Questions and Answers

Q1 - More than 75 million .com names are registered. Obviously it hasn't been hard to create new names. What's the problem?

A1 - The problem is just that: there are 75 million .com names registered. Each name must be unique. Many of the names, perhaps half, are held for speculation. That keeps content, and commerce, off the web.

The legacy system allows one person to 'own' a generic term. Example: worldwide there can be only one plumber.com on the Internet.

In 2004 only 3.7% of corporations around the world had identical corporate and dotcom domain names.

Imagine the telephone system following Internet rules which allowed anyone in the world to register your name and thereby prevent you from getting phone service under your own name. Or just try to register a domain name that is meaningful, short, and easy to remember.

Q2 - Does this require a new naming system?

A2 - No, we're suggesting an evolution of the existing system, the fundamentals aren't changed at all.

Here's how it would work:
Domain names are registered in a set format, then a little new browser technology is used to introduce a keyboard character that hasn't been available in domain names previously. This character is restricted for use as an 'addressing token' in much the same way the @-character is used in e-mail addresses. This character plus a number allows you to register names that are the same as - but at the same time different from - existing domain names. This simple device would bring the Internet into better alignment with the real world, where different people and companies often share 'the same' name.

If we look at the alternatives:
We know that 'all the good names are gone' and have been for years. If you're creating a new venture you may be able to register a short, catchy domain name and name your company after your domain, but if your company already enjoys name recognition and goodwill, even having a registered trademark won't help in most cases.

A wait list (back-order) system is available for ordering names that expire, but how many people do you think are in line ahead of you to buy the 'good names'? How long can your business wait for a name, and do you want one that the previous owner may have run into the ground?

There is a secondary market in domain names, fueled by speculation. If it normally costs only a few dollars to register a name for a year are you willing to pay thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the same name? Someone is getting rich on scarcity, but the scarcity is artificial and it simplifies neither communication nor commerce. In fact, it impedes both.

New top levels have been introduced to compete with the popular .com but they still haven't succeeded after half a decade, a very long period in Internet time. Users tend to treat new top level domains with suspicion and businesses view them as second rate addresses.

Domain names may be quite long, but studies show that shorter names are better than long ones (both on and off the web). It's no accident that International Business Machine and American Telephone and Telegraph changed their names to the short forms you're familiar with.

Q3 - Don't search engines make this unnecessary?

A3 - If search engines were perfect, we wouldn't need domain names at all, but the number of domain disputes continues to rise year over year - business owners are finding control over 'their own names' is increasingly important.

A normal user only reads the first 2 pages of search engine results. This means that as web content grows, positioning your business becomes harder instead of easier.

Look up "www.JoeAndSons*2.com" in Google and you'll find the test page. If you just look for 'fish restaurant in San Francisco' without the name you get 2 million hits to wade through. Name recognition is important on the web, which it why it's important to have your business name registered as a domain.

Q4 - Why not just use numbers – why add a new character like the asterisk to domain names? Won't that confuse people and increase the risk of name abuse?

A4 - Good reasons for introducing an addressing token include security and avoiding possible collisions with existing names. Another is that company, product and trademark names may already end in a number. Consider the case of a television station that wants to use channel5.com as a domain name. There are lots of channel 5s in the world and the second registrant can't be expected to register as channel51.com which changes the meaning and identity, and besides, a UHF channel 51 may already have that domain name.

For novice users, the asterisk is just another character on their keyboard. If the e-mail @-character isn't confusing, the asterisk shouldn't be. Adding one new character with a defined function is easier to accept than several new top level domains. An asterisk that means several instances of the same name are registered is a positive security development for domain names.

The need to create new and original words to register as domain names generates uncertainty about name ownership and supports the abuse called typo-squatting. Registering a name that is not your recognized name (because that one is already taken) generates confusion, uncertainty and frustration for the consumer. Opening an unlimited supply of familiar words and names should help, and if name-based directories are created, additional information can be made available to users even before they type in or click on a domain name.

Q5 - Aren't you requiring everyone, everywhere, to install a new browser?

A5 - No, that wouldn't be user friendly. Look up "www.JoeAndSons*2.com" in your favorite search engine. You can find the test page even though it doesn't get any traffic, and you can select it even if you don't have the 'right' browser.

Typing the [name]*[number] format into your address line requires a browser update, but we don't expect anyone to adopt a new browser. We've made Asterisk available as a prototype to show how the function could be added to any web browser. This could be done as an add-on, or when the browser is updated.

New web browsers are delivered with software to translate Internationalized Domain Names, even if you don't realize it or ever use it, so similar development may be seen for multiplexed names.

Or you can always type the mlx--[name]--[number] native registration format into your address line. It isn't elegant, but it works.

Digression for potential site owners:
A site registered under a multiplexed name would be on line as quickly as any other site. A directory page or database with a link to that site could be updated immediately. Search-bots have to find and index the site before it can be displayed among search results, which may take a month or more. Linking the new site to a frequently updated directory page should speed up the process. As soon as the site is listed in a directory or found by your favorite search engine, it can be selected like any other site, by anyone, with any browser, by clicking on a link.

Q6 - Is the name registration format formally standardized?

A6 - No, this is a proof of concept. The system is fully compliant with existing standards, but adds a level. That level isn't standardized. If a standard is established it may differ from the one being tested.

Q7 - Who wants to be a 'number 2'?

A7 - Ask instead: if your name is Jones and jones*21.com is already registered, would you hesitate to register as jones*22.com? There may be some perceived advantage to having a lower number, just because it is shorter (fewer digits).

Remember, Jones registers as jones.com and the rest is 'disambiguation'. The asterisk and number aren't a value judgment any more than your telephone number is.

The proposed naming evolution returns domain names to the status they were once intended to have as simple addresses rather than property. The site you are now reading is the first real example of this naming evolution in use to provide information.

Q8 - Isn't there a 'chicken and egg' problem here? Without a lot of names registered in the suggested format there's no reason to download a browser to translate them, and without general implementation of the browser there's no advantage in registering a name.

A8 - There was no reason to have a web browser until there was information available on the web, and no rationale for putting information on the web until people had access to browsers. Yet now we have both. When people realized that better information access was possible, these developments became mutually supportive. What might you expect when people discover that Internet naming can be improved?

Since multiplexed domain names can be kept quite short you can always use the native name registration format – the name*number format is a convenience, just as a domain name is more convenient than typing an IP addresses.

Q9 - Why doesn't the Internet already provide universal addressing?

A9 - In the mail system only your physical delivery location is unique, and in the telephone network your phone number provides the unique address. Two people with the same name can live in the same town, even next door to each other, but as long as each has a delivery address and phone number that is different they will receive their individual mail or phone calls.

The Internet has a unique addressing system too, IP numbers, but the Domain Name System links unique names to each unique IP numbers. Rather than having separate name and address, the two are interchangeable. This makes the names exclusive.

The mail and phone systems take into account the real world situation that most people don't have a unique name, instead they allow people to link their names to other unique identifiers. They are universal because everyone can use them on equal terms.

The Internet was different when domain names were introduced - it wasn't a public system, and 'domain' signified a segment of the network. Under those circumstances it was reasonable and helpful to link unique names to IP numbers - conflicts weren't anticipated.

While demands on it have changed, the Internet's system for assigning names hasn't evolved in the past 2+ decades. It is still exclusive and based on unique names rather than being inclusive and universal.