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TLD Registrar Wants To Charge $300 For .Pro Names
dipfan writes: "The commercialization of the net continues: RegistryPro, the ICANN-approved registrar of the new TLD name, wants to charge up to $300 for .Pro addresses - or about 10 times the price of a .com address. The company says it will restrict .Pro to doctors, lawyers or accountants: 'qualified professionals in good standing ... .pro will be a premium brand, enabling effective, secure communication between professionals and users for the first time in the history of the Internet.' The Washington Post quotes RegistryPro's chief executive: 'The goal of RegistryPro is to build out a gated community for professionals on the Internet.' Is this what happens when you give one company a license to print money?"
Prostitutes won't be able to register...
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Random, useless fact: I type in startx entirely with my left hand.
And then there will be the professional porn sites, the professional gambling sites.. the professional pop-up ad sites.....
Don't Tread on Me
$300 is more like 20 times (or more) what you'd pay for a domain if you avoid verisign
Slashdot? Oh, I just read it for the articles.
Why not just let the market decide?
.pro domain. There are after all other choices.
If people want to pay, that's fine. No one is forcing anyone to have a
I don't think there is really anything wrong with allowing people to pay for what is, in effect, a premium brand. (I won't be buying one.)
So they want $300 for a name? Then just don't register in the .pro namespace. I can see getting all bent out of shape if this was happening in .com, but who cares about .pro.
In fact, I wish there was a little more of a barrier to entry, just think where spam would be if free e-mail sites didn't exist... (Yes, I know it would still be around, but at least they wouldn't be able to hide behind a throw away e-mail account.)
What, me worry?
$300 is ridiculous. I remember trying to register a .tv domain, and they wanted $500.
"enabling effective, secure communication between professionals and users for the first time in the history of the Internet"
Um, no, it won' t be secure nor effective by default. LOL, this is not the first time secure and effective communication has taken place between "pros and users". Who do these people think they are? God?
Hacking the Network
Doh!
I think it takes more than a nifty domain suffix to provide secure communications.
The revolution will be televised. Blackout restrictions apply.
.pro here i come.
WTF do they mean by that.
.pro domain (not that i'd pay $300, but still)
I'm an engineer, and after 5 years of school, and 5 more being a professional i can't even apply for a
What is Good Standing ? why is it limited to those 3 professions ? who decided this ? and why ??
Actually, shouldn't that be .ho ?
If they carry on like this I can't help but wonder how long .NET strategy).
it will be before Microsoft (and possibly AOL) offer their own
competing DNS services. (Indeed MS could well have this in
mind as a future part of their
(Yes, I know about some of the other alternative registrars
but they are small and (unfortunately) don't have the brand
recognition for the non tech-savvy to use them.)
If we consider that Thawte is selling their 128-but SuperCerts at the price of US $300 per year, which is not even the highest price on the market (Verisign, $348, then:
it is completely understandable that the price is similar, as they are supposed to go into similar actions to verify the authentity of the registrant - or atleast this is what their marketing speach makes you think - that they only give this domain name for fully qualified registrants, this they can verify only by same procedures, as Thawte or Verisign. They sell different product, but need to do similar procedures to deliver the product
What is not understandable, is if their price for renewals is as high - as the work involved in renewal is minimal compared to first time granting. This is also the case with Thawte and Verisign, they charge way too much for the renewals too (Thawte, $300 Verisign $249 )
Bah. Just like the elitist fscks down the road who want to build an 'exclusive community' on public infrastructure paid for with my taxes .
Let these asswipes manage their own root server. When the thing is 0wn3d by some teenager from Singapore, I'll be the first one in line to laugh.
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
Are the .pro registry going to provide a warranty that all users of the .pro domain space are registered doctors, lawyers and accountants? If so, can I sue them if I am misled by an impostor? If not, where's the value in the domain?
http://www.glasswings.com/
Or does "gated community" have nothing but negative connotations?
I mean, unless you're one of those stuck-up, afraid-of-the-world, protect-my-possesions at-the-cost-of-community, keep-me-away-from-the unwashed-masses type of person who lives in one, I can't imagine anyone using these words in a good way...
-Russ
Me
In a cyber-world of English companies with .com domains, Irish companies with .co.uk domains, ANY company with a .tv domain, it is quite clear to me that the original ideal of "relevant TLD suffixes" has never worked, and will never work in the future.
That said, it IS a good way of screwing laywers out of their hard-earned cash ($1000 for a letter??? I'll give you 4 for free!!!)
That someone willing to pony up $300 for a domain name is serious about it, and not some luser with a website trying to scam you. Of course, $300 isn't alot of money, but it might help filter out some of the worst bottom feeders.
If some "professionals" with coins burning holes in their pockets want to throw away some money for a bit of false prestige, more power to them.
