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Username: jtrade
Date/Time: Tue, November 14, 2000 at 4:11 AM GMT
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Subject: News Article Quoting "World Thoughts"

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      Congratulations World Thoughts you made the news.

Internet Oversight Group Plans to Expand Web Address System


Marina del Rey, California, Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The global Internet oversight group is ready to expand the Web address system this week, ending the dominance of VeriSign Inc. while prompting charges of impropriety and hypocrisy.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers aims to introduce new Internet suffixes, called domains, to complement .com, .net and .org. The group wants to add one-word, easy-to- remember Web addresses and create more competition in the business of maintaining databases that make the Internet work.

Its process has Internet users crying foul, saying the group is pandering to large corporations and abandoning principles it outlined to decide. Staff narrowed a list of several dozen proposed suffixes to about 14 favorable bids, virtually eliminating a .xxx or .kids domain to shield children from adult- oriented content and giving high marks to a bid made by a group of large companies.

``Your bias, your inconsistency, your distortions, your hypocrisy, your blatant attempt at conveying errors as though they were facts ... your vested interests, the impropriety that shapes your actions and decisions ... are all a matter of public record,'' one commenter using the screen name World Thoughts said on Icann's Web site. The commenter's identity couldn't be determined.

An applicant, .Kids Domains Inc., was harsher, issuing a press release Friday headlined ``Icann Staff Report Abandons Children on the Internet.''

Tense Meetings Likely

Tensions could intensify as Icann convenes its annual meeting in Marina del Rey, California, tomorrow. It expects more than 800 attendees, most with strong opinions about the various new domains.

Domains control how Web users get to specific sites, functioning as a telephone directory. When a user types in a Web address, the request travels to a host computer over a network and then to the server containing the registry of domains. The registered name is linked to a multiple digit number that tells the computer where to find the Web site. The process takes a few seconds.

Suffixes such as .com, .net, and .org exist to make the system friendlier for users, much like the area code in a telephone number.

Address Simplicity

Simple Web addresses have almost run out, forcing site creators to string together multiple words when picking a name. About 40,000 words exist in English, yet more than 20 million Web sites are registered using the .com suffix. Hence, the need for more domains.

New domains also would create rivals for VeriSign, which bought Network Solutions Inc., the first company to register Web addresses. It controls the database for .com, .org and .net, giving it unequaled power over the Internet. It can raise prices and change registration requirements at any time.

Icann received 44 complete applications from businesses and organizations around the world, including Novell Inc., Diebold Inc. and the World Health Organization, each paying $50,000 to apply. Icann has declined to specify how many new address domains it will adopt, saying only it plans to accept a limited number. Likely candidates include .web, .biz, .ecom or .info for general topics; .nom, .per, or .i for personal home pages; and .health, .museum or .union for specific content.

Consensus Decisions

The board, with 19 members operating by consensus, will act Thursday on the issue and is free to ignore the staff recommendations. The new domains likely will become operational in the second quarter next year, Icann staff told reporters on a conference call Friday.

The oversight body, charged by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1998 to manage the domain system, says it wants to ensure that the companies and organizations have technical and financial expertise to manage a new database.

Hundreds of comments posted on Icann's Web forum and press releases from applicants have objected to the direction being taken by Icann.

Closely held Image Online Design Inc. in San Luis Obispo, California, is one such commentator. It is competing against a consortium of 19 companies, including VeriSign, known as Afilias LLC to gain control of the .web domain.

Image Online runs a .web domain outside the main Internet server, and has registered about 20,000 sites. The company failed to win positive feedback from Icann staff, unlike Afilias. Some Web comments say backing Afilias's bid would boost VeriSign's power and hurt competition.

``ICANN's report seriously misrepresents the technical and financial merits of IOD's application,'' said Chief Technology Officer Christopher Ambler. The report ``includes misinformed criticism as well as several outright errors.''

Children

Icann has also been berated for rejecting .kids and xxx. Most Web users want .xxx to segregate pornography, according to a recent online poll by MSNBC, the news network owned by General Electric Co. and Microsoft Corp. The .kids domain ranked sixth in that poll.

Icann staff said such restricted-content domains pose too many problems. ``Who is a kid? What content is appropriate? Who decides?'' the report said of .kids domain. With .xxx, Icann said pornographers couldn't be forced to move their sites to the new area.

Such lively and free-ranging debate is what Icann -- born of Internet principles and no stranger to controversy -- wants.

The group created several opportunities for people to express their opinions. While it assessed applications, Icann received more than 4,000 comments online -- a record for the organization. Spirited debate is expected this week.

``This is a test process,'' said Andrew McLaughlin, Icann's chief policy and financial officer. ``We feel the way we're going about this is the best path forward in an imperfect world.''

Nov/12/2000 15:49 ET

For more stories from Bloomberg News, click here.

(C) Copyright 2000 Bloomberg L.P.
     

 


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