks is not right for the internet and its users.

A better system is a shared registry. What we have for .com, .org, and .net right now is a system where NSI is the central registry. ICANN granted some 100 companies the rights to talk to NSI's registry to add, modify, renew, etc. new domains into the (com|org|net) registries using a protocol called RRP (registry-registrar protocol).

As the FOCI/IOD letter points out, NSI is still a monopoly registry, charging everyone from Opensrs.org to Register.com to Bulk Register.com a fee of $6 per domain. ICANN has saved NSI a fortune on marketing.

I don't believe that Conspiritas^WAffilias should be exclusively running the .web TLD any more than I believe that IOD should. We definately need a .web TLD.. We also need hundreds of others. I'm surprised that the letter has several paragraphs about IOD's 4-year testbed '.web' registry, but no mention of Name.Space, which
has been running a registry of hundreds of new toplevel domains for just as long!!

Why do we want to bicker and argue about single meaningless (what does .web mean?) three letter TLDs when the real prize is true expressive domain names that can actually be used to form meaningful phrases and expressions! Doesn't anyone remember expression!!

With new TLDs, every company is going to register in any TLD they can. This will lead to exactly the same problem.

This is exactly what will happen if TLDs are brought in 1, 2, or 3 at a time, with totally meaningless three-letter names. This is one of the strongest reasons why Name.Space has pushed to open up hundreds of new TLDs, with meaningful extensions. If you decide to make TLDs which are actually specific enough to do their job of segmenting the domain space, then you need lots of them.. The more specific, the more you need.. And there is no reason not to add hundreds of them. No reason at all... This is probably the only way will avert a landgrab and a goldrush in the new domain space.

Here's what I imagine: Extend bind to send any request for a domain not ending in /\.(com|edu|org|biz|??)$/ to the "geek" root server(s).

This reminds me of name.space. Anyone here remember when Eugene from AlterNIC made netsol.com point to AlterNIC.net? Remember when he went on the lam?

There was a time when any time of the day, I would check my mailbox, and Karl Denninger from MCS would've fired off the latest salvo in his continuing argument with some guy name Perry from... ICANN'T remember. And now AlterNIC and eDNS.net are both gone. But name.space soldiers on... for what that's worth.

Name.Space, the leading pioneer and advocate of new generic toplevel domains (gTLDs) in operation since 1996 has hard data on what new TLDs are popular and in demand by people on the net at large.

In 1996, Name.Space began accepting suggestions for new gTLDs from public input, and has moderated the list to the present number of 549, from thousands of requests. These gTLDs came into operation between the autumn of 1996 and the present and are currently available for registration.
Register here!

Here are the top 20 new gTLDs suggested by the public and presently in operation by Name.Space:

web .
space.
shop.
art.
sex.
info.
zone.
music.
firm.
design.
media.
travel.
online.
arts.
inc.
x.
mail.
home.
family.
2000.
bank.
usa.
news.
ltd.
world.
fuck.
mag.
corp.
direct.
law.
free.
love.
auction.
sale.
casino.
service.
games.
fun.
mall.
studios.
cam.
market.
asia.
sports.
cafe.
mad.
internet.
hacker.
city.
network.

see Vote for new gTLDs
and Name.Space active gTLDs.

In an early effort to gain the global recognition of the new gTLDs serviced by Name.Space, a letter was sent to Network Solutions on March 11, 1997 requesting the addition of the gTLDs serviced by Name.Space and their associated nameservers into the ROOT.ZONE file (the recognized master list of globally-routed TLDs, controlled by NSI).

NSI refused the request to amend the ROOT.ZONE file and Name.Space subsequently filed an ANTITRUST action against NSI on March 20, 1997.

After more than three years of litigation, the Court of Appeals ruled against Name.Space and in favor of NSI, granting NSI IMMUNITY from antitrust prosecution, for their "conduct in this case". The court's decision was an obvious POLITICAL decision, not a legal one. (see http://namespace.org/law)

In the original complaint, Name.Space also listed a group of "non-party co-conspirators", many of whom, or their associates now make up ICANN and the key influential persons surrounding the ICANN process and formerly known as the IAHC (International Ad Hoc Committee) at the time the initial lawsuit was filed in March, 1997.

Now that NSI has been declared IMMUNE from antitrust prosecution for refusing to allow competitors, including Name.Space, to add new TLDs to the root, NSI presents the addition of new TLDs as if it was their idea in the first place--in light of the fact that Name.Space and others were denied precisely what NSI is carving out for themselves.