__
Do ya feel happy-go-lucky, punk?
Who on earth thinks people still go for the extension? People should save their 300 bucks. Google's where it's at.
The TLD namerush is over. .us and .info are bombs. They could charge $30 or even $3 for the names and they aren't going to pull the immediate numbers they are hoping for.
Luck favors the prepared, darling.
This is the age-old scam called the cred-con. You create a new nightclub with an exclusive looking facade and then you put out a velvet rope and a bouncer and you only let in one out of 1000 people. And then you charge a "premium" and let anyone in throught the back door.
Professionals are the demographic who least need a web presence. Is this just a scam to attract other scam artists who want to present their own facade of credibility.
un déception par jour maintient le docteur parti
consider coffee a lubricant that helps one penetrate the coding zone
Reading this, I couldn't help but think of the lead character's obsession with business cards in American Psycho. For professionals, a personal website today serves much of the role that business cards served in the 1980s.
Any website or businesscard will contain your contact information. But some people want more than that. They want to shell out extra money to make a statement. The extra $280 that they pay for a .Pro domain serves a purpose--it distinguishes them from the .Com rabble.
I hate to admite it, but what this company is doing with .Pro domains is innovative. If they market it well to people who want to make a statement, it'll sell. After all, we live in a world where loads of people spend $250 extra to get a gold plated nameplate on their Toyotas. Never underestimate the number of insecure people with money to spend.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
They have no license to "print money". Where is the rush to sign up for this TLD? They will have to market the hell out of it (spend money) to get people to plunk down that kind of money. And then they are only marketing to a small group of people, so thier potential market share will be even smaller. It might, nay, probably will end up being a money loser.
Is it too soon to call it the "dot prom"?
~Sean
all of those people who'll have 300 to spend will have an Iron-clad way to dupe people out of money-
maybe I should start my own "non-accredited professional tutoring service"?
it'll be just like a business card- just because you have one, doesn't mean your legit.
anyone here ever see bordello of blood?:) dennis miller was a private eye with a business card... ONE business card.
Looking for Book Reviews? Check out Literary Escapism.
Now announcing: a new telephone area code, 1AA, which will only be given to "really good people" who "aren't quacks." Yellow page ads, professional reputation, word of mouth, and popular reviews now all unnecessary.
.pro domain vendor which is a) slow and cumbersome, and b) not really their job.
.pro idea smacks of a corespondence-course quality "reputation enhancer."
Seriously. I know the web has a lot of crap, but is this the best way to deal with it? The point should be educating people about how to find the high-quality services by comparing rates, credentials, standing among community organizations, etc. This essentially places the work in the hands of the
I guess my biggest concern is that someone can just buy the "premium" nametag as such. I mean, think about how you look for doctors, for example. You want to make damn sure they have "MD" after their names, but you want it to be backed up by a diploma on the wall, which at least ensures they've gone to an accreditted med school. This
Jeez, let me see I need to keep my
My company needs to keep
Am I getting stiffed here or what?
About the only thing left of the dot com bubble that hasn't burst are domain registras.
:-(
I love this,
:)
.GOD domain for the ego's of Judges and Politicians ? I want in on that hell charge them 10k a domain its not like they wont steal from the taxpayer to fund it.
Its nice to see greed still reigns supreme in the human spirit.
Doctors, Lawyers, "qualified professionals in good standing"........Well that eliminates about 75% of the doctors I know, and has to be at least 90% of the layers I know.
The funny thing is these supposed "qualified professionals" are in general, A) Just dumb enough to pay and B) Have the ego that will force them too.
Damm I wish I had thought of this one, its almost a perfect business model. Just like selling MP3's for Christian Music like LiquidAudio is doing, you know a Real honest christian isnt going to steal the MP3 when they can buy it , its gold,
This is too, between overinflated ego's of "Proffesionals" Layers, Doctors, etc...You cant loose.
Whats next a
This is funny beyond compare
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
Lets get this straight, here is a company set up to fleece money out of ambulance chasers, audit dodgers and doctors (feel sorry for them being lumped in with the others). Brillant, and inspired, pray on their inate structures and desire for recognition. All those crappy adverts on US TV will now have "certified professional" because of their $300
Fleecing those whose business is to fleece others (and doctors so they don't spot its just aimed at them).
Just think those Anderson/Enron people will be certified as trustworthy
And people on Slashdot haven't worked out that this is in fact the first time the geeks get to fleece the suits.... shame on you.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Is this what happens when you give one company a license to print money?
No. If you give one company a license to print money, they will probably print money. However, if you give one company an artificial monopoly in a top-level domain name, they may pump-up prices due to lack of competition pressuring the price down.
I say we get rid of TLDs altogether.
