For the first time since 2000 ICANN is allowing for more general use domain names. In 1998 ICANN was designated by the federal government as the authority for Internet naming policies. In 2000 they approved many new domain names but the only ones that were for general population use were .info and .biz.
They are hoping things will be more public friendly this go around, because they are opening up a forum to get input from the public on what the new domain names should be. The new domain names will most most likely be region based such as .Asia or industry based such as .XXX for the adult material industry.
However, trademarked business owners worry that with more domain names available the problem of "cybersqutting" will become very prevalent once again. Cybersquatting is when individuals purchase domain names of businesses or celebrities in hopes that those businesses or celebrities will pay high prices for the domain name.
ICANN is hoping to control that problem by having specific criteria to purchase the new general use domain names, rather then just the previous practice of simply being able to purchase the domain name. Hopefully, in this new era of domain names ICANN can curb the problem of cybersquatting, which costs them a lot of money, because they need to help resolve the disputes, and sometimes seek out the offender, and bring them to court, when their dispute resolution process is not working.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Monday, May 7, 2007
Google and YouTube
Recently, much has been made of Google agreeing to censor some of the websites that are displayed from certain searches within China. China is obviously a Communist and conservative country. However, Google is an American company, and it abides by American laws. I think the move by Google to agree to China's laws was a bit of weakness by Google, because they folded to the power of China.
The freedom of information that the Internet offers is a serious threat to the primitive ways of Communist nations. However, if they are not open to reform then they should take it upon themselves to work and censor the Internet within their borders. They should not pressure outside companies to conform to their ways, and when Google was confronted by China they had a great opportunity to reject censoring. Of course they did not, and only the people at Google can tell you if they regret that decision.
Although, within the many companies that Google has been buying up there may be some negative feelings toward the parent company decision. When YouTube who is owned by Google came under attack by the government of Thailand, because the government said that YouTube was displaying videos that offended the country. Google said the videos would be removed, however YouTube refused to pull any videos. The Thai government even made reference to China asking YouTube why it was no problem to comply for China, but when a smaller weaker country is asking for cooperation they are not getting it.
I commend the people at YouTube for making a stand on the censorship issue, especially when the website is in more then enough trouble over copyright law suits. They could have simply went along with Thailand, but they decided it was time to make a stand.
The freedom of information that the Internet offers is a serious threat to the primitive ways of Communist nations. However, if they are not open to reform then they should take it upon themselves to work and censor the Internet within their borders. They should not pressure outside companies to conform to their ways, and when Google was confronted by China they had a great opportunity to reject censoring. Of course they did not, and only the people at Google can tell you if they regret that decision.
Although, within the many companies that Google has been buying up there may be some negative feelings toward the parent company decision. When YouTube who is owned by Google came under attack by the government of Thailand, because the government said that YouTube was displaying videos that offended the country. Google said the videos would be removed, however YouTube refused to pull any videos. The Thai government even made reference to China asking YouTube why it was no problem to comply for China, but when a smaller weaker country is asking for cooperation they are not getting it.
I commend the people at YouTube for making a stand on the censorship issue, especially when the website is in more then enough trouble over copyright law suits. They could have simply went along with Thailand, but they decided it was time to make a stand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)