No Subject

[Tim Beckham <tim@websiteamerica.com>]

Dear gtld-mou'ers

I have watched the gtld debate from afar for some time and approach this
first letter of mine to the group with some trepidation.  I do not present
myself as versed in the arcane details of either the technical, legal or
administrative issues at stake.  Experts far more talented than I are
studiously at work resolving those issues, and I am sure that the folks in
Washington are mulling the matter deeply as well.  The end result, I am
sure, will please someone.

What I want to address is more related to the philosophy of the effort.  It
seems pertinent to re-examine the question, "Why expand the number of gtld's
at all?"

I suppose that in answering this question there are a myriad of reasons that
one can propose, but any reason has to be justified, first and foremost, on
an answer of "no" to the question, "Can the present system be made to work
without overhauling it?"  It seems to me that the answer to that is "yes".  

There is, after all, no practical limit to the number of possible
configurations of the 26 letters of the alphabet, plus 10 digits, plus the
hyphen in creating domain names using the gtlds of .com, .net and .org.  We
all know this.  And we all know that the only reason to change is to allow
more folks to grab a few more of the available "vanity" and trademark names
that are far more limited.  

Yet I wonder if that goal is really worth all this effort.  No one can have
exactly what they want, no matter what the issue is at stake.  We all
learned this before we got out of diapers.  Many folks on the Net are going
to have to settle for domain names that "off the target" for their
particular needs, no matter how many gtld's we create.  --  Unless, of
course, we allow an infinite number of gtld's, and that eliminates the point
of gtld's by trivializing their meaning and making the tracking and
recording of them impossible for the average person.

Few restaurant owners get to put their restaurants on 5th avenue in NYC.
Few companies get the exact 800 number they want.  Few folks can get their
last names for vanity license plates.  And we can all get along if just a
few lucky folks wind up with the choice domain names for their particular
industry.  That is the way the world works.  Some folks just get there first.

What's so wrong with that?  We've got a system that can work, if we just let
it be imperfect.  I say that's O.K.
Tim Beckham

Website America, Inc.	  ph 215-233-4660
P.O. Box 27071		  fx 215-233-1881
Philadelphia, PA  19118