Why can't they just be unregulated, like usenet?
Anyone have a theory or knowledge?
Also, why can't we have all unicode chars in the domain name ? This would rule for Japanese et al.
graspee
Surely just like the ".com" tld, this is going to cause problems for both consumers and suppliers of accounting / law services with a lack of localization (if anybody takes them up on the £300 offer of course).
I think that the tld's should be reserved for global things only, e.g. java.sun.com seems good, sun is a multinational company, and the same java is used the world over. (and as a counter-example, I've seen people looking for the U.K safeway chain caught out by www.safeway.com, using the store locator and being given an address in Florida).
It does however seem a good idea for governments (or some other authority) to try to set up "authoritive" sources of information that people are more aware of, and with suitable degrees of localization.
For example if I want accurate information on Tax or benifits in the U.K, I'll start of with a google search including "site: .gov.uk", as I'm pretty sure that they don't let just anybody have a .gov.uk domain, or for non-crackpot theories of relativity, limit to "site: .ac.uk" or "site: .edu", or to find a local doctor, something under ".nhs.uk" for the national health service seems a good bet.
Back to the ".pro" idea, this is already partially implemented with for example the ".co.uk", ".com", ".ltd.uk" domains, except that:
For the $300 registration fee, the people registering get a domain name regiestered that tells people that they are an actual professional in their field. In order to provide this the registar needs to do research to verify that the person registering the domain is an actual accredited professional, and verify that they maintain that accreditation. The $300 isn't an unreasonable fee for this added service. If people don't think the price is worth it, they will register a non .pro domain name, which mean that there is competition in the market. The registar has found a way to differenciate the domain by adding value. Great business idea.
The company says it will restrict .Pro to doctors, lawyers or accountants: 'qualified professionals in good standing ...
And just how do they determine who is 'qualified' or 'in good standing'?
Oh, yeah.... I forgot about the $300.00 'proof'.
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
All this means for me, and probably most of the people here on /., is more Spam. I already get a ton for .BIZ, .INFO, etc., now I'll be getting .PRO spam too. Great.
It's not a bad idea, actually. Let's say you are a company and you get the right to manage a brand new TLD. Let's also say you want to get rich doing it, with minimal work.
I say, if you want to make money, appeal to the ego of a demographic with plenty of expendable income and generally limited computer know-how. If a semi-competent "professional" gets an email message suggesting that he/she may qualify for an elite, brand-new .pro domain, this professional might be duped into thinking that others in the profession will stare at his/her new website domain with awe. This professional will use the .pro domain to brag to the whole world that he/she is competent - much like getting a vanity license plate with "doctor" or "lawyer" on it.
IT professionals were probably left out of this club because we're much less likely to actually want a .pro domain (and probably already own a few .com's anyway). Why waste advertising money on a demographic that isn't going to buy the product? Also, we don't tend to fit in with the other professionals socially - if you saw a lineup comprised of lawyers, doctors, accountants, and one IT professional, you'd probably be able to pick the IT pro out quickly enough (if by no other means, by saying "all your base are" and wait for one to say "belong to us!"). We don't need/want to be in their club. We already know we're superior :)
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
If they are checking to see if .pro registrants are certified professionals, then they don't *need* 300$ as a barrier to non-professionals. They have one. They're checking. That's the barrier. In this case, .pro addresses should be slightly more expensive to pay for the identity check, but $300 is a lot.
If they arn't checking, then the 300$ isn't going to do anything to keep non-professionals from just paying up.
So the 300$ is either a totally redundant or completely useless barrier to entry, one or the other. Perhaps both.
Everyone knows that "someexistingproduct.pro" addresses will exist, anyway ... pepsi.pro will point to pepsi's legal representitives, of course.
Or maybe pepsi's home page which has a link to thier legal representitives. Or maybe pepsi will just sue like mad untill they get "pepsi.pro" free and clear with no restrictions.
Somebody come up with something better than DNS and TLD registration, please...
Maybe the state's highest function is to grind out insoluble problems. (Zelazny, Hall of Mirrors)
On top of being able to resell em, they have class value :)
God spoke to me
Caveat: off the top of my head, not sure its a good idea, but might be worth a discussion.
Why not let anyone be eligible for controlling a TLD? Then that person or entity may decide:
Now, what eligibility requirements do the TLD owners have? Options (pick a subset):
The endemic problem with TLD is that its always a monopoly held by someone, but we try to pretend that it isn't. Lets give up on pretending a TLD is not a monopoly and instead loosen up who gets a TLD, thereby providing competing TLD monopolies. So company X controls .pro and company Y controls .md; I'm Garver, MD. and I think .pro wants too much money, so I go with .md.
