One of the interesting trends on the Internet has to do with the securing of what are called "Domain Names" Any of you who are considering a presence on the Web are well advised to be aware of this issue and, perhaps act promptly.

First of all, we have all seen web site addresses (called URLs, for Uniform Record Locators). URLs like www.sony.com and www.pizza-hut.com are selected to clearly identify the address of the web site as well as its owner. These are domain names, and are assigned, on request, by an organization called INTERNIC, which manages these names for the entire Internet.

Well, the problem arises from the observation that these addressed names must be unique throughout the world. So once someone has acquired the name "www.sony.com", no one else, anywhere, can use that name. It is very much like "Vanity" license plates-first-come-first-served. Recently, Carl's Jr. Applied for "www.carls-jr.com" and was denied, since someone already had applied for and received that domain name.

Since new names are being applied for and issued every day, if you might (ever) want a name on the net, you should consider the wisdom of checking whether your first choice is already in use, and if not, applying for and locking up that name for yourself (or your company). You do not need to use it right away, but it will be yours, when you are ready to take advantage of it. Also, if you decide to change servers, the domain name travels with you - it's yours for as long as you pay the service fees ($50/yr.)

As an aside, many people have secured potentially valuable domain names on speculation - hoping to sell them later to big companies, who really need the names but were too late to get them on the first pass.

The process of checking assigned domain names and applying for them is fairly simple, but if you need help, contact your favorite Internet consultant.

(photo credit: Greg Wenger)
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