It is not clear that new
gTLDs would help to improve any of the
endemic problems in the current gTLD environment:
right now
registrars encourage companies to buy all possible versions of
their
name for "trademark" reasons. If new generic top-level
domains were available,
there would seem to be no reason to expect
the same pattern of name-squatting
and preemptive name protection
not to take place. Introducing new gTLDs
would seem only to
benefit the registrars, who would be able to find a new source
of
income.Restructuring the .us domain hierarchy might improve contention
for
gTLDs, although at this point it is it is apparent that the
worst damage has already
been done. A preferred solution to
the problem would be to distinguish name
lookup from service
directory services by providing an alternative "lookup" service
to
locate businesses. In that arena, a better technical solution
to the problem
could be developed, one that was more appropriate
for the set of rules we would
like to impose. At the very least,
it might remove the "collision" problem
in the case where two
organizations have equal "right" to a name.
In summary,
it is not clear that extending the gTLD space
improves any of the problems seen
with the current naming system;
if anything, it provides only the opportunity
for additional
name grabs. The problem that the gTLD solution might fix
is
one that may be best addressed by looking for an alternative to
DNS, one
where the technical solution could be better crafted
to solve the problem, and
the solution could be crafted in
the context of greater awareness of the issues,
and with
guidance from appropriate governing bodies (ICANN, et al).