This may also help other issues such as free speech vs. kids hitting xxxbigtits.com. A TLD's requirement may be that all content is kid-safe, and they would decide what that means. It would be easy for software to filter on TLD. Parents would have the power they need to control their kids content without having to watch every link their kid follows.
Just an idea.
And so far, in every case, they've failed. .biz, .name, .pro, .museum (well, that _might_ make it, but not at the price their offering), all 4 of those are current failures in our eyes. and they're failures not because the company couldn't handle the registrations; they're failures because they suck, and we know it.
"But remember, most lynch mobs aren't this nice." (H.Simpson)
-- Joe
Yes, .pro does sound like it will be a "kind of upper class boys club". So what?
.pro to have any value.
.pro to be visible on my network. If Bill O'Reilly has to pay radio stations for getting his new program out to listeners, I expect some sharing of revenue as well.
Except that upper class boys club uses my network and my customers to make it of any value. As a Internet service provider, they need my subscribers eyeballs and my infrastructure for
Sounds like I want $10.00 per month per subscriber to enable
*scoove*
Personaly I think it is a crap idea open to abuse
However look at the number of "profesional bodies" here in the UK (Institue of Physics etc) who charge £40 (~US$60) a year plus, just so you can call yourself a "Chartered Physicist" or "Charterd Enginer"
In reality all this means in that the title holder has a BSc/BEng degree (These are regulated to a minumum standard anyway) with three or four years works experiance, and is stupid enough to cough up money to an unelected body every year.
Yet people still pay to be "chartered" and people still look for "charterd profesionals"
Stupid!
And that is why it will suceed
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
Why would a professional in a third world country want an uncommon TLD that is just part of an *English* word? There are lots of other domain names possible, no-one at all is forced to use .pro
.professional TLD, for example, or any number of other intuitive toplevel TLDs that would enable sufficient competition for the .pro TLD to be priced at fair market value.
.uk and .ca) have competing registrars that keep the price of a domain name in check. Those that don't (many counry specific ones like .tv) tend to be priced higher than a market of competing registrars would result in. .pro has no competing registrar, so it does enjoy something of a monopoly, or at least an oligarchical postion, in that ICANN severely restricts who can offer competing TLDs and has disallowed competing registars for .pro.
The problem is that the entire marketplace for domain names is unfree at several levels. ICANN enjoys an effective stranglehold on who is and is not allowed to join the domain name cartel and "compete." So while there are other names available, no one is free to start up a competing
The other TLDs (including some country-specific ones like
This does not a free market make, and until there is a truly free market (which would probably require the dismantling of ICANN to achieve) it is a fallacy, and a mistake, to assume that market forces will even be able to function in an unfettered fashion, with anything approaching the results one would normally expect and require from a market (lower prices and better quality, in short service of the public good).
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
don't forget that pr0n companies are those who are pushing the net forward - and surely they have enough money to afford any .pro domain name they want.
.it at the end. All .it domains are managed by the italian Nic (the equivalent) or whatever no-profit is eligible for that.
:) ]
when will this stupid domain issue end? when are we going to push for a country-based management of domains? Let's make an example, Italy; I dream a world where all Italian companies MUST have the
dot-com domains made sense in a us-only internet, as it was a while ago.
I don't know why my neighbor can have his useless and not interesting domain name waste disk space on the root servers and waste bandwidth for MY connections!
uhm.. never mind.
[I wonder what could happen if I can put the deCSS algorithm as a domain name.. will the US government shut down the root servers for DMCA infringement?
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
meant for. DNS isn't designed to rope all the porn sites into a .sex, nor was it ever designed to be a secure communications channel for doctors, lawyers and accountants.
.only-Jack-Valenti-can-use-this-TLD and .everyone-else-has-to-use-this-one.
It's not even a good use of a TLD, if they artificially limit it to a really small class of users. The idea, is to choose enough TLD's, that everyone can have as many as they need, while still allowing people to categorize them enough to make a little sense. In effect they are pulling a "two tld system" where one is
That's an exaggeration, but it makes the point, doesn't it? It's just not an efficient use of TLD's.
It seems to me that since the TLD policies are getting ever more elitest the next set of TLDs will end up being along the lines of (.microsoft, .sony, .pepsi) at a cost of 1,000,000 per. This way ICANN can rich, and big business can get off that level ground everyone was started on when the internet became popular.
What's the use of a gated community on the web? Don't you want patients and clients to be able to get to your web site? Will these .pro sites only allow other people with .pro addresses in? Add to that the use of "a premium brand, enabling effective, secure communication" and it begins to look like a full scale buzz words attack.
Run for cover!!
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Global census data shows professionals are higher wage earners
What they are trying to say is "these rich bastards have money and we plan to stick em for $300 a pop"
So, RegistryPro wants to associate the .pro TLD with honesty, morality and trust?
