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The Nations of the Amazon Want the Name Back (bbc.com)

Online retail giant Amazon and the governments of eight South American countries have been given a final deadline to reach an agreement over how to use the ".amazon" web address extension after a seven-year dispute. From a report: What will happen next? It's a name that evokes epic proportions: the world's largest rainforest; a global tech company; and now a diplomatic saga nearing its end. This is the battle of the Amazon and it starts back in 2012. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that polices the world wide web's address system, decided to expand its list of generic top-level domains (gTLD) - the bit that comes after the dot in a web address. The new rules allowed companies to apply for brand new extensions, offering internet users and businesses more ways to personalise their website name and addresses. But eight countries containing the Amazon rainforest objected to the retail giant's plans concerning the new .amazon domain name.

85 comments

  1. The Nations of the Amazon Want the Name Back by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 2

    Jeff Bezos had this problem all worked out until his wife got the money he was going to use to buy those countries outright.

    1. Re:The Nations of the Amazon Want the Name Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what he gets for shagging someone else behind her back.

      His mistress is now officially the most (monetarily) expensive adulteress in the history of sex (with the possible exception of the Helen of Troy).

  2. umm, this is a debate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of course bezos can't have it. ICANN is corrupt as shit if they are even entertaining the notion.

    1. Re: umm, this is a debate? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are wrong, we own the internet and we can do whatever we want with it. Screw them.

  3. .amazon has to go to the region by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    Obviously goes to the region, they've had the name longer

    www.co.uk

    1. Re:.amazon has to go to the region by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also why is princeofwales.uk a malware site and why is http://co.uk/ unresolvable

    2. Re:.amazon has to go to the region by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      because you dont have a dns record for a domain. thats what hosts are for. and dns resolution doesnt care about http since its not part of the dns resolution protocol. fag.

    3. Re:.amazon has to go to the region by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Anyone can apply for a TLD as long as you own any applicable copyright. In case the TLD covers a geographic region, the ICANN panel determines if the domain should be under governmental control: apparently there is a sub-board that looks at this stuff. That is clearly the case for national TLDs, might also be the case for TLDs covering states or provinces that have their own governments. It is much less clear in this case, with the TLD covering a somewhat arbitrary geographic region that spans 8 countries. Does their case have more merit than of a large, established corporation with clear copyright on the name, when the name itself comes from ancient Greece? I think the panel made the right decision to see if both parties could come to some sort of agreement. But if no agreement is reached, it seems fairer to award the TLD to the company with a clear plan and clear business case for using the name, as opposed to these disjoint government whose "claim" amounts to something something tourism sovereignty.

      However I love how Amazon tried to buy off those countries with a couple of free Kindles...

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  4. Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I still think all these new TLDs are a stupid idea.

    1. Re:Still dumb by Kernel+Kurtz · · Score: 1

      I still think all these new TLDs are a stupid idea.

      I agree completely. Now that *.tld and *.*.tld are no longer enough, we have *.*.*

      Might as well just get rid of the dots entirely.

    2. Re:Still dumb by msauve · · Score: 1

      "Might as well just get rid of the dots entirely."

      If we're just going to use hostnames, I claim "loopback"!

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    3. Re:Still dumb by omnichad · · Score: 2

      Might as well go back to AOL Keywords.

    4. Re:Still dumb by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      You already have it.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    5. Re:Still dumb by msauve · · Score: 2

      Yep. But now I can make you stop using it.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    6. Re:Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still think all these new TLDs are a stupid idea.

      I do too, but I'm still going to make a fortune with jeffbezos.dickpics.

    7. Re:Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not too fond of any of them. How many people care if it's a .com or .org or .countrycode?

    8. Re:Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do too, but I'm still going to make a fortune with jeffbezos.dickpics.

      And you'll save so much on bandwidth because the images will be so small!

    9. Re:Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you'd be correct.

      As far as Amazon is concerned. Do any of those countries have English as an official language?

      And a trip to NCSU via google:
      https://projects.ncsu.edu/grad...

      Says those countries don't have a leg to stand on.

    10. Re:Still dumb by kingbilly · · Score: 1

      I'm not too fond of any of them. How many people care if it's a .com or .org or .countrycode?

