Don't Preregister Domains

by Bob Nunn

You may want to think twice about the person who contacts you regarding the new .info or .biz domain names. Never mind they aren't really authorized to do this. You shouldn't give them your credit card number.

I am sure that there are more than a few who have preregistered with these sleezoids and are waiting for their .biz, .nu, .vu, .info, .pro, .tv, .cc, .intl or some other dot something.

If in doubt always check my <http://www.headgap.com/addurl/> web page. I try to keep current info about what's happening there. Always check

Always check out deals before spending your hard earned dough. If not you might as well be registering .chump which I think many people may have signed up for. Before you give some complete stranger your credit card and info about what domains may be valuable to you, you might want to read a bit about it. I trust and use Dotster. The info below is from Dotster.com <http://www.dotster.com/resources/newtld.asp>

 

"New Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

Anxious to secure your Internet identity under one of the new top-level domains (TLDs) announced last month? Dotster intends to add the capability to register .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro domain names as soon as they are implemented, which is expected to be sometime during the second quarter of 2001.

Confused by registrars offering to "preregister" domains in the new TLDs? According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), no one has been authorized to preregister these domain names as no companies have been accredited yet to register the new TLDs. Registration procedures have not been formalized and there are absolutely no guarantees that preregistered domain names will be awarded once the TLDs become operational. We are recommending that Dotster customers avoid preregistration sites for the reasons explained above. We are committed to implementing the new TLDs as soon as they're available and will keep you updated on ICANN's progress during the implementation.

The announcement of the new TLDs by ICANN is intended to relieve the stress on the ever-popular .com and introduce competition to the domain registry business. The seven new TLDs were chosen after the ICANN board of directors eliminated 37 other possible TLDs, including .web and .kids, and sifted through dozens of proposals from companies hoping to become registries for the new domain name extensions.

The new TLDs are intended for registration by the following groups:

.aero - air-transport industry
.biz - businesses
.coop - non-profit cooperatives
.info - unrestricted use
.museum - museums
.name - individual registrations
.pro - accountants, lawyers, physicians

Now that the board of directors of ICANN has chosen these TLDs, the ICANN staff will work through the end of this year to negotiate registry agreements with the applicants selected. Once that is completed and the board of directors has approved the agreements, they will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Commerce for implementation on the Internet. "

US News recently ran a bit about another company who decided to make up their own names. Your ISP has to participate and you have to use software to access these names (boy, you don't need to touch this with a stick). <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010702/biztech/2domain.htm>

Dotster just started accepting bids on .info and .biz domain names as I am writing this. You can't be sure of what you will get for your money however. I think you should carefully read the disclaimers. Below is a quote from Dotster's Web Site:

"In mid-August, during the start-up period of the .info registry, Dotster will submit winning bids for each domain to the Afilias registry. The registry will then select new .info domains in a round-robin approach by first randomizing the order of all registrars submitting domains, and then by randomizing the lists of domains each registrar submits. If your domain is selected for registration during this process, your credit card will automatically be billed for the amount of your bid. Once the .info registry's start-up period is complete, Dotster will begin offering real-time .info registrations on a first-come, first-served basis. "

It sounds to me like a heck of a fund raising activity, and I like these guys.

Always beware of anything solicited on the Internet without you asking for it, or you're asking for it. ;-)

 

Bob Nunn - Owner, Operator Headgap Systems, Inc.
E-mail: headgap@headgap.com
http://headgap.com http://tfbbs.com
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