You have to wonder why they're allowing lawyers to buy them -- but then again, at $300, they're the only people who would be prepared to splash out that much on a simple domain name!
(For those who can't be bothered reading the reference, i.e. 90% of /.) On the up side, they're partitioning the space sensibly. You're not buying a 2nd level domain (e.g. rogerborg.org), you're buying a third level, e.g. rogerborg.med.pro, so Mr Rogerborg the doctor and Ms Rogerborg the accountant can coexist without getting rogerborg.law.pro involved.
On the down side, they are extremely fuzzy.:
Basically, this looks like a TLD for people who want a TLD that costs $300. I'm actually fine with that from a market point of view, but - lacking details - their claims regarding validation of certification simply aren't very credible. I'll stick with my .org, thanks very much.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
...unbreakable domain names. .oracle :)
and of course those unbreakable will be
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
No, this is what happens when you give a company a license to print "money" (and start the price at $250).
I keep hearing about ICANN screwing things up, but don't know the details of how this is happening.
My question is this:
Are there good technical reasons for not proliferating TLDs to the same extent as all the many entries in theOr is it just a political quagmire, where "other interests" are looking for ways to address their pet concerns, make extra money, etc.?
"Provided by the management for your protection."
I think doctors are a respectable profession, not to be lumped together with accountants, lawyers, and other prostitutes.
In Murphy We Turst
When will people understand that domain names are just names? When will they figure out that TLDs are nothing but delegated namespaces?
My phone may be "secure" or "effective," or not. But my phone number is just a number. If they change my area code it will be annoying because I'm used to the old one, but my phone will still work exactly the same as it does now.
The only sane way to run a DNS root is to hand out pieces of namespace (somehow, doesn't matter how) and then wash your hands of the second level. DNS was designed as a hierarchy. Let the hierarchy do its thing.
Bottom line, I don't care who or what registers a dot-pro name. It's nobody's business but the owners of that namespace.
The way people talk you'd think that top-level domains have something significant to do with security, content, mail handling, and routing. They don't.
Simple. Be a member of a recognised professional body.
For the UK that's simple for IT types. The only recognised professional body is the British Computer Society. You can gain Chartered Engineer status after becoming a full member of the society (MBCS). You get to put letters after your name as well.
There must be similar organisations in other countries.
Deleted
I hate to sound like a ad but
www.joker.com is who I use
12/Euro a year and they have reseller recourses
DNS Servers (for those of us not colo'd or dont have reverse)
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
So exactly how does registering a domain name create awareness? It's not advertising...
.pro by refusing .pro site.
I plan on reducing the "value" of
traffic from any
Frankly, ICANN has GOT to go. They are worse than what we had before. Time to startup that letter writting campaign.
The only way to restrict this to Dr.s, lawyers, etc. is to do extensive tracking and verification. A $300 price tag is not going to keep a good scam artist away. Im sure the local ambulance chaser can scrounge $300 bucks together if he wants to get a .pro, to sound "reputable," so he can scam people out of thousands? Back in the day when it was $50/yr for a domain, people did this. $300 does not limit fraud or make something proffesional. Example for IRL? Look @ the BBB and their buddy-buddy membership dues club with companies. Then again, if you start charging $1000, then no one will buy it, including doctors and lawyers. Hell, most Docs and Lawyers I work with these days would not even pay the $300 for a stupid web page (not much they can do over the web business wise).
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
All Lawyers, Doctors, Accountants required to register .pro domains
.pro domain name with RegistryPro. "This is our latest consumer-friendly protection legislation," said Sen. Hollings, "making sure that consumers aren't duped by sham professionals with .org, .net or .com addresses. Think of the confusion that might create!"
Senator Fritz Hollings today submitted legislation that will require all newly-licensed medical, legal, or accounting professionals to register a
RegistryPro's chief executive announced a concurrent price increase and change in registration policy - new domains are now priced at $300 per month. "Seems our 'gated community' just got a little more exclusive!" he was overheard to say.
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
in the face....
But we'll never find an adequate solution. Why?
The DNS system was not designed with the current market for domains in mind. It was designed to give us a technically elegant way to put a name to an ip address. It was not meant to be a universal lookup service for the WWW.
But it is. And we're stuck with it. People don't change that fast.
I personally believe the biggest mistake was bringing out more TLD's. What we really needed was to let the current domain pool run until no useful domains are left and let the world come up with a better way to organize it's data.
If they're going to charge more for people who make more, they should charge less for groups that make less.
.whatever is BS anyway. It's become a scam to extract money out of people who don't want somebody else using their name (like whitehouse.com) and are willing to buy all the .whatevers to make it so. The day they started letting people "collect all three" - (and now much more than that) is the day the extensions lost all meaning. They should be done away with entirely. For that matter, so should the for-profit registries. They should introduce undotted domain names, hear arguments as to who deserves it most to settle the inevitable disputes, and move on.