Why did James Tierney close down the DoJ's antitrust investigation into NSI and their parent company SAIC without finding any wrongdoing? Perhaps you should all write to Mr. Tierney at the DoJ and ask why the US Government is protecting NSI, while crusading against Microsoft? Is this another case of "selective enforcement"? Who is benefiting financially from all of this? Why is there no oversight into conflicts of interest within ICANN? How did NSI get away with paying public relations "flacks" and other "shills" to disrupt, discredit, and coerce their competitors such as Name.Space, with such impunity?

The addition of new gTLDs to the root is a matter of a simple TEXT EDIT of the ROOT.ZONE file. Isn't it about time that this be done without further delay? Get a head start--if you are an ISP you can run the expanded ROOT.ZONE file today by downloading it and installing it on your DNS servers. For more info, see go to Switch to Name.Space

I go to namespace.ORG, and right in the center of the page is an advertisement, from "Name.Space" for domain registration for $69.95.

Just because they charge money doesn`t mean they`re necessarily for-profit. For all you know, they`re charging the minimum necessary to cover their costs. And since they`re fighting a legal battle at the moment against Network Solutions, they probably need all the money they can get.

Here`s another point. At the moment, most people looking for a business either know the URL from advertisements or use search engines. Why should this change when we have new TLDs? So why should more choices be a problem?

One way to deal with squatting and speculation is to enact codes of practice for registries (TLD operatiors) and registrars (domain retailers) that would require the use of a domain name for active services, and prohibit the "purchase" or registration of a domain name solely for speculative purposes intent on reselling the domain at a higher price.

Already, the mandatory pre-payment requirement for new registrars (as spelled out in the ICANN registrar accreditaton agreement) is a step in this direction, but it may be too little too late. It is estimated that out of the 9 million domain names registered, at least 1 or 2 million domains have been picked up by speculators who seek to auction them off to the highest bidder. In a way, the damage is already done in the "old" TLDs since they heyday for speculation ranged between 1997 and 1999. In the former days when one could register a domain name without paying for it for 90 days, speculation was rife, and there were no checks on this abuse of the domain name system. Such speculation hurts the legitimate interests of the public, including individuals as well as trademark interests. This has served to fuel the reactionary and draconian measures taken by the trademark lobby to control domain name policy with respect to "com" domains as well as their attempt to prevent the introduction of new TLDs to the global root.

The Name.Space Charter looks like a good beginning toward setting up a balanced and fair environment for operating TLDs (new and old) by encouraging fair use and discouraging speculation while protecting the interests of free speech and intellectual property.

In the end the question is over policy and practice in general regardless of whether the TLD is "com" or "sucks" or any other TLD. Concerns over speculation and squatting in new TLDs can easily be alleviated by the adoption of reasonable policies to prevent such bad practices such as those which have tainted the world of the old TLDs.

Such a system has existed for years. It's called Name.Space.

Name.Space makes an expanded root.zone file available for those who wish to run it, and info on how to switch one's local DNS settings to resolve more than 500 newTLDs in addition to the "legacy" TLDs.

Name.Space has also created the most powerful domain search engine available, Smart Whois (sWhois) located at http://swhois.net and http://DNS411.com.

The refusal to add the new TLDs to the root amounts to censorship. John Gilmore once said "The internet sees censorship as damage and routes around it". Those for DNS freedom should see ICANN and NSI as "damage" (censorship) and should route around it by switching to Name.Space!.

Such a system has existed for years. It's called Name.Space.

Name.Space makes an expanded root.zone file available for those who wish to run it, and info on how to switch one's local DNS settings to resolve more than 500 newTLDs in addition to the "legacy" TLDs.

Name.Space has also created the most powerful domain search engine available, Smart Whois (sWhois) located at http://swhois.net and http://DNS411.com.

The refusal to add the new TLDs to the root amounts to censorship. John Gilmore once said "The internet sees censorship as damage and routes around it". Those for DNS freedom should see ICANN and NSI as "damage" (censorship) and should route around it by switching to Name.Space!.

This is exactly right.. This is the philosophy of the Name.Space project, which has been operating nameservers (now with 550 emerging TLDs) for 3 years. Point to our nameservers and resolve everything from .art to .zone.. We're taking registrations as well as votes for even more TLDs. Switch to Name.Space's nameservers and route around ICANN and all this beaureaucratic stuff..

