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Updated September 2, 2024 Multiplexed Internet Domain Names
Legacy
(pre-ICANN) top-level .com now registers about 155 million
names. That's the lowest it has been since June of
2021. ICANN's new generic TLDs have lost 22 entire top
levels in the same period. (source:
ntldstats.com). Does the loss of .com registrations mean there
are fewer websites? We doubt it. We suspect it
means a lot of names registered on speculation, or as part
of 'name portfolios' have been abandoned. We have
returned multiple test identities to the name pool in the
past year. Unfortunately there are no good statistics on the
number of registered domains that don't lead to
user-relevant content. We also suspect that the 22
missing ngTLDS were created on speculation; 505 of 1114
ngTLDs register fewer than 100 names. Many are 'not
available' for new registrations and 226 have only 1
registered domain name. One ngTLD
reseller recently advertised new 'premium' domains as an
'investment opportunity'. There are no premium names,
only premium content, under whatever name. On 16 March, 2023, ICANN resolved to: "continue ICANN org's ... strategy to promote the new gTLD program to prospective applicants ... to enable the introduction of new gTLDs..." What? Why? That's how ICANN serves ICANN rather than you. When Internet
content is used to train AI systems, domain names become less
relevant. If your content is requested, an AI system can
deliver (at least part) of it without the user knowing your
domain registration. But if you want to advertise and
build a brand, it's a good idea to be found where people
expect to find you! BTW - without
advertising or selling anything, the strangely named site
you're now reading attracted nearly 450 unique visitors in
August. Hmm - what
exactly are you doing here? Imagine a next
step - with a little effort the name multiplexing concept
could eliminate the need for any top level
domains! (At least one TLD, like .ARPA or .MUX, would to
required to function within the Internet's technical
framework, but even that TLD could be hidden from users just
as the need to preface web addresses with 'www' has become
superfluous. The first thing
we learned about the web was 'content is king'. The
first thing ICANN did was try to convince us that 'domain
names are king'. That's becasue ICANN can make money on
them. The fate of ngTLDs could be predicted from the results of ICANN's 'legacy new domain' launch. Remember .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro? ICANN still
insisted on launching a
thousand more. That's how ICANN serves
ICANN's 'multistakeholders'
rather than the Internet.
The concept explained - imagine that domain names are like towns and cities. Some top-level domains are huge, many are small, and some are definitely ghost towns. Each town and city has named streets and roads, but there can only be one street of any particular name in each town. In today's domain name system, you have to own your own street to live in that city. Now imagine that several people or companies want to live on 'the same street' in the same town. You add house numbers to street names for each property. It means you don't need to own your street just to live there, you own a property address on the street. That's the simple, real life principle behind Multiplexed Domain Names. The concept and technology are simple. The idea isn't established for domain names the way it is for street addresses - but it provides the same advantages. Multiplexed Domain Names are the fastest, easiest, cheapest, most equitable, safest and most judicious way to solve complex domain name problems and provide any individual or organization with a short, appropriate, easy-to-remember domain name under their preferred domain top level. Generic name
users have shown they want .com domains, while national users
often prefer country code domains. The second largest
TLD is a country code .de. Domain multiplexing can be applied to any top level of course, if anyone ngTLD wants to employ it. The international telephone network can serve any number of registered users. Why has the Internet been designed with less adaptive capacity than the old telephone network? Have websites lost out to social media identities. Search for the name Ford on Facebook - there are at least 100. Ford is a
dictionary term (noun and verb), a place name, a first
name, a family name, the name of a theater, a company name
and a trademark term with several different owners.
