existing.com and .tm.us

[David Collier-Brown <davecb@Canada.Sun.COM>]

One point that has come up in the discussion of 888 numbers but
has not come up in respecy to .com and .tm.* is the portability of
names.
  If I have 1-800-EXISTING, I have a right to claim 1-888-EXISTING, too.
  What if I have existing.com, and my company wishes to be in
.tm.us?  Do I get into a footrace?  Start suing registrars?  Or what?

  Please note that declaring portability as a principle pushes us
back (for at time at least) into the grey area of setting content
rules, something we've tried hard not to do.  On the other hand,
not doing so raises a suficiency question.
  Thus far we've not discussed substructure and disambiguation in the
.tm spaces, save by suggesting a directory and/or third-level domains
may be required.  Answering the portability question requires at
least a stronger statement of principle.

--dave
-- 
David Collier-Brown,  | Always do right. This will gratify some people
185 Ellerslie Ave.,   | astonish the rest.        -- Mark Twain
Willowdale, Ontario   | davecb@hobbes.ss.org, canada.sun.com
N2M 1Y3. 416-223-8968 | http://java.science.yorku.ca/~davecb