RE: Re[2]: [wg-c] Competition policy and gTLDs

[Dave Crocker <dcrocker@brandenburg.com>]

It is true that some portions of the Internet are currently able to use a 
name-guessing technique for finding a domain name the first time.

There are two problems with that approach:

1.  It doesn't work for a large number of domain names, in particular those 
under a ccTLD, but also those under .net and .org.

2.  It doesn't scale.  Try to guess the domain name for the Internet Fax 
and Business Communications Association.  If you (quite reasonably) try 
ifbca.org, you will get the Iowa Football Coaches Association.  I'll hazard 
a guess that the correct domain name is unlikely to be obvious to most 
readers.  In any event, guessing wrong a few times, before getting it 
right, does not show that the names are easy to guess, but that the user 
has been turned into a search engine.

The term "mnemonic" DOES properly characterize the benefit of the 
TLD.  That is, it aids memory.  Memory is relevant after first seeing the 
correct name.  In other words, not for searching, but for later recall.

d/

At 06:55 AM 8/17/99 , Cohen, Tod wrote:
>My six year old always searches by using the following string:
>www.[anything].com <http://www.[anything].com> .  He does not use a search
>engine but he does know how to put together string, for example:
>www.supersmashbrothers.com <http://www.supersmashbrothers.com> .  So I do
>not know who William speaks to, but he should speak to the children. Rita is
>correct.
>
>                 To:     Rita M. Odin
>                 Cc:     wg-c@dnso.org
>
>                 Monday, August 16, 1999, 3:21:35 PM, Rita M. Odin
><OdinR@arentfox.com> wrote:
>                 >>People do not search the Internet by typing in a TLD and
>then >seeing what
>                 >>happens under it.
>                 >>At best, the TLD provides some basic cues about
>                 >>identity. But mostly it's just a mnemonic. So I think it
>is >fundamentally
>                 >>incorrect to view domain names--at any level--as part of
>the >search
>                 >>process for content.
>                 > People do search the Internet for content by using domain
>names - usually comprised of trademarks/service marks plus .com.    Having


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Dave Crocker                                         Tel: +1 408 246 8253
Brandenburg Consulting                               Fax: +1 408 273 6464
675 Spruce Drive                             <http://www.brandenburg.com>
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