# New Domain Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933 "2000-07-18T03:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/1 "2000-07-18T03:08:52Z")
I was reading in the Chgo Sun Times about added new domain names to the .com and .net etc. First of all the logic that we are running out of domain names seems false. After all they are comparing it to area codes but those have limitations to 7 digit numbers. Does the web have such limits to how long a domain name can be. Also the fact you can combine numbers and letters and -\_ seems to give it more options. Second how valuable will the new domain names (i.e. .arts .bus or .xxx) really be. We already have .net but no one likes it. I was reading that ownership of a name like [Mark.Net](http://Mark.Net) is only worth about 25% of what a [Mark.com](http://Mark.com) would be. Is this the case? Don’t most business want that .com? Any thoughts?? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/2 "2000-07-18T03:22:16Z")
While there are a lot of domain names left, the market for [qqrtxxcop-urhad.com](http://qqrtxxcop-urhad.com) isn’t all that great. In other words, the number of usable domain names is rapidly decreasing. I read before that something like 99% of all the words in the dictionary are already registered as domain names. Regardless of whether or not that’s the case, it’s harder and harder to find a domain name that people can remember. Whether or not the new domain names take off is partially up to what you want them for. I’m imagine a theatre group or museum would be more than willing to use an .arts address if the .com version isn’t available. I don’t think that one such as .bus would be as popular since the .com suffix already covers it well enough. Also, no doubt larger corporations such as [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) or Microsoft will buy up their name in all the new domains as well unless there’s an actual determining process to prove you “deserve” one like there is for .edu or .gov (and sued to be for .org and .net). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/3 "2000-07-18T03:24:01Z")
Oh, and if I were you, I’d get my $35 ready to register Mark.xxx 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Quadzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/a4c791/32.png) [@Quadzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quadzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/4 "2000-07-18T03:24:17Z")
Ummm. Well, first, Mark, area codes have 3 digits, not 7. The idea of branching out beyond .com, .net, .etc is that some domain names are getting ridiculously long; stuff like [whoreallygivesadarn.com](http://whoreallygivesadarn.com) is appearing and really getting to be a pain in the _ahem_ for web surfers to remember - the all-important idea behind those flashy online ads is that the consumer be able to remember an easy website address. I think it’ll be somewhat easier to separate out sites with the proposed additional suffixes. It’ll definitely heighten awareness about the other types of sites (.gov, .edu) and what they mean as well. And the .net sites just don’t get pushed as hard IMO because they do usually get hidden behind the .com sites; I wasn’t even aware that .net sites are roughly equivalent to .coms until very recently. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/5 "2000-07-18T03:28:32Z")
Never mind 1% remaining. I would be **extremely** surprised if you could find even one english word that hasn’t been taken. In fact, I’ll say that for Spanish, French and other major languages as well. Huge hunks of dual words like “fastcar” are taken as well, especially ones with key words like “fast” or “my” or “smart”. The domain space is picked dry for actual english words. What’s left is made up stuff or stuff from other languages, like “Akamai”. It’ll be nice when they update the current system. How they’ll do it is really open. I’d hate to be the one defining the new system; you’ll get nothing but enemies. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/6 "2000-07-18T03:33:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jophiel \* > **the market for [qqrtxxcop-urhad.com](http://qqrtxxcop-urhad.com) isn’t all that great** MY HOMEPAGE! ---
**Author:** ![KeithT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KeithT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/7 "2000-07-18T03:42:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jophiel \* > Regardless of whether or not that’s the case, it’s harder and harder to find a domain name that people can remember. I beg to differ… [cecil-adams.com](http://cecil-adams.com) is available. [http://name.space.xs2.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?whois=cecil-adams.com](http://name.space.xs2.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?whois=cecil-adams.com) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/8 "2000-07-18T03:47:08Z")
A convincing reason (at least for me) for the necessity of new top-level domain names is the lack of domain names for a personal web site. For example, my fiancée and I set up a web site for our wedding (so people could go read information about the bride and groom, see maps to the location of the wedding, hotel information, etc…) What would be the best top-level domain for that? The only realistic choices for us (we live in the USA) were .com, .net or .org. (.us names are not easy to register.) We’re not a company, we’re not a non-profit organization and our website has nothing to do with the “infrastructure of the Internet” or an internet service provider. Eventually we decided on a “.net” name, but I would very much have liked to have a domain name that indicates that ours is a personal web page. ---
**Author:** ![Tark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@Tark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/9 "2000-07-18T04:10:56Z")
Well, I’ve started to see .cc names appearing. I did a little research and that is on the same level as .com and .net. So someone somewhere must think it’s needed. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/10 "2000-07-18T07:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jophiel \* > \*\*I read before that something like 99% of all the words in the dictionary are already registered as domain names. > \*\* I chose ten words at random from my dictionary, and searched for them at [http://name.space.xs2.net/](http://name.space.xs2.net/) Only 6 were taken and 4 were availible. Now if you had said that 99% of **familiar** words were taken, I’d believe you. I’m not sure what good [http://stotinka.com](http://stotinka.com) will do anyone, but it is taken. (A stotinka is a Bulgarian unit of currency.) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/11 "2000-07-18T16:26:17Z")
