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Updated February 15, 2020 Multiplexed Internet Domain Names Müller is the
most common surname in Germany, but there can be only one müller.de Do you see the problem in this pattern? Most names, and even trademark terms, are not unique! Multiplexed domain names introduce a hierarchy within second level names. This extra level supports multiple use of 'the same' name without ambiguity. Examples could include name.com, name*1.com, name*2.com, etc. A simple solution for European Union users is € - the Euro sign - as the multiplexing token: examples could include müller€1.de, martin€2.fr, murphy€3.ie and so on. The EU solution is quick and simple, but isn't universal. Universality is highly desirable, but if the Internet continues to fragment perhaps it is only desirable but not mandatory. Improvement is needed most in the legacy .com and country code TLDs, but could be applied equally to all top-level domains. Problems solved
by multiplexed names include: - Users who want a presence on the Internet can own their own identities instead of becoming a product sold to advertisers by social network sites. Compare the total number of registered second level names with the global population of Facebook users. - No one can buy
and warehouse a domain name to prevent it from being used, or
to extract an unreasonable price. Name speculation,
which raises prices by restricting access to names, becomes
less profitable. Modern browsers that combine the address line and a search function already support the use of multiplexed names. Domain names were introduced in 1983. The only major improvement since then was the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names that support characters and scripts outside standard ASCII English. Internationalized Domain Names were introduced in 2003! ICANN's new generic Top Level Domains are not an
improvement, they don't support normal users. When
US Department of Commerce created ICANN their primary
concern was: Commerce never mentioned customer benefit or user demand. ICANN was built on supply side push - Internet users were never asked if they wanted thousands of new Top Level Domains. The results show they didn't. The DoC also runs the US Patent and Trademark Office. They could have said: "compete by inventing a better system" but instead ICANN was founded and populated by groups that supported launching new TLDs. More than 1900 ngTLD applications were submitted and over 1200 new TLDs have been delegated (made active) since October, 2013, but they don't solve user problems. The legacy .com TLD continues to grow. The number of registered .com names is nearly 145.8 million (http://research.domaintools.com/statistics/tld-counts/). The 266 county code TLDs together add at least another 158.7 million registrations. How have ICANN's 1,200+ new generic top-level domains worked out? Not very well. - The total number of ngTLD registrations peaked at over 29.4 million in April, 2017, and then declined. Recent growth has pushed the count to 31.2 million (https://namestat.org/s/newgtld-summary).- One ngTLD registers over 6 million names, but it is still smaller by 332 thousand names than the top ngTLD in July, 2016. - The top ngTLD in July, 2016, has lost 3.86 million names since then. - Today the second largest ngTLD registers over 3 million names, the next over 2 million and the next 5 more than 1 million each. Only the following 5 register more than 1/2 million. - The top 10 ngTLDs - of more than 1200 - account for 65.1% of all ngTLD registrations (source: ntldstats.com), and the top five alone account for 48.6%! - Top ngTLDs can gain or lose thousands of registrations in a day - gains are based on intensive marketing and, we can presume, purchases by domainers for intended resale at inflated prices. Losses are a result of non-renewals. - Failing to see value materialize, numerous organizations have cut their losses and withdrawn their .brand ngTLD applications. Unfortunately many domain names, under both legacy and new generic top levels, aren't actually used. The last count by ntldstats.com showed 72% of ngTLD registrations don't provide unique content - they were parked, redirected, or suffered from HTTP errors. If ngTLDs don't resolve domain name problems, what does ICANN propose to do? They're talking about opening yet another round of ngTLD applications! Isn't it better to expand the Internet by providing unlimited names instead of the ngTLDs merchants want to impose? The Internet Domain Name System was never designed to provide universal naming, and that caused a number of problems now so ingrained that most people accepted them as inevitable. Things as common as domain name disputes, name warehousing and auctions, and the drive to market unwanted new TLDs are consequences of the system not being designed to provide universal naming. The basic problem: most people, companies and trademark holders can't use their own name under their preferred top-level domain. The DNS is a technical system written to a technical specification. Problems can be resolved by extending the specification. This was done when Internationalized Domain Names made it possible to use 'foreign' characters and scripts in domain names. Since the domain name system is hierarchical, multiplexed names add a hierarchical level within second level names. It's like adding street numbers to street names within a city. This makes the name space under any top-level domain virtually unlimited. We need a new token character to identify/generate a hierarchy. We suggest the asterisk as a multiplexing token, together with a number or letter(s). Compare it to the accepted character that designates email addresses. MaratSade.fr could be seen as a domain name, but write it Mar@Sade.fr and you recognize it instantly as an email address. The same can apply to domain names, where * is the character indicating multiple use of the same name. The asterisk is often used as a wild card character indicating 'one of many'. The final number (or letter) indicates 'which one' of several users of the same name. Technically, names are registered in a set format and translated by a simple edge application to include the multiplexing token. This is similar to but not the same as, and more transparent than, the system used to generate foreign characters and scripts in Internationalized Domain Names. Aren't domain
names ICANN's responsibility? Can't you just add
numbers, or edit the software already used to translate
foreign characters? When did it become appropriate to let one organization (ICANN or IETF) define the problem, create its solution, and then universally sanction that solution without independent oversight? Do you want Boeing to design, manufacture, and approve its own aircraft without an FAA review? Multiplexed domain names are a technical step toward Universalized Domain Names. Multiplexed names nested with Internationalized Names make Universalized names available to anyone, anywhere, in any language or script, under their country code, legacy, or preferred new generic top-level domain. Is Internet access a human right? In that case registering your own name, under your preferred TLD, should also be your right. Otherwise you support a privileged minority owning their names and excluding the majority. Registering your own domain name isn't a problem when Everyone can be a Star. (Updated May 1, 2019) Multiplexed names are not offered as a supported product; we want to demonstrate how the Internet domain name system can evolve to eliminate unnecessary naming restrictions and provide relevant names for everyone. The combined URL address line/search field in modern browsers is ready to support disambiguation of multiplexed domain names. Multiplexed domain names as tested follow all applicable Internet standards, but the translation format used in our tests is not standardized. Last updated February 15, 2020 |