What we don't need is a bunch of stupid TLDs that do nothing but make existing domain owners feel like they need to buy more.
What we really need is a single new TLD that is distributed so that it cannot be controlled by any particular government or corporation. Something like dot-bit.org, but with more momentum behind it.
I've been preaching for years that we need to get rid of TLDs. If we truly want the web to be a global/borderless place, get rid of the extensions and let us do http://companyname/ (I know it currently can't work like that, but I'm sure all the great minds out there can figure it out).
Ideally I would've liked to see it evolve into a more clean/friendly structure all together... web//companyname, yourname@companyname, etc.
Yes we'd get the clashes of people that currently have different TLDs of the same name, but maybe solve that by making the new structure an optional extra, so people buy the "new" domains from scratch (and if you currently own all major TLDs for your name, eg Microsoft/Google/Apple/etc, noone else can register your "new" domain). First to buy the new one, gets it. Person who had the differing TLD finds a slightly different one.
These new .whatever really piss me off. It's making the web a messier place, and confusing the average users even more, all for the sake for some greedy fatcats to charge stupid amounts to companies that can afford to throw money at it.
As there is zero real use for these TLDs, I'd be very pleased if Google and other software makers penalize them. If we're just going to do away with TLDs, might as well do it right and just open up a simple global registry so anyone can register ".<whatever>" -- versus blessing a few silly strings (.christmas, .bargains... .museum .aero).
This needs to change as well. We nee to do away with the concept of a select few TLDs, indeed we need to scrap payed for subdomains/domains in general.
Exactly. The whole TLD thing is a scam and, as you say, a disgrace.
Canned TLDs should be eliminated altogether. There's no reason a domain can't end in any string; we should simply be able to register any domain we want except the ones that are truly limited, like gov and edu.
We already have a mechanism to handle trademark infringement, so let's not raise that strawman.
ICANN't is a rip-off and does nothing but bicker. Spend some time as a member, and you'll be sickened by the traffic on the mailing list.
Would it be crazy to scrap the TLD system altogether and build something better in its place? I'd love to allow for wildcard TLDs, or even remove the dot requirement altogether. Built in unicode support, but with a layer of security to prevent against similar-looking character abuse.
I know that very idealistic and probably naive, but the current system just feels very archaic to me. Can't we do better?
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