The must-have accessory is a flashy Web address
Martin Clark
What’s in a name? On the World Wide Web, perhaps millions of rands. As e-commerce burst into the public consciousness last year, the scramble to establish a Web presence began to reach gold rush proportions. And like shovel sellers who made a fortune from the prospectors, vendors of domain names have flourished now that the latest must-have accessory is a snappy Web address.
Domain names are the unique part of the Web address of a site, and as Internet hype has snowballed, so has the rush to stake a claim in cyberspace. In the middle, in charge of this important part of the Net’s plumbing, is one United States-based company: Network Solutions (NSI).
This fact has upset many people online. Six years ago, when your life was complete without the words “e-commerce” and “MP3”, the US government handed to NSI some obscure rights to domain name suffixes, including those to the all important .com ending. The problems for NSI came when its obscure rights got the company placed right in the middle of one of the greatest revolutions of the 20th century.
When other companies saw NSI sitting unchallenged on top the domains goldmine, they began to cry foul. The disagreements were resolved only recently, when the US Department of Commerce chaired an agreement between NSI and a non-profit organisation called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann).
Headed by Esther Dyson, “queen of the Internet”, Icann won the right for approved companies to access the Whois database, where all .com, .org and .net info is listed. “We’ve all kissed and made up,” she explained. “It is now clear … that the Whois database is available to anybody.”
Agreement or not, NSI still hit the headlines several times recently. First it had to withdraw almost a thousand domains it issued by mistake. Then a hacker tapped into NSI’s database and began redirecting addresses to a single site. Netizens everywhere remain disgruntled.
To get yourself that snappy website name requires either skill or cash. The skill comes not in thinking up a neat name, but finding one that’s available. Take a random choice such as, say, the unlikely “monkeyjuice”, and you will quickly find that the name Monkeyjuice.com is taken, as are so many of the precious .com domains. Head to the handy search tool at NSI’s site and you’ll find all the three-letter domains are long gone, even com.com’s been snapped up.
But once you locate an available domain, follow the instructions (the “wizard” after the domain search), add your details then your credit card info and proceed to make your mark in cyberspace. One small step for man, one tiny but important drop in the virtual ocean for you.
If you don’t have the skill or very good timing, then obtaining the perfect domain name will cost you dearly. As the interest in the Web has boomed, so has a lucrative cottage industry: playing the domain name game. For any company wanting to make an online impression, a memorable domain name is essential. And www.please/ remember/this.sorrywhatdidyousay? simply won’t cut it.
Many websites are discovered by word of mouth, and in this world .com is king. There are hundreds of domain names other than the .org, .com and .net suffixes.
These include the well-known .co.za and .co.uk, but vary to suit the colourful spectrum of nations which is now online (see http://uninett.no/ navn/domreg.htm), such as .is or .fm. And this week the Italian domain name .it became available throughout Europe, making humour along the lines of www.shut.it and www. slap.it possible. Any remaining domain names – they were being snapped up quickly as we went to press – are available from Virtual Internet.
But beware gold-rush-style claim-jumpers. The Internet has spawned its own, known as cybersquatters. While others were just starting to explore the Internet, they jumped in and registered the best domain names. Then they offered to sell them at a vast profit.
If you’re in the spotlight, they’re after your name. No one is safe, not even the world’s richest man. Bill Gates might have built Microsoft, but he never thought to register the name billgates.co.uk. That domain was registered by a British businessman, who attempted to auction it for more than R20-million. He now faces possible legal action from the software giant.
“We would object to anyone taking unfair advantage of the goodwill and recognition of Mr Gates’s name and reputation,” a Microsoft representative explained. The name has been withdrawn from sale.
Corporations and superstars alike have been caught unawares by quick-witted cybersquatters. Brad Pitt was offered bradpitt.com for R160E000, and a 17-year- old boy registered the name of the global financial services firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter before they announced any online plans. Legal proceedings commenced when the teenager rejected a R60E000 offer and demanded R450E000.
Registering trademarks as domain names can infringe copyright and invite legal action. But personal names like Faldo.com – currently up for auction at a price of R20- million – escape due to a grey area of the law.
Other squatted domains seem aimed at specific companies, with www.ipcmags.com, freeserveonline. com and MTVBase.com perhaps more valuable to some than others.
Action has been promised. NSI recently reclaimed domains from many suspected squatters and entrepreneurs, claiming unpaid bills as the reason.
However, with the growing need for names, it will take much more than that to halt a healthy trade. Auction sites have sprung up for names such as greatdomains.com and names123.com. At greatdomains.com you could buy America.com – but bidding starts at R60-million.
On a more positive note, sites like www.netnames.com, offer services to companies wishing to secure their trademarks beyond the obvious .com and .co.za realms.
Taking an original approach is www.funmail.co.uk. Like great domains.com, this company buys up domain names, but then offers a free e-mail service with the most original of names. If you’ve ever fancied being [email protected] or [email protected], now is your chance. “We have a database of 14E000 domains,” explains funmail co-founder Graham Goodkind. “Despite over 50 requests a week, we never sell the names.”
Goodkind emphasises the creativity that goes into the process. “With up to 20 free e-mail addresses per domain, you have more chance to express yourself online.” Taking advantage of the United Kingdom’s liberal domain laws, funmail has been able to build a healthy business, helping to add to the 300E000 names registered worldwide a week.
“You simply can’t get good names anymore. The market has moved from a primary to a resale one,” he concludes.