      I think that number is low. Much lower than the companies who paid for the new TLDs were hoping. Looking at my wife, my siblings, my parents, etc browsing habits, I don't think they even know what website they are on half the time. They primarily reach a website from a social media post, or from a Google search. Heck, on my phone I am guilty of this. The last dozen searches for a recipe, I used a Google search and never paid attention to what URL I was visiting. Once I found the recipe that seemed good for my intentions (least leftover exotic ingredients), I just screenshot it and closed the browser.

      I'm thinking the average person doesn't care, or notice.

      Additional trivia, I posted about this once, on a blog, and a registrar replied and said such and such big name brands were using the new TLD's. So what? I searched those 3 brand names on Google and found that the 3 brands still used the .com as their website. Two of them simply redirected the new TLD to the .com, the third didn't even renew the new TLD. Obviously the registrar was blowing sunshine up my butt since they are in the business of convincing people to overpay for domain names. But still, if you find any blog articles from a few years ago about what new TLD's were picked up, I have found that if you go through the list, about 50% of them are no longer in use. All fluff. Again, see my first paragraph (not the parent, I already agree with you). Your average visitor, and therefore customer, doesn't give a shit. They arrive at websites from social media, or search engines. Not because they thought, "you know what let me just see if https://cars.research/ exists because I am in the market for a new car".

    11. Re:Still dumb by Chelloveck · · Score: 2

      Chuck out the gTLDs. Yes, all of them. Go to using ccTLDs only. This very clearly defines jurisdictions in which to settle disputes. Countries can manage their TLDs any way they like. Tuvalu wants to make a buck selling *.tv to all comers? Let 'em. North Korea wants to limit *.kp to only government-approved outlets? More power to them. Some huge megacorp wants to flaunt a global online presence? They can jolly well negotiate for a name with each individual country's TLD.

      Works out for everyone. Well, except ICANN, who can't squeeze money from people for vanity TLDs any more. Sucks to be them.

      --
      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    12. Re:Still dumb by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Of course it is, it's revenue farming.

      Cocacola.com will of COURSE not let cocacola.amazon fall into anyone's hands, so essentially opening a new TLD means all the big name domains are nearly guaranteed to simply cough up the $ to grab their same moniker on all the new TLDs. It's like free money.

      --
      -Styopa
    13. Re: Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I tried to set up .stupid but was overwhelmed by demand.

    14. Re:Still dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You and literally everybody else except for IANA

  5. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    As far as I am concerned, neither Amazon (the business) nor these 8 countries have any automatic right to domain names that contain the word amazon. The first to apply should get and get to keep the domain name. Just like Microsoft should not have been able to take over domain names containing the word microsoft from their original owners!

  6. Give them ".theamazon" instead by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or something similar. Problem solved.

    1. Re:Give them ".theamazon" instead by MitchDev · · Score: 1

      ".amazonjungle" The Amazon Jungle isn't a country, it's a jungle

    2. Re: Give them ".theamazon" instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, problem not solved. Abolish every stupid tld except .com .net .org .edu .mil and a country TLD for each nation. Except .ru .su and whatever the hell China and India use for all their spam.

    3. Re: Give them ".theamazon" instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In fact, block all SMTP, POP3, IMAP, SIP, RTP and SSH traffic out of those countries because they can't seem to use the protocols without massive amounts of abuse.

    4. Re:Give them ".theamazon" instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly, give the Nations Of The Amazon ".notamazon" to avoid confusion with the company:^O

    5. Re:Give them ".theamazon" instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or something similar. Problem solved.

      Rename it to the Bezos River.

    6. Re:Give them ".theamazon" instead by squiggleslash · · Score: 2

      Or maybe the Bezos entity could get ".prime", and rename itself (it's been pretty much rebranding everything as Prime lately. Amazon phones, Amazon streaming services including the ones for movies you've bought separately, etc...)

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    7. Re:Give them ".theamazon" instead by pak9rabid · · Score: 1

      .theRealAmazon

    8. Re: Give them ".theamazon" instead by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      ICANN started authorizing more TLDs than those because all the sensible ones were used up, ya dummy.

  7. Take the third option by Experiment+626 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The near eastern warrior women were Amazons a couple millennia before some web site was founded or rivers in the New World started getting European names.

    1. Re:Take the third option by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has it been established what the company Amazon named itself after, the river or the women? If it was the women, then the folks in South America don't have any basis for their complaint.

