So long dot.com... hello everything.else...

[Candlelight]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5045907/But-how-shall-I-address-you

So long dot.com. The easy way to consult the Internet will soon be via "dot.anything".
In a worldwide Internet revolution to be announced next month, web addresses will expand beyond dot.com, with governments, businesses and entrepreneurs expected to rush to apply for signature domain names.
The move will reduce confusion and cut reliance on search engines like Google, Australian expert Adrian Kinderis says.
"Ultimately, this will be a new way we use the Internet," said Mr Kinderis, CEO of the domain name registry services provider AusRegistry International.
"Rather than a dot.com boom, it's now a dot.anything boom."
The so-called Top-Level Domain program will be ratified by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) in Singapore on June 20, followed by a four-month global communication campaign.
After that will come a 60-day window to apply for a Top-Level Domain name, which will come at a cost of $US185,000 to discourage frivolous applications.
The first Top-Level Domain names will most likely come into effect by the middle of next year.
Trademark holders will be protected when applying for a domain name, while no one will be allowed to apply for a city name, such as .Melbourne, without written approval from the relevant government.
A problem will occur when there is more than one city with the same name.
The government of Melbourne, Florida, in the United States, could potentially be pitted against the Australian federal government for ownership of the domain name.
"Search engines have come around to sort out this clutter of everything that's in this big bucket called dot.com," he said, adding that dot.com would still be relevant.
Under the new system, users will be brought straight to their destination without having to use a search engine.
"Imagine bypassing Google because you knew you could go to 'restaurants.sydney' or 'bars.sydney' and find every restaurant and bar listed on those sites.

This will not end well.

 

[iguana_tonante]

There are already .com, .org, .gov, and all the country codes like .it, .uk, .fr, etc. I don't see the revolution.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Yeah, .com is more out of convention anyway. Certainly, similar websites might not need to modify their domain slightly to worry about someone taking it, but most will still prefer a .com.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Great, so ICANN and the registrars find yet another revenue stream. Adding new TLDs is never about making the Web easier to use, it's all about raking in that sweet, sweet cash.

 

[RoJoHen]

There are already .com, .org, .gov, and all the country codes like .it, .uk, .fr, etc. I don't see the revolution.

.edu

.tv

How is this news?

 

[Amaris]

.cc
.tk

Yeah, this is silly.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Didn't they finally approve .xxx for porn sites?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I guess the biggest difference is there no longer needs to be prior approval for a .something to be created.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So why have dot-ANYTHING, then?

 

[{ Emilia }]

There are already .com, .org, .gov, and all the country codes like .it, .uk, .fr, etc. I don't see the revolution.

.edu

.tv

How is this news?

.tv is just the country code of Tuvalu btw. Got nothing to do with television but Tuvalu is making money with it.
Just saying cause you grouped it with .edu which serves a completely different purpose.

 

[sojourner]

A problem will occur when there is more than one city with the same name.
The government of Melbourne, Florida, in the United States, could potentially be pitted against the Australian federal government for ownership of the domain name.
"Search engines have come around to sort out this clutter of everything that's in this big bucket called dot.com," he said, adding that dot.com would still be relevant.

Isn't that last sentence discredited by the previous two? Sounds like you'll still need search engines for most things.

 

[BlobVanDam]

I don't see the need for this. I think simply having your domain name followed by .com was nice and simple, and easy to remember. The relatively few alternatives were pretty easy to remember.
Making it completely open will mean we'll most likely rely more heavily on search engines to find a web address. I don't see how it will remove search engines, even using the example they provided.

 

[CorporalClegg]

So will TrekBBS.com become TrekBBS.TBonz?

 

[Sephiroth]

probably trek.BBS

 

[MacLeod]

as others have already said we have .co.uk, .gov, .org etc... I think this is what they term a non news story

 

[wamdue]

given how people browse these days, its not an issue.

The address box in my firefox is linked to google, and as such I type 2 or 3 words and chances are it will take me to the website I wanted.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I guess the biggest difference is there no longer needs to be prior approval for a .something to be created.

Yeah, although it doesn't come cheap so I don't see it being used by anything except large corporations and governments. http://united.states and http://general.electric, anyone?

This will have very little effect on end users, I suspect.

So why have dot-ANYTHING, then?

Without getting too technical, the dot is required by the domain name system in order to consider a domain name valid.

 

[captcalhoun]

i wish people wouldn't put a fuckin dot in dot com. it's tautalogical, you're saying dot-dot-com. it's as stupid as PIN number, SAM missile or similar stupidity.

 

[Candlelight]

I don't like it either, but used it to make the point.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

i wish people wouldn't put a fuckin dot in dot com. it's tautalogical, you're saying dot-dot-com. it's as stupid as PIN number, SAM missile or similar stupidity.

Kind of like how Slashdot's address is:

H-T-T-P colon slash slash slash dot dot org