On the Web: The buzz about .biz

Sorting through the Web pile to identify reliable information often requires savvy interpretation of URLs. In your haste to reach real content online, however, you may not have noticed some changes in these addresses recently. Buried in the strings of dots, letters, slashes and dashes are some new top level domain (TLD) suffixes that join the standards .gov, .edu, .mil, .com, .net, .org, and .int. Newly minted are .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .name, .museum, and .pro suffixes.

by Jan Zauha, MSU-Libraries

Why care about TLD developments? For one thing, you may want to hurry and purchase your own name as a .name domain before an imposter does so. More reasonably, knowing the significance of a domain name suffix can help you understand and evaluate the information you find. Unfortunately, the most common TLD on the Web, .com, has become nearly meaningless in its ubiquity. While the seven new suffixes can’t promise to clear all waters, they do offer more opportunity to identify point of origin.

The new TLDs were approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) [www.icann.org] in fall of 2000, with URL appearances beginning in 2001 and 2002. The new suffixes serve a mix of needs and intentions. Some are “sponsored” and are intended for use by a narrower, more controlled segment of the Internet community; some are “unsponsored” (.biz, .info, .name, .pro) and are less narrowly defined but still operate under policies established by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process:

.aero, sponsored by SITA, the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques [www.nic.aero], an airline telecommunications company based in Belgium, is intended for the exclusive use of the aviation community.

.biz, operated by NeuLevel [www.neulevel.biz], is “the first truly global Internet environment dedicated exclusively to businesses” [www.neulevel.biz/press/press_kit/fact_sheet.pdf].

.coop, sponsored by DotCooperation, LLC [www.coop], is intended for use only by cooperatives, cooperative service organizations and wholly owned subsidiaries of cooperatives. Individuals may not purchase a .coop name, according to the .coop Overview [www.nic.coop/downloads/Overview.pdf].

.info, operated by Afilias, LLC [www.nic.info/gateway], is the first unrestricted TLD since .com. Anyone can register .info domain names. This is the perfect Web TLD for, it seems, everyone and anyone, according to All About .Info [www.nic.info/about_info]. It doesn’t necessarily signify an information rich Web site, unfortunately.

.museum, sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma) [musedoma.museum], is restricted to museums, museum organizations and individual members of the museum profession.

.name, operated by Global Name Registry, LTD [www.nic.name/index_ns4.php], is unrestricted and has a stated intention that represents the unique nature of the individual in a Webbed world: “Names are an essential part of our lives. Now, with .name, your name can be central to your life online too. As your .name can be registered for up to 10 years and ownership is renewable, your .name really can be yours for life.”

.pro, operated by RegistryPro, LTD [www.registrypro.com], is intended to become “the first-ever exclusive professional domain extension on the Internet.” Doctors, lawyers, accountants, and other certified professionals may purchase domain names using .pro.

How prevalent are these new TLD suffixes on the Web right now? Do an advanced search for a common subject on an engine such as Google [www.google.com] and add a limit of one of the above extensions. You’ll see that your search returns are much smaller with the new TLDs than the old. It may disappoint you, for instance, that there appear to be no .pro sites associated yet with “dogs.” But visit the Global Name Registry, LTD [www.nic.name] and you may be heartened to find that your name.name is still available for as low as $99.50 a decade.

-jz-

Contact: Jan Zauha, (406) 994-6554 or [email protected]

http://www.montana.edu/commserv/csnews/nwview.php?article=706