These domains are available now at Name.Space Go ahead and register them.

jsm writes:

On another front, it really seems to me that if all the sysadmins are pissed off at NSI, we could all start pointing our DNS's to an alternate root DNS server (maybe in addition to NSI). What, > exactly, is stopping us from doing this? Even if only half the sysadmins did it, the others would follow suit so as not to lose access to all those alternate domains.

check out name.space (www.namespace.org).

You can set your pc's nameserver to one of namespace's, and get to sites such as http://black.hole, http://acronym.soup, http://b92.radio, http://babe.cam, and http://sperm.bank (as well as the boring old .coms, .nets, .edus et cetera.)

These new TLDs form a kind of half-there web underground. name.space has registered hundreds of new TLDs (Top Level Domains)... excessive quantity, maybe, but a cool idea.

Interestingly, their policy is to protect "whois" information of their clients.

From the "about us" page of their site ( www.namespace.org/about/):

The Name.Space project was begun in 1996 by a group of artists and net-workers who were concerned about threats to privacy and free speech, and increasing access costs brought about by the Network Solutions, Inc. monopoly control over the Domain Name System, and the general commercialization of the net.

Name.Space set out to provide fast, inexpensive domain name registration, and to set up new toplevel domains (TLDs) to increase choice and free expression that was otherwise lacking in the legacy monopoly situation, dominated by NSI. As a result, Name.Space implemented the first truly self-service and fully automated domain name registration system with secure online account management and client access to domain name data, and the first to allow "unlisted" domain information (billing contact is not disclosed, and other info may be restricted to protect the domain holder's privacy).

I found them one day when I idly typed " www.alternic.net" into netscape, and found a link to name.space. (the alternic page is currently "down for construction")

A fascinating idea, many small registration services. What it (possibly) destroys, is the idea that ALL domain names (and therefore internet resources) are accessible from everywhere, because of this monster global database (interNIC). The formation of many unregulated and unorganized registration services is the fragmentation, in some sense, of the internet, into many little niches and cliques. These many name spaces (to borrow name.space's name) might overlap, but still seem very distinct. Perhaps, however, this is necesary-- it would in many ways model other media and facets of society; perhaps this is a good thing, when the web is growing at the fantastic rate that it is.

Very interested in the ideas of the Slashdot Cyber-Futurologicists.

rh

jsm writes:

On another front, it really seems to me that if all the sysadmins are pissed off at NSI, we could all start pointing our DNS's to an alternate root DNS server (maybe in addition to NSI). What, > exactly, is stopping us from doing this? Even if only half the sysadmins did it, the others would follow suit so as not to lose access to all those alternate domains.

check out name.space (www.namespace.org).

You can set your pc's nameserver to one of namespace's, and get to sites such as http://black.hole, http://acronym.soup, http://b92.radio, http://babe.cam, and http://sperm.bank (as well as the boring old .coms, .nets, .edus et cetera.)

These new TLDs form a kind of half-there web underground. name.space has registered hundreds of new TLDs (Top Level Domains)... excessive quantity, maybe, but a cool idea.

Interestingly, their policy is to protect "whois" information of their clients.

From the "about us" page of their site ( www.namespace.org/about/):

The Name.Space project was begun in 1996 by a group of artists and net-workers who were concerned about threats to privacy and free speech, and increasing access costs brought about by the Network Solutions, Inc. monopoly control over the Domain Name System, and the general commercialization of the net.

Name.Space set out to provide fast, inexpensive domain name registration, and to set up new toplevel domains (TLDs) to increase choice and free expression that was otherwise lacking in the legacy monopoly situation, dominated by NSI. As a result, Name.Space implemented the first truly self-service and fully automated domain name registration system with secure online account management and client access to domain name data, and the first to allow "unlisted" domain information (billing contact is not disclosed, and other info may be restricted to protect the domain holder's privacy).

I found them one day when I idly typed " www.alternic.net" into netscape, and found a link to name.space. (the alternic page is currently "down for construction")

A fascinating idea, many small registration services. What it (possibly) destroys, is the idea that ALL domain names (and therefore internet resources) are accessible from everywhere, because of this monster global database (interNIC). The formation of many unregulated and unorganized registration services is the fragmentation, in some sense, of the internet, into many little niches and cliques. These many name spaces (to borrow name.space's name) might overlap, but still seem very distinct. Perhaps, however, this is necesary-- it would in many ways model other media and facets of society; perhaps this is a good thing, when the web is growing at the fantastic rate that it is.

Very interested in the ideas of the Slashdot Cyber-Futurologicists.

rh