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Is It Time For .tel?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the how-to-differentiate dept.

Vitaly Friedman writes "ICANN, the body responsible for creating top-level domains, is considering a new one. Conceived as a way to easily manage contact information in an age where many people have numerous contact numbers, the proposed .tel TLD would allow individuals and companies to keep all of their contact information in an easily accessible location. Companies would get companyname.tel while individuals would be able to register firstnamelastname.tel." This idea has been kicked around for quite a while; one of the question is the whole name-space collision issue. For instance, there's me and then there's other me. Lemme tell how strange it is getting fan mail for country music stars.

19 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Unforseen problems by robyannetta · · Score: 5, Funny
    Companies would get companyname.tel while individuals would be able to register firstnamelastname.tel.

    This may pose a problem with the 526,000+ people sharing the name Michael Smith.

    --
    - Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
    1. Re:Unforseen problems by kryten_nl · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, perhaps we should add numbers to the back of the name. Come to think of it, maybe it would be better to define the name by numbers as well, then you wouldn't have to worry about typos and phonetic problems. Maybe this system should look something like:

      2001:0db8:85a3:08d3:1319:8a2e:0370:7334
      Or 8 groups of 4 hexadecimal digits.

      [/sarcasm]

      --
      For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
    2. Re:Unforseen problems by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 2, Funny

      Geez, I hadn't thought about the illegals. Guess we'll have to legalize all of them so that they can have .tel domains. And -- did you say there were people outside the US? Huh. What a concept.

    3. Re:Unforseen problems by kryten_nl · · Score: 2, Funny

      ... and you haven't turned him over to the FBI yet?

      --
      For the perfect anti-Unix, write an OS that thinks it knows what you're doing better than you do and let it be wrong.
  2. This is a really good idea by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    We can put it to good use like .coop, .cat, .biz, .arpa, .aero, .info, .jobs, .mobi, .museum, .name, .pro, .travel, and .int.

    God knows it's time for .tel.

  3. Phone sex by thewiz · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the spirit of delicio.us, I can see a porn site called showand.tel being registered.

    --
    If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
    1. Re:Phone sex by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 4, Funny

      Apparently De Beers have their eye on www.car.tel

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
  4. MichaelBolton.Tel by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 5, Funny

    No way. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks!

    1. Re:MichaelBolton.Tel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      So are you related to the singer guy?

  5. How odd by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Todd Masonis, a co-founder of contact management service Plaxo Inc., is familiar with the hassles of keeping track of everyone. His parents have had the same house and phone number for some 30 years, and "for a long time that was how they are identified," Masonis said.

    Really? Your parents are called Mr and Mrs 945 Chestnut Street? How odd.

    -Grey

    --
    Silver Clipboard: Time Management Tips
  6. Re:.tel is ok by wizrd_nml · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the Middle East we find this hilarious. Biz in Arabic means breast.

  7. Since I'm a pimp by aplusjimages · · Score: 3, Funny

    I was thinking of buying ho.tel. That way clients can easily find the number for a pro they like.

    --
    Can I bum a sig?
  8. Re:.tel is ok by Khuffie · · Score: 2, Funny

    And soon we'll have .zib ;)

  9. Re:eliminate top-level domains ? by The+Snowman · · Score: 5, Funny

    But imagine if the internet was just a vast wasteland of porn and spammers.

    That doesn't require any imagination.

    --
    24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
  10. Contact info in an easily accessible location? by Theatetus · · Score: 3, Funny
    the proposed .tel TLD would allow individuals and companies to keep all of their contact information in an easily accessible location.

    Wow! If only someone had thought of that before!

    --
    All's true that is mistrusted
  11. Re:eliminate top-level domains ? by raju1kabir · · Score: 1, Funny
    "nu" is Swedish for "now"

    It's Dutch for "now". It's Swedish for "naked".

    --
    "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
  12. Re:.tel is ok by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 2, Funny

    In the Middle East we find this hilarious. Biz in Arabic means breast.

    That sly bunch, so they did find a way for a .xxx domain to be put in place.

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  13. Names Collide - But Letters+Numbers Won't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why not put in place a system that uses both numbers and letters. For instance a country code before .tel to denote the country. Such as .us for United States, .uk for United Kingdom, .ca for Canada, etc. Then each member of the country can use a unique number such as their Social Security Number in the U.S. or their Social Insurance Number in Canada. Assuming each country has a unique identifier for each individual this should work perfectly. For instance, mine would be 634812628.us.tel. That way, there would be no collisions. Try as I might, I can't foresee any problems arising from this.

  14. Re:eliminate top-level domains ? by enjahova · · Score: 2, Funny

    And in Chinese it can mean girl, so if we just cycle the languages we get nu nu nu = naked girl now

    --
    "how can they call it a MINE if everything here is THEIRS?!?!" -Straight Jacket