All this
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
I don't get this attitude of yours at all. On one hand a ton of people here on Slashdot bitch about how average people are morons and idiots some of them so stupid that they shouldn't be allowed to breed, and then you come across a situation where a group of people decides they have had "enough" of that kind of people so they make a gated community to protect them and shield them from it and you give them shit over it and mock them?
Can no one have discriminating tastes over those they choose to associate with? How the hell do you know they are sacrificing community? They may be as close as can be behind those gates simply because they KNOW they aren't living next to the unwashed masses. And whats so grand or great about the unwashed masses to begin with that no one should "dare" to move away from them or gate themselves off from them?
I don't think these people are afraid of the world, probably just tired of it. Stuck up perhaps, but being snobby isn't always a bad thing. If no one is able to say there is a point or a level of crap they won't tolerate anymore then no one anywhere would have any standards of any kind.
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
No, .ho is for Santa Clause :)
:)
Ho ho ho ho
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
You're an idiot. (Heehee, I copied that from one of your earlier posts...)
Gated communities are nothing but economic discrimination at its worst. And this type of discrimination usually takes into account all other types of discrimination including racism, sexism, elitism, etc. Your justification for separation of people is pretty disgusting, actually: Those "other" people aren't worthy to live near you. You have a level of society that you think is acceptable and you think that people who are below that level aren't worthy of your interaction. And you think this is fine? What an elitist you are... $10 says you have a gun in your house and you voted for Bush.
I don't mind people being rich. I mind when they think they are special or better because of it.
-Russ
Me
In the US it might be the case that a suffix other than .com might be an issue. However, the rest of the world is used to dealing with losts of different TLDs...
No, their logic goes "since it will take us a hell of a lot of work to be able to verify your claim, we have to charge more".
Anybody can qualify for a .wtf tld!
... um, uh
It would a mark of
Well, anyway, you better get yours now!
if you got a.pro, you could map gfname@gives.head.like.a.pro to her real e-mail address. Or something like that.
I always wanted has.a.phd.in.pimpology.from.colorado.edu back when I was in college. It would've been great on IRC.
any other ideas?
Synergy is your friend
Now, that doesn't make you an engineer any more than a BA in humanities makes you a Doctor or Lawyer. [aside] Doctor, here, is used in the Medical Doctor context, not PhD. PhDs generally depend on novel thought and intellegence, MDs depend on hard work and excellent memorization skills. No offense is meant to either, merely a distintion most people overlook. [/aside]
Now that you've graduated with a B Eng or BS form an Accredited college, you are eligible to sit for the Fundementals of Engineering exam. It's a simple 8 hour, two part exam which tests your general knowledge of engineering, mathematics and science. About 75% of those taking the test who have already earned an engineering degree pass the exam.
Congratulations, you're an Engineer In Training (EIT), and you're lower than dirt! Now you can be paid a modest starting salary to work long hours while you learn how the real world works and understand how engineers get stuff done. After four more years, you're qualified to submit your application to take the Principles and Practice Exam. Of course, you'll need to document all the work you've done for the last four years showing increasing complexity and responsibility in engineering, plus written recommendations from several colleagues who are registered engineers.
If you're application is deemed worthy, you'll be allowed to sit for another 8 hour, 2 part examination. Of course, this is a bit more difficult than the last. Pass rates generally hover around 50%-60% for first time takers. Some smaller/targeted fields have higher pass rates. Some have smaller (Structural Engineers passing both halves of the Structural II for last October: 14%).
Didn't pass the first time? No big deal, you can take it again - but don't get your hopes up. Passing rates the second time around drop to around half of the first-time takers. If you don't know the material, you can't just memorize more stuff and improve your chances - this stuff is for real!
That's what it takes to get a PE. Keeping your certification is not much different that other professions - continuing education credits are required each year in many states, nominal registration fees to each state in which you are licensed, and so on.
Given the advantages of co-ops and time to process registrations and exams the typical time to obtain your PE is about 9 to 10 years , given that you pass each exam on the first try. Please don't whine about 8 years to get your MD or Law Degree. It speaks poorly for your profession.
Overzeetop, PE
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
"The company says it will restrict .Pro to doctors, lawyers or accountants: 'qualified professionals in good standing ... "
Hmm. Pretty shortsighted to think that those are the only professionals out there.
--- Hindsight is 20/20, but walking backwards is not the answer.
They may not be able to write something specifically in Perl or VB, after all that's an language specific implementation but I'd expect them to be able to analyse problems and design solutions.
