AW: Re: Networks are for corporations and offices, right?

[flash@xxxxxxxx]

≪the guys who designed the Internet were thinking very clearly... ≫ and non-commercially. The Internet started out as a pure research project for the DoD. Internet traffic up until 1990 consisted mostly of research papers being exchanged between college professors, graduate students, and engineers. The first browser, called Mosaic, came out in 1990, and it took several years for HTML traffic to displace FTP (file transfer) traffic on the Internet. As Robert says, in those heady days there were no viruses or spyware; it was an idealistic, academic, honor-system world. And totally egalitarian; volvo.com has no more weight than flashq.de.

BTW, the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) has arbitration procedures for resolving URL
disputes. If Volvo were called Holmgren, Robert would be allowed to keep holmgren.org (non-profit
organization) and Volvo(Holmgren) would get holmgren.com (commercial). I tried to get flash.de but
found that the software company which makes the flash animation engine had already grabbed up all
the flash.xxx domains, so I had to pick something else. Arbitration is not automatic and not free
and not quick, and IETF does not disposses anyone of a URL by fiat. Someone else would have to file
a claim first and show that he had made Robert a sensible offer for his domain which Robert had
unreasonably refused. Arbtration is designed mostly with URL squatters in mind. URL squatters are
people who, with foresight, grab up likely future brand names and sit on them hoping that some
company will make them an offer later.