The name game

If you follow the principle that there's no smoke without fire, then the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is secretive, irresponsible and inefficient, and should be scrapped. Following the various reports about it makes fascinating reading, with allegations of directors being prevented from viewing financial records, secret organisations pulling its strings, excessive concern with trademark protection, the organisation being unaccountable and ignoring the views and needs of the general public.

I would not mind if much of this were true, if only ICANN did a decent job. But in my opinion it has done an almost unimaginably bad job. The registration of domain names (ICANN's core function) is an amateurish, undisciplined, free-for-all mess. The directors should be prosecuted as the costs of putting the mess right would be enormous.

In all of this, I've seen one tiny glimmer of hope, and that is with the new --not yet operating -- domain .pro. The point of this domain is that it's exclusively for doctors, lawyers and accountants (more professions will follow later) and can be trusted. The intention is that if you come across, for example, EHenning.med.pro, then you can be certain that checks have been carried out and that the person running the site is a proper doctor. Let's hope western views are not allowed to dominate.

The point here is that checks are to be made at the time of registering a domain name. With all other domains, it's left to a dispute before a domain name can be challenged. In my view, with the exception of a couple of domains that could be left to be used by anybody for any purpose, all domain name registrations should have the validity of the name usage checked.For example, if I want to register a .co.uk domain, then I should need to provide proof that I am conducting business in the UK, and if I want a .org, that I am a genuine charitable or non-profit organisation.

If this were implemented, finding your way around the Web would be much easier and reliable. Many people use inappropriate domain names simply because they are available or out of ignorance of their intended restrictions. One UK registrar, 1&1 Internet, told me recently that people register .co.uk domain names even though they are not running a business, simply because this is the cheapest domain to use.

But what if ICANN is scrapped tomorrow? One likely outcome is that control will pass to the US government, an organisation not exactly known for its understanding and subtle appreciation of international needs and opinions. So things could get worse. In these circumstances I hope that other governments would step in. The Internet is an important part of the international infrastructure and absolutely should not be under the control of one country.The best hope would lie in the United Nations setting up a body to manage the Internet, and not allow any one country to have a veto.

There are countries that are trying to control Internet usage, and they could easily block important decisions. Certainly, let each of them manage the usage of their own country domains and Internet structure, but don't allow their restrictions to affect the Internet in other countries. If the rest of the world does in fact do the right thing and wrest control of the Internet away from ICANN and the Americans, the next step entails a difficult decision.

There are two ways to go. One is to increase dramatically the number of top level domains (TLD). These started with the likes of .biz, .info and .pro, and we could simply allow hundreds or thousands of these. This would enrage trademark holders who want to control all variants on their names, but would also allow much greater flexibility. More people and organisations, who do not compete or interfere with each others? activities, could have identical names, differentiated by their TLDs.

This would be confusing, and would make my goal of classifying the Internet and providing vastly simplified searches just about impossible. This problem would have been so much easier to fix when ICANN took over the responsibility. This is annoying, because it was such an excellent missed opportunity.

Few registrars restrict the usage of domain names because that would limit the number that they can sell, and the profits they can make.

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