  8. geographical designators by RLBrown · · Score: 5, Funny

    Traditionally, TLDs have been used to either designate a general usage category, e.g. commercial, education, military, government, and so forth, or designate a geographic area of origin, e.g. us, ch, de, and so forth. The geographical designator has been abused, for example, the use of the "tv" designation. However, if we keep with this tradition, then obviously the "amazon" domain can only refer to the geographical region of Themyscira, which by a very long period predates the usage in southern new world continent.

    --
    -- Perhaps I see less than some, but more than many.
    1. Re:geographical designators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But with no men, who in the region of Themyscira would actually own the domains?

    2. Re:geographical designators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But with no men, who in the region of Themyscira would actually own the domains?

      Death by snoo snoo for you!

  9. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by msauve · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering that Amazon comes from ancient Greek, and refers to a tribe of women warriers, I'd say it's "first come, first served." The countries simply don't have any better claim to use of the word than the company.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  10. Peers by jythie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is always kinda scary to see individual companies acting as peers or even superiors to entire nations like this. The idea of a single private entity getting an entire gTLD for its own private use instead of it going to a general usage or geographic region should have been laughed out of the suggestion box. While I am not surprised that ICANN seriously entertained the idea, I am annoyed.

    1. Re: Peers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many tributaries does the Amazon have?
      How many warehouses does Amazon have?
      Nothing like the surly natives to complain bitterly about names.

    2. Re:Peers by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Depends. Did they attempt to register it? Or are they just upset that someone else did and registered in protest. Frankly a rainforest does not deserve a donation name over an internet giant. And conversely the same applies to Amazon if they wanted to build a distribution centre in the actual Amazon.

    3. Re:Peers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet some companies had multiple .8 IP addresses, i.e. more than all of China. No wonder they had to put up a firewall!

  11. Re: Considering that those nations are busy destro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And this is literally rocket science for most people

  12. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    So really, the residents of Lesbos should have first kick at the can.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  13. Re: Considering that those nations are busy destro by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't forget Nissan!
    http://nissan.com

  14. Re:Why does Amazon want such a long TLD anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Even if they did get the .amazon TLD, what would the URL for the shop then be? "amazon.amazon"? Would what is now something like "amazon.co.jp" become "japan.amazon"?

    Or are they going for something like "books.amazon" or "screwextractors.amazon" or "sexbots.amazon"?

    "washingtonpost.amazon"

  15. No Means NO. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Barbie: No Means NO.

  16. Re: Why does Amazon want such a long TLD anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is a long river, after all

  17. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Amazon, the company in the US, the book shop, the retailer, is not the only company called amazon.

    http://www.pttmcc.com/new/cafe...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    The coffee they offer is actually quite good.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  18. amazonian women like Wonder Woman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Incomplete thought. Back in the day, the Amazon was full of magical woman, some outfits surprisingly similar to american flag swimsuits.

  19. flawed logic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suppose you are often disappointed by your beliefs. None of the countries (some of which have very corrupt governments) own the rights to the word "Amazon". However, Amazon was extended trademark protection for the name "Amazon" in a great number of jurisdictions. Brazil and Peru are entitled to the TLDs ".br", and ".pe", respectively, and that's where their legitimate claims to TLDs end as far as being in control of their names.
    ICANN can decide to do as they see fit, just as long as they are consistent.

  20. Rhyme and Reason by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is neither rhyme nor reason to the way that the domain name system of the internet is organized. What we have is chaos. Every so often, the registrars open new domain areas up and there is a land grab. .com, .net, .org, .gov, .us, .co, ..., .dev, .party, .shoplifting, .google, .facebook, .amazon, ..., .trump2020, ....

  21. How about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the company becomes AMZN

    Clearly the loser is the the company.

  22. They aren't prime by hawguy · · Score: 1

    Do any of those Amazonian countries offer 2-day prime shipping? I think not.

    1. Re:They aren't prime by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Yes, Brazil does, that was one of the first reforms their otherwise Trumpian new President introduced when he came into office. Brazil will also give you a credit of $1.99 towards a digital purchase if you decline the two day shipping offer.

