Is it the great jackpot of this weekend for the small British start-up Global Name Registry? Maybe. Le Figaro, in the article "The battle for domain names", reminds that the Icann (Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers) currently gathered in Stockholm, should proceed to the launching of the suffix "name" (one of the new suffix which should broaden the field of names, which was limited, not that long ago, to ".com", ".net", ".org"). If it is being confirmed, the British start-up will hold the worldwide monopoly for the use of this suffix because of a system of attribution of domain names, which is very discussed.
The stake? It is enormous. Because the ".name" makes people dream , as Le Figaro writes. It could establish itself as the first tool of electronic identification worldwide. Such an address (ex: jean.dupont.name) can become a number of mobile phone, an electronic address, or a securized account for on-line purchases. Moreover, nobody forgot that Network Solutions, the American company which had obtained at the end of the eighties the monopoly of registry for the ".com", ".org", and ".net", was bought out in March 2000 by the company Verisign for 22 billion dollars! We can then understand why the lottery of new suffixes (other than the ".name", were selected ".biz", ".info", ".pro", ".coop", ".museum", ".aero") is so fierce.
You can also have a look in the article Controversy for the new suffix ".name» in Lenouvelhebdo.fr. The article emphasizes on the enormous power granted to a private company. Not only the company will earn 5.25 dollars per year for each name given but these "digital identities" will make up a real treasure that the owner will get. It represents the access to an incredible source of information. This access can obviously be sold in the future.
Domain names: the great jackpot of ".name"
Jean-Pierre Largillet2 min de lecture