What's in a domain name?

Domain names are one of those previously unconsidered trifles of the internet that everyone uses, but to which most of us pay little attention.

The domain name system was put into place as a solution to a growing problem. When the system was built there were few computers attached to the networks. Since then, we've seen an astronomical jump in the number of users of the internet and in the number of domain name registrations.

Domain names are the company and product names that make up the standard part of a Web or email address. The value of domain names is that they can consist of valuable and easily remembered words. It is as if we never had to memorise telephone numbers, but were allocated linguistic versions for our private and company phones.

Under a system like that, my company phone number name might be lon.netnames.

Or uk.lon.netnames. And my home phone number might be lon.family.pope or something similar. Phone numbers work on a combination of country, regional, local and specific code numbers, and domain names have a similar makeup.

For most of their history, domain names have remained uncontentious.

Every country in the world has its own top level domain (TLD) allocated.

In addition, the generic top level domains (gTLDs) such as .com, .net and .org have existed alongside them. Each country runs its TLD in a different manner, in the same way that each country runs its trademark, company registration and patent offices differently.

However, this being the internet, these services have been run on an ad hoc voluntary basis by a combination of university and internet service provider parties. But after a $100 fee was imposed on the .com domain more than a year ago, money entered the equation and things changed.

At the same time, many companies were getting over the first flush of being on the internet. The world being what it is, certain individuals realised they could register domain names that were identical to well known company and product names. These activities combined into a deadly brew that has led to the domain name becoming one of the most hotly debated issues known to the internet.

Even the US government has taken an interest in the situation. All of which leaves us confused, but reinforces our belief that domain names are a crucial issue that companies of all sizes have to come to terms with.

We believe that every company should understand its domain name strategy and act to ensure it is protected and ready for the new internet world.

Ivan Pope is CEO of NetNames International.