Re: Trademarks, random strings, sharing, reserved words

[Michael Dillon <michael@memra.com>]

On Mon, 23 Dec 1996, Brad Templeton wrote:

> Has anybody suggested they would find a random string in a domain name
> acceptable if there is an alternative?

A random string in a domain name is simply not acceptable at all. It
ceases to be a name once random strings are injected and becomes no better
than an IP address. Now I know the technologists will object that IP
addresses are substantially different from domain names and that a random
string in a domain name does not affect the technical operation of the
DNS. They are missing the point.

Just because you call it a domain *NAME* doesn't make it a name. In order
to truly be a NAME it must meet certaion criteria that have been laid down
over thousands of years by human beings in every part of the world. Every
single language spoken by humans has the concept of a noun, or name in it.
Some languages may have a lower percentage of nouns than others, but the
noun or name is fundamental to human thought and language. A random string
is not a name, it is a code no different from an IP address. 

Codes are not easy to remember and carry no meaning to the uninitiated.
Obviously a random code carries no meaning at all. It is unconscionable
that an international committee would create a system in which some people
are forced to use codes instead of names.

A fundamental characteristic of the DNS must always be that human beings 
*CHOOSE* domain names unlike IP addresses which are *ASSIGNED*. The DNS
is the white pages directory service that translated the chosen names
into the currently assigned IP addresses that define the path to a
specific host on the network.

Michael Dillon                   -               Internet & ISP Consulting
Memra Software Inc.              -                  Fax: +1-604-546-3049
http://www.memra.com             -               E-mail: michael@memra.com