I Want My Own Domain

You can stake your domain name claim in cyberspace by going through a firm called a domain name registrar. You don’t really buy a domain name; you simply pay a registrar for the right to use that name, with the right renewable over time. While some registrars simply register domain names, others act as Web hosting services that are able to run your Web site on their Internet-connected servers for a fee.

Registrars throughout the world are accredited by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers), a nonprofit governance and standards-setting body. Each registrar may be granted the ability to register domain names in one or more of the Net’s generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as “.com, ” “.net, ” or “.org.” There are dozens of registrars that can register “.com” domain names, the most popular gTLD.

Some generic top-level domain names, like “.com, ” have no restrictions on use, while others limit registration. For example, “.edu” is restricted to U.S.-accredited, postsecondary institutions. ICANN has also announced plans to allow organizations to sponsor their own top-level domains (e.g., “.berlin, ” or “.coke”).

There are also separate agencies that handle over 250 different two-character country code top-level domains, or ccTLDs (e.g., “.uk” for the United Kingdom and “.jp” for Japan). Servers or organizations generally don’t need to be housed within a country to use a country code as part of their domain names, leading to a number of creatively named Web sites. The URL-shortening site “bit.ly” uses Libya’s “.ly” top-level domain; many physicians are partial to Moldova’s code (“.md”); and the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvulu might not have a single broadcast television station, but that doesn’t stop it from licensing its country code to firms that want a “.tv” domain name.K. Maney, “Tuvalu’s Sinking, But Its Domain Is on Solid Ground, ” USA Today, April 27, 2004.Recent standards also allow domain names in languages that use non-Latin alphabets such as Arabic and Russian.

Domain name registration is handled on a first-come, first-served basis and all registrars share registration data to ensure that no two firms gain rights to the same name. Start-ups often sport wacky names, partly because so many domains with common words and phrases are already registered to others. While some domain names are held by legitimate businesses, others are registered by investors hoping to resell a name’s rights.

Trade in domain names can be lucrative. For example, the “Insure.com” domain was sold to QuinStreet for $16 million in fall 2009.B. Bosker, “The 11 Most Expensive Domain Names Ever, ” The Huffington Post, March 10, 2010. But knowingly registering a domain name to profit from someone else’s firm name or trademark is known as cybersquatting and that’s illegal. The United States has passed the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), and ICANN has the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy that can reach across boarders. Try to extort money by holding a domain name that’s identical to (or in some cases, even similar to) a well-known trademark holder and you could be stripped of your domain name and even fined.

Courts and dispute resolution authorities will sometimes allow a domain that uses the trademark of another organization if it is perceived to have legitimate, nonexploitive reasons for doing so. For example, the now defunct site Verizonreallysucks.com was registered as a protest against the networking giant and was considered fair use since owners didn’t try to extort money from the telecom giant.D. Streitfeld, “Web Site Feuding Enters Constitutional Domain, ” The Washington Post, September 11, 2000. However, the courts allowed the owner of the PETA trademark (the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to claim the domain name peta.org from original registrant, who had been using that domain to host a site called “People Eating Tasty Animals.”D. McCullagh, “Ethical Treatment of PETA Domain, ” Wired, August 25, 2001.

Trying to predict how authorities will rule can be difficult. The musician Sting’s name was thought to be too generic to deserve the rights to Sting.com, but Madonna was able to take back her domain name (for the record, Sting now owns Sting.com).R. Konrad and E. Hansen, “Madonna.com Embroiled in Domain Ownership Spat, ” CNET, August 21, 2000. Apple executive Jonathan Ive was denied the right to reclaim domain names incorporating his own name, but that had been registered by another party and without his consent. The publicity-shy design guru wasn’t considered enough of a public figure to warrant protection.D. Morson, “Apple VP Ive Loses Domain Name Bid, ” MacWorld, May 12, 2009. And sometimes disputing parties can come to an agreement outside of court or ICANN’s dispute resolution mechanisms. When Canadian teenager Michael Rowe registered a site for his part-time Web design business, a firm south of the border took notice of his domain name—Mikerowesoft.com. The two parties eventually settled in a deal that swapped the domain for an Xbox and a trip to the Microsoft Research Tech Fest.M. Kotadia, “MikeRoweSoft Settles for an Xbox, ” CNET, January 26, 2004.