After all, do Civil engineering CEngs mix cement? No, but they know the properties that the cement has and what you can use it for.
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If you're in the market for a really nice house, the fact that it's in a "gated community" is an extreme perk, because it limits the amount of traffic (esp. unknown traffic) going around your house. If the gate is guarded by a person, it's even better.
"And like that
Putting MCSE, RHCE, CNE, CCNA etc after your name simply makes you look stupid. They are trivial certifications which are out of date within 18 months.
CEng is a professional qualification in the UK which has legal status. You can gain CEng status through the British Computer Society. Trying to claim that you are Chartered Engineer will end you up in hot water if you aren't one.
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He has lived in bad neighborhoods.
He has lived a non-elitist life with bad neighborhood people.
He has had all of his crap broken into.
He now wants a safe environment for his children and wife.
Even gangster rappers move out of the hood. If there is anyone that has respect and understands "the hood" as it is, I would assume it would be them. But even they move to better cribs when they get a spot of money... why? Because they're tired of the hassle. Basically they are tired of everyone giving them shit because they worked it all out.
As a person that has had my car broken into as recently as three days ago, I know how it feels to get stuff stolen. I would pay a little more to prevent that.
You act like you like the hood. That tells me that you obviously don't live there. No one living in the hood likes the hood. That is the surefire sign you know what is going on there. You obviously don't.
Let me quote you:
Yep, you would be an elitist alright. A cold and sterile rich guy living in your safe little world where no one is ever upset and nothing is every stolen. Much better than trying to stick it out in the 'hoods. Good for you, your parents will be proud and your children will be better people for your example.
Actually, you are exactly right, sarcasm aside. Do you want your children to be successful and safer? WE ALL DO. Then you fight to give them that priveledge. It is as natural to protect your loved ones and offspring as it is to breathe.
So you may now brand me as an elitist, if you feel a need to justify your "correct" thoughts in your head. You would be worng. I end up in "the hood" as a newsman covering the worst that humans do at least two days a week. Does that mean I think I am above them (the poorer people)? Hell no. But I do punch a clock all year long and fight for my vacations. Most of their lives are one long vacation from reality.
And don't even give me that "little opportunity in the hood" crap. I worked through college at fast food joints, and lived on a subsistence of generic mac and cheese. My mother borrowed money from me since the age of seven so she could feed us growing up... and grew up in an abusive household. By the standards that social workers and the government has I should be getting double payments just because I have "had a tough life." The poor little losers that need sympathy wouldn't be getting in trouble and running from the law if they were busy with a job like the rest of humanity. And don't give me that no jobs crap. Maybe no tech jobs right now, but sorry about that, but if I needed to I would quickly put a paper hat back on to feed my family. The last time I checked, both McDonald's and the United States Military will accept practically anyone. The second choice is a guaranteed meal every day. Unfortunately though, it requires WORK! GASP!
Besides, where in the big rules of nature does it say that you deserve a check every month for yor natural life for being born in a bad neighborhood?
Why is it that illegal immigrants can be in this country for five minutes, dodging people who want to deport them, cause few and little crimes, go to church, and still pay off their car note and start a business? Ask them if they love this country.
Not that I want to get all scientific and technical here, but they (the poorest few) are poor because they don't have jobs. Don't want jobs. Want the money but don't want to work. Get a job? Spend it on a stupid car that is ten times better than mine, and then get evicted for not paying rent. End up sleeping in an expensive car.
Here's another handy tip: Pregnancy might occur after unprotected sex. I have no urge to pay for children having children. Neither should you.
Ever been in the hood at 1:30pm on a Tuesday? I am all the time. Everyone is home. Why? They aren't working. Not the night shift. Not the overnight shift. No one has a damn J-O-B.
You are obviously not from the hood. My best friend has become a newsman in Dallas (a great job, keep in mind that newsies are a very small group of people) in under five years, and he didn't finish college, and he grew up in a trailer on a gravel road, dirt poor, born to an illegitimate birth, and penniless. It wasn't luck that got him there.
Explain that one in your elitist theory.
Personally, I think it would be better to throw away theories and judge people on individual merits.
Localization is sometimes a good thing, but IMHO using the domain name system to enforce it is really not a smart idea. Search engines and directories are far better suited to that complex task.
.com's and .co.uk's can be owned by anybody, not necessarily real businesses (though at least the ".ltd.uk" domain is meant to be only available to registered limited companies) "
.com, .org, and .net were scrapped was that they rapidly became unworkable when exposed to the real world. It's not gonna work any better today than it did then.
"there is not enough checking of the validity of peoples claims to them, e.g.