The problem? The domain name system doesn't mirror reality. Most names, even trademark terms, are not unique! The domain name system is hierarchical, Multiplexed Names add a hierarchical level within second level names. This extra level supports multiple use of 'the same' name without ambiguity under the same top-level domain. Examples could include name.com, name*1.com, name*2.com, etc. We suggest the asterisk as a multiplexing symbol since it often means 'wildcard' - potentially 'one of many'. Inserting the asterisk in domain names requires a small code addition to browsers. That's because the asterisk, by design, is part of the character set that cannot be translated by the Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) software that resides in every web browser. An IDN-based solution is quick and simple but wouldn't work well in the US, and isn't universal. National or regional variants could support the rapid application of name multiplexing. For example €, the Euro sign, could provide a simple multiplexing token for members of the European Union: examples might include müller€1.de, martin€2.fr, and so on. The UK could apply the pound sign £ for the same purpose. Universality however - the same character meaning the same thing regardless of TLD - is highly desirable for security and inter-operability. Problems solved by Multiplexed Names include: - Existing domain names remain unchanged; no current owners lose their domain names. - Anyone can get any name they have a right to, under any TLD. This respects the reality that most names, and even trademark terms, aren't globally unique. Companies, organizations and people can identify themselves by their familiar names. - No
one can buy and warehouse a domain name to prevent
it from being used, or to extract an unreasonable
price. Name speculation, which raises prices
by restricting access to names, becomes less
profitable. -
Internet users who want their own name aren't
coerced to employ social media. - They remove the rationale for speculating in domain names - a valueless driver of name registrations. Modern browsers combine the address line with a search function, so they already support the concept of Multiplexed Names by promoting easy recognition/identification of different owners. This proposal would not grant Verisign, who run the .com registry, an unfair advantage. User preference is the final arbiter since all top-level domains are treated equally. Domain names as we know them were introduced in 1983. The only major improvement since then was the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names that support characters and scripts outside standard ASCII English. IDNs were introduced in 2003, more than 2 decades ago! When
the US Department of Commerce created
ICANN they
never mentioned
customer benefit
or user
demand. Their
primary concern was: The DoC also runs the US Patent and Trademark Office. They could have said: "compete by inventing a better system" but instead ICANN was founded and populated by groups that supported launching new TLDs - to give themselves products to sell. That's not public service. Past
performance does not indicate future
success. The largest ngTLD was .icu from
December 2019 through January, 2021, with as
many as - The largest ngTLD in June, 2022, registered more than 5 million names. Today it registers 1 million fewer. How reliable are statistics regarding registrations; should we believe the reported size of the market at all? Is it realistic that only 10 of 1114 new domains should account for 54.6% of all ngTLD name registrations? The Internet Domain Name System was never designed to provide universal naming, and that has caused problems now so ingrained that most people accepted them as inevitable. Things as common as domain name disputes, name warehousing and auctions, and the drive to market unwanted new TLDs are consequences of a system not designed to provide universal naming. Most people, companies and trademark holders can't use their own names under their preferred top-level domain. The DNS is a technical system written to a technical specification. Problems can be resolved by extending the specification; Internationalized Domain Names show it is possible. Multiplexed Domain Names introduce a hierarchy within second level names. This makes the name-space under any top-level domain virtually unlimited. We need a new character to identify/generate a hierarchy. We suggest the asterisk as a multiplexing token, together with a number or letter(s). Compare
the
multiplexing
token
to the character that designates email
addresses. MaratSade.fr could be seen as
a domain name, but write it Mar@Sade.fr and
you recognize it instantly as an email
address. How? The distinctive @-character in
the address string. The same transparency can apply to domain names if an asterisk indicates multiple use of the same name. Martin*2.fr and Martin*5.fr would resolve as different, separate domains under the French country code. The asterisk indicates 'one of many'. The final numbers (or letters) indicate 'which' of several users. Aren't domain names ICANN's responsibility? Can't you just add numbers, or edit the software already used to translate foreign characters? See the answer to those and other relevant questions under: Questions and Answers (Updated March 1, 2023). When did it become appropriate to let organizations like ICANN define the problem, create the solution, and then universally sanction and profit from that solution without competition or independent oversight? Is registering your own name, under your preferred TLD, the same sort of universal right as having a telephone number? Or do we support a privileged minority 'owning their own names' and excluding the majority. Multiplexed Names demonstrate how the Internet domain name system can evolve to eliminate unnecessary restrictions and provide relevant names for everyone. Multiplexed Names are not offered as a product; we have no interest, past or present, in any domain registry, registrar, or re-seller. The combined URL address line/search field in modern browsers is ready to support Multiplexed Domain Names through disambiguation. Prototype
Multiplexed Domain Names following all
applicable standards have been tested live
over the Internet. Nothing broke. Last updated September 2, 2024 |