Will the Internet’s .coke just be like New Coke?

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

The new Internet name extensions (.coke, .facebook, etc.) will change everything — and nothing.

So the big news of the week is that after years of debate, the folks at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers pretty much threw open the doors to any Internet extension in a Web address. 

That means that all the .com and .gov sites will soon be joined by, most likely, .coke, .google, .apple and so on.

The folks at ICANN were pretty darn happy with their decision. "ICANN has opened the Internet's naming system to unleash the global human imagination,” Rod Beckstrom, the group’s president and CEO, said in announcing the plan June 20. “Today's decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind."


Related coverage:

ICANN approves plan to add brand-name domains


And why shouldn’t they be happy? Each application for one of those new generic Top Level Domains, or gTLDs, will cost $185,000. So we won’t be seeing any .momandpophardware domains anytime soon.

Even large cities will have trouble justifying spending that kind of money just to purchase .Miami or .Chicago. And given these tough economic times, I doubt even government agencies that do a lot of public outreach will bite. Do we really need NASA.nasa when we have NASA.gov? The Obama administration is trying to eliminate duplication in government websites, not create more of them.

ICANN says it already has a hundred applicants, though. It must be nice to be able to raise $18.5 million without lifting a finger. Well actually, board members had to raise their hands to vote at their Singapore meeting, so I suppose they at least had to do that.

What does this mean for the overall Internet? Normally I would say something both good and bad, but in this case I would say more accurately that it’s both good and indifferent.

The good thing is that people all around the world can now take ownership of their own little corner of the Internet, so long as they can afford to grab their slice of the pie — and, according to ICANN’s rules, show that they have the technical and operational abilities to run the domain.

(In case you’re wondering, ICANN has built in some protections against the kind of domain-squatting that took place in the early days of the Web. Its gTLD Applicant Guidebook points out that applicants “are encouraged to identify possible regional, cultural, property interests, or other sensitivities regarding TLD strings and their uses,” and allows for third parties to file objections if they have a good reason. So it’s unlikely that someone might invest $185,000 in, say, buying .windows in hopes of selling it to Microsoft at a profit, or that PepsiCo might buy .coke just to start a corporate slap fight. Of course, these protections might be triggered with obvious, high-profile names, but who knows might happen with under-the-radar, up-and-coming properties.)

The new rules allow for domains to be written in Chinese, Japanese, Cyrillic, Arabic and dozens of other scripts. Some characters used in the new domains probably couldn’t be created on a standard English keyboard. But that’s fine. I’ve never felt that any one person, country or group should own the Internet. In fact, I question why we give ICANN so much authority, but that is a debate for another time.

On the indifference side of the coin, I don’t think very much will change. Sure, Coca-Cola will purchase .coke and Apple will buy .apple. They will more or less be forced to do it. But I doubt that they will put a huge marketing effort behind it since they already have great sites at their .com domain that everyone is already used to visiting.

Why force people to remember words in front and behind the dot? Then again, I can see some innovative companies like Facebook giving all of their users .facebook domain names tied to their user names, though very few companies will be in a unique position to do something like that.

The real winners in this may very well be search engines, because people may need to use them even more to find the content they are looking for if this elaborate new naming system catches on.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.