Watch the news. They laid off 5,000 dot com workers around the Bay area lately. Quite a slump. dot Coms are dropping like flies. Could just be a phase. PS: xxx, cc, etc has been discussed quite extensively here already. ---
**Author:** ![JonF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@JonF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonF)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/12 "2000-07-18T23:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > dot Coms are dropping like flies True, but that does no necessarily mean that domain names are becoming available, and it does not mean that they are becoming available at a reasonable price. Network Solutions has taken the position that abandoned domain names are property of NS to sell when they will at whatever price they can get. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/13 "2000-07-19T00:21:37Z")
I should mention that I didn’t come up with the 99% stat, nor am I even sure it was 99% and not say, 95%. I know it was in the high ninties anyway. It was just one of those stupid little “world at a glance” type sidebar things that said “Percentage of words in the dictionary already registered as a domain name: 99%” Regardless, pretty much all of the good stuff is taken, most of the medicore stuff is taken and even a fair percentage of the lame ones are taken as a search for “domain names” on eBay will show you. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/14 "2000-07-19T01:39:55Z")
“.cc” is not strictly a domain suffix; it’s a country code for the Cocos Islands (in the Indian Ocean, south of Sumatra, area 5 sq. mi.). I seriously doubt there’s much there, but someone (probably in the U.S.) has evidently started selling domain names there. Tongo (.to) did the same thing, with web addresses like go.to. The addition of new domain suffixes won’t create all that many new domains. After all, it’s highly unlikely Disney would allow disney.mart or disney.store to go to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2000, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/15 "2000-07-22T18:53:01Z")
I just tried 10 words under 7 letters and came up with 5 not registered. All in the .com category. If you add a \_ or - you could come up with all 10. Anyway I guess what I am really asking is will the new .xxx or whatever be used. Most hate the .net or the .org. Even my old WEBTV took [webtv.com](http://webtv.com) as no one would use the correct [webtv.net](http://webtv.net) and too many people were getting screwed on emails etc. So assuming the .xxx etc names won’t be regulated will they go. I mean if I ran a porn site I wouldn’t want a .xxx It would be too easy to filter out. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/16 "2000-07-22T20:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Quadzilla \* > **stuff like [whoreallygivesadarn.com](http://whoreallygivesadarn.com) is appearing and really getting to be a pain in the _ahem_ for web surfers to remember** Whore Ally Gives Adarn what? And shouldn’t that be Adam? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/17 "2000-07-23T02:32:40Z")
> [@](#): > > So assuming the .xxx etc names won’t be regulated will they go. I mean if I ran a porn site I wouldn’t want a .xxx It would be too easy to filter out. You’ve hit the nail on the head, Mark. The “respectable” adult sites are generally all for something like .xxx, but they all use Adult Check and stuff like that already. OTOH, all of the sleazeballs (ie, the guys who screw around with the “Back” button so you can’t leave easily) want people to be able to stumble on them by accident, because noone really _wants_ to visit those losers. They’d never sign up for a address that ends in .xxx or .sex or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/18 "2000-07-23T14:30:50Z")
New domain extensions are more then anything else a boondoggle for the resistrars. Any brand name (Coke, McDonalds, Amazon, etc.) that already owns their dot-com, dot-org etc. will probably feel the need to register every other extension to protect and maintain their brand. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/19 "2000-07-23T18:48:14Z")
I know _I_ look forward to going to [http://www.microsoft.xxx](http://www.microsoft.xxx) 😉 As I said before, it’d be nice if the powers-that-be decided to actually make sure some of these new websites actually fit the domain extension, but apart from .gov, .mil and .edu sites, they appear to have washed their hands of the whole thing. It would however, free up the new extensions from corporate “it’s mine and you can’t have it!” mindsets and actually let someone set up an Amazon.art site for South american art works and the like. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933/20 "2000-07-23T19:12:25Z")
I own the .com domain of my family name. I bought it a few years ago, just to put up family pictures, etc. I renewed it for another 2 years just recently. Some guy in England recently wrote and wanted to buy my .com domain name. My family name (the name used for this domain) is more popular in the UK, it is not very common at all in the USA. (I’ve got lots of family still in the UK.) This guy has a real estate business - he has registered the .org and .net variations on the domain name. Anyway, I wrote back and told him I was not interested in selling. So far, he has not made any more efforts to contact me to persuade me to sell. I think he was hoping I really didn’t care about the domain anymore, and would sell it cheaply. Not the case. But it must be a thorn in his side that his business (which looks like it’s still in the start-up stages) cannot register the “.com” domain, because some bitch in the USA has taken it and made a dorky family page out of it. Well, boo hoo. That’s what you get for waiting too long to register! I registered this domain a few scant _months_ after I got my first computer. I just felt like I’d be sorry if I didn’t snatch it up right then. I was right. I digress…anyway, just pointing out the power of the .com - nothing else quite like it. I also know that they are registering domains with the .ws extension (for “Web Site”) but it’ll be a while before they catch on, I suspect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-domain-names/25933.md?page=2)