Er, what's a "real business"? A registered corporation? A consultancy? A mom-and-pop store? A hobby that makes a little money on the side? A private non-profit? Would you have to have a tax ID or something to prove that you're "real"? And why should the domain name system care about that? The reason that the original guidelines on
The good thing about the current system is that Bob down the street can promote his weekend lawnmowing business just as effectively as any corporation. The guy working out of his basement selling woodworking projects can sell just as easily to the UK as to his next door neighbor.
Forcing people to use an awkward, hierarchal backwater domain space that most folks cannot properly remember and which artificially limits their apparent scope of business to an arbitrary geographical location is completely counterproductive.
Realistically, you can get almost any domain name not in use that isn't a major English word for less than $100 now. The domain business is over. Verisign's profits are off because hundreds of thousands of domains are being released when they come up for renewal, and the few people still into domain hoarding are using cheaper registrars.
Google has made web site addresses and TLD's totally obsolete. Typing a few keywords into google is much more reliable than trying to guess or remember a site's URL.
wonder if any of these so called professionalswill be willing to pay 3 to 4 times the cost for the same service. Will this gated community assume financial laiblity for their members' ? I doubt that like hell so what you end up getting is a web site for 3 times the cost in a domain that has no draw, or history...sorry I think I will remain in the .com and deal with the rest of the internet minus the gated community BS.
But hell people pay for useless names and less ervice all the tmie so I bet this go overs big at first. Who the hell goes and looks for a Dr. or other specialist via the internet anyways. I would think Dr. referral was the single biggest ad these guys could have.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Um, YES!
Free markets are wonderful, up until a supplier gets a monopoly. Or collusion starts up. Then the lovely free market rapidly turns into a bloodsucking operation.
This, kids, is why we have "government". It's sort of this organization we collectively create to protect our national interests. It requires politicians and statesmen, not business majors, to review markets and issue controls.
We are now commencing a wonderful experiment in government by anti-government zealots. Watch what happens... inflation, monopoly, and control of markets by people who don't have our national interests at heart.
They left the 'n' off the end.
Sleep is just a poor substitute for caffeine, anyway. -Bob Lehmann
That license might be worth the paper it's printed on, barely (and I know it's not printed at all). I would never trust any professional who is stupid enough to spend that kind of money on a domain.
If anyone at RegistryPro would care to answer the following (here, for all to see), please:
1) define "professional"
2) define "in good standing" (as in with who?)
3) justify restricting which profession may purchase a domain. I am a NETWORK professional, in good standing with MY peers. I work with a CCIE who also deserves consideration. Between the two of us, we have 20+ years of additional classroom education (I have two degrees, both below a Masters.)
4) prove this will enable secure communication between anyone involved.
Of course I do.
;-) - that fact is that we don't even get the chance.
My wife is an accountant. She is the supervisor of two CPAs. She never bothered to sit for the CPA exam because she doesn't like to do public accounting. She's happy in private industry, and she's a damned good manager. The lack of three letters won't hurt her in what she does or where she wants to be in ten years.
A CPA is an accountant who has passed all portions of the CPA exam. Passing the CPA gives you the letters, but does not give you the right to practice in a particular state - you must still meet their minimum requirements for experience (2 years, in general) in order to become licensed and offer your services to the public.
A more accurate comparison might be someone with a BS in Engineering vs an EIT. The only required separation between the two is an exam. Admittedly, it's only a one day exam - but you've got to pass it all in one shot (and, dammit, the afternoon math _was_ hard).
An engineer, OTOH, requires 4 years of docmented, progressive engineering responsibility in addition to the degree and the first exam before you can even sit for the "real" one. Also, passing that exam _is_ the final step in getting licensed in a state.
Please don't take this the wrong way...licenced CPAs _are_ professionals. We could stand here with our pants down and rulers in hand all day but it wouldn't change the facts. Engineers tend to get their hackles up because we're less recognized than our professional bretheren. We don't do the extensive marketing and lobbying that the others do and it shows in the polls.
Engineers just have to face it: we've been dis'ed in the first round and we're raw over it. Doesn't matter that we're all too smart to fork over $300 for a goofy TLD
Now...if I could just convince the Peruvian government to sell me a few 2nd level domains to me, I'd be a happy camper!
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
That's about how much I'd pay for a Pro.
In fact, I'd rather pay $300 for a Pro than a .pro.
The only tool you've got against psychosis is experience.
Can you imagine the fucken fortune they could make with .ANTI ???
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
We should have leased the rights to a TLD, and charged a royalty of 50%.
--Blair
Seems like it would be the logical TLD for sites containing information about prostitution, where to find pros, what the going rates are for an area and so on.
--
"Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
I can see the conversation with the registrar already:
.pro domain name for myself. Where do I fax my credentials?"
"Yes, my name is Seymour Edward Xavier, Ph.D. I'd like to register a
(If you don't get it, think about it for a minute.)