      Bolivia doesn't do it, but they will give you free supersaver shipping as long as you spend $25 or more.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
  23. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 2

    Well, no, the Amazons weren't Lesbians (well, some of them may have been lesbians, but they weren't from Lesbos). In fact, they weren't even Greek, "Amazon" was simply the Greek name for them. Supposedly they originally came from Lybia but migrated to Anatolia (modern Turkey, before the Turks took it over). The general modern opinion is that they were in fact a Greek myth. Unfortunately, the fun etymology that "amazon" derives from the ancient Greek "a-mazos" "without a breast" seems to be false.

  24. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

    Considering that Amazon comes from ancient Greek, and refers to a tribe of women warriers, I'd say it's "first come, first served."

    Why should the Greeks name a river in South America?

    Just rename the river. What do the Yanomamis and their pals call it . . . ?

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  25. "web address extension" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dear msmash, I know you love sensationalistic clickbait, but could you at least filter out the most eggregiously incorrect bullshit, please? It's neither "a web address" nor "an extension". And even you ought to know by now.

  26. Rename the company Nile by turp182 · · Score: 1

    Longest river in the world, #1!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    --
    BlameBillCosby.com
  27. Do they even speak English? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This smells like ridicule, which is teen spirit

  28. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1

    No need to change the name, because none of the countries that have the Amazon river call it that, since they don't speak English. It's el río Amazonas. They can register that .amazonas gTLD.

    --
    This space intentionally left blank
  29. It's nothing new by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    see here. It's been like this since trade became a thing.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:It's nothing new by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      see here. It's been like this since trade became a thing.

      Indeed. It was much worse in the past, when companies raised armies and waged war in their own name.

      Today's multinationals are toothless compared to their predecessors.

  30. ÂHablan inglés? by TinyTheBrontosaurus · · Score: 1

    so there's a bunch of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries that want to have the English spelling in their TLD? why don't they fight over .amazonas or .amazona?

    1. Re:ÂHablan inglés? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so there's a bunch of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries that want to have the English spelling in their TLD?

      why don't they fight over .amazonas or .amazona?

      Bingo. Or the equivalent in Spanish or Portuguese.

  31. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now do the "corporations are people my friend" bit.

  32. Anyone can have a gTLD. by brunes69 · · Score: 1

    Anyone can have a gTLD.

    You could apply for, and receive, *.jythie if you want.

    Why? Because its a money making scheme, that's why. gTLDs force companies down this path where they either try to protect their trademark or have it trampled over. In return registrars generate millions of dollars registering gTLDs that aren't even used

  33. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The general modern opinion is that they were in fact a Greek myth.

    You sure about that? The glorious Wikipedia says overwise -- please cite if you do...

  34. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    The general modern opinion is that they were in fact a Greek myth.

    Perhaps among those who haven't heard of the Scythians and their female horse archers.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  35. scorchio by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    It's ethethetheth or something like that. Viva El Presidente!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  36. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Truth is, you are not concerned. At all.

  37. Re: In before lying FUD faggot Ken Doll...GayPK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You may be gay.
    You are not THE APK that we all know , love and adore here on /.
    However please keep posting.
    I'm building a dataset and your posts add value so I can either include or exclude

  38. Re:Why does Amazon want such a long TLD anyway? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Buy this domain:
    amazon.sucks

  39. Oh irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon belongs to the Greeks if anything.

  40. That would be "cultural appropriation" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IFAIK None of the "natives" (actually, just descendants of an earlier wave of immigrants, from Asia rather than Europe) had a written alphabet and certainly not the English alphabet. Presumably, they could lay claim to the audio sound of the word "amazon" if they could prove it was not, as commonly believed, more of a Spanish or Portuguese thing.

    While I am on the subject, however, the very concept of Intellectual Property law is also totally foreign the the "natives" and thus their use of it also constitutes a racist form of cultural appropriation - right up there with their use of zippers and the wheel.

    I find that people on the political Left, (which tends to include persons who fawn over "indigenous peoples") get rather upset when the standards they apply to the people they hate get turned against the people and causes they love. This "cultural appropriation" farce is one of my personal faves in that regard.

  41. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So really, the residents of Lesbos should have first kick at the can.

    *First lick.

    Sorry...

  42. Re:Considering that those nations are busy destroy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As far as I am concerned, neither Amazon (the business) nor these 8 countries have any automatic right to domain names that contain the word amazon. The first to apply should get and get to keep the domain name. Just like Microsoft should not have been able to take over domain names containing the word microsoft from their original owners!

    Huh? Soooo.... Amazon is not really THE Amazon?