The Domain's the Thing

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

In addition to more bandwidth, the Internet needs more domain names. The Web's explosive growth has left everyone from individuals to corporate giants searching desperately for a recognizable name to call their own. Soon, if the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC; http://www.iahc.org/ ) has its way, a new set of top-level domain (TLD) names will ease the crush.

The IAHC is an organization of members from both Internet standard makers, such as the Internet Society and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, and international standards groups, such as the Internationa l Telecommunications Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization. The proposed new TLDs are:

.firm
 -- for businesses or companies

.store
 -- for businesses offering goods for purchase

.web
 -- for entities emphasizing activities related to the WWW

.arts
 -- for those emphasizing culture and entertainment

.rec
 -- for sites about recreation/entertainment

.info
 -- for entities providing information services

.nom
 -- for individual or personal nomenclature 

How real is this need for new names? Real enough that two other enterprises are going ahead with their own alternatives to IAHC plans. eDNS ( http://www.edns.net ) is proposing a free-market model for TLDs. Name Space ( http://namespace.autono.net/ ) is already moving forward with its own domain name servers and customer-created TLDs. Without the blessing of a standard or coordination between the entities, though, these organizations may face trouble surviving with IAHC-expanded TLDs, which are expected to arrive soon. "If all goes well, you'll see the new TLDs by the end of the year," says Martin Burack, executive director of the Internet Society. And, with that, the Internet will have taken one more step from its academic roots to its commercial blossoms.