
Update On Efforts To Block .us Giveaway 70
Froomkin writes: "ICANNWatch carries an update on efforts to block the .us giveaway, which include letters to the US Dept. of Commerce from Senators, from Rep. Markey, and from the US-ACM Public Policy Committee." The update also mentions this LA Times editorial drawing attention to the move.
What about Ameri.ca (Score:1)
Why Can't I register Ameri.ca
Then I could sale:
North.Ameri.ca
South.Ameri.ca
Goobers.of.Ameri.ca
Slashdot.hates.Ameri.ca
CIA.controls.Ameri.ca
etc. etc. etc.
Come to think of it, why don't they make
a few new TLDs:
And we can give them all away, in fact,
lets let anybody use any TLD they want.
I claim all of the following TLDs:
R.us domain to be very popular (Score:2)
so call yer *#&@ Congress-critter and complain! (Score:1)
http://clerkweb.house.gov/107/mcapdir.php3 [house.gov]
Re:Not even close! (Score:1)
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Re:Working with what's out there (Score:2)
Here in North Carolina we sometimes say the same thing :-)
Can we do it like area codes? (Score:2)
Maybe we could have "dot u s" at the end of all "stateside" sites, but only make it necessary to use it if outside the US, letting us go on deluding ourselves and making it more difficult for "foreigners" at the same time. :-)
Re:There will be no .us giveaway (Score:1)
I saw a public service commercial last night put out by the State of California. Anyway, the URL was something.ca.gov. I thought it sorta funny that the
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Good point! (Score:2)
Not even close! (Score:3)
The national debt [treas.gov], as of July 20, 2001 is:
$5,723,280,631,657.09 ($5.723 trillion)
Total federal government spending for FY 2001 [whitehouse.gov] is:
$1,856 billion ($1.856 trillion)
In other words, the national debt is over 3 times the yearly budget of the federal budget. Maybe you should check your facts before posting lies.
Re:.US extensions would make the best pr0n sites (Score:1)
I dunno, .me would work pretty well too. You could have fuck.me, etc. Is that even used as a CC yet?
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:1)
You're right about the running for office - assuming you can get media coverage, even if you're unelectable you can still force the debate into new channels towards what is really needed. Ralph Nader's last campaign was successful in this regard - he got issues on the table that neither candidate would have touched otherwise.
I'm not sure if just voting would cut it, though - both major parties combine a lack of knowledge of technology with a willingness to take the advice of giant technology companies at face value. In this last election, can you really say that electing Al Gore would really have changed the technology perspective? Remember, Verisign/NSI and even ICANN got the way they are while he was VP and self-identified as the tech-savvy guy in the White House. He's not magically going to become a /. devotée just because he was elected President.
Voting is only a sufficient check on the government if there are sufficient choices to vote for that the real will of the people can become known. As far as technology goes, there aren't really any forward-looking choices to vote for yet, just different flavors of tech reactionaries and big-business sycophants. Thus the will of the people in this direction, assuming that they even have one, won't be expressed.
Re:Working with what's out there (Score:1)
The most significant thing you said: "brought in a lot of new voters". If a non-major-party candidate can energize the issues enough to attract exactly the people who are turned off by the normal political process, they can do very well. So maybe there is hope for the rest of us.
HELLO!! anybody awake out there??? (Score:1)
Folks, this is more serious than you might think. Right now, any school in the US can have their own domain address in the .US TLD, free of charge, with the technical limitation that they have to have a couple of name servers to point at the machine which actually houses the web site. Any town or City in the .US TLD, likewise. Any civic organization in a town or city, library, hospital, non-profit, etc. likewise.
Does anybody really think that the proposed changes to the .US tld is administered will offer anything good to these types of organizations? There is a bit about these sites being grandfathered in, but what about newer sites? Aren't they entitled to have a place on the Web without having to pay and then having the fate of their site registrations being inextricably tied to a company who consistently make unfriendly manuevers designed to control all of the most important TLD name spaces?
Wake up, make some noise, people. This needs to be stopped!!!
--Rant Mode Off--
.ca changed last November (Score:2)
It took a couple of years to pass, but CIRA changed the rules for .ca domains last year, and even allowed existing .ca registrants one or two months to re-register to make sure they maintained their domains instead of having them "expire" and be snapped up by squatters.
All relevant info can be found here (English and French) http://www.cira.ca/ [www.cira.ca]
The previous example, where you had to be federally registered or have business operation presence in 2 or more provinces made sense in a way: domains were free of charge then.
Update to the update (Score:4)
There's also a story over at The Boston Globe [boston.com] but it doesn't add much if you've been following along.
Re:Not even close! (Score:1)
Oh, clarity is just wonderful...
The goatsecx guy... (Score:2)
It's not like the domain name is being used much.. (Score:1)
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did bubba go down at k5? (Score:1)
OBZerowong (Score:3)
Sorry, sorry...
You know you read too much slashdot when... (Score:5)
Re:Read the back of your tax form (Score:1)
Re:I say let them give it away, it won't affect yo (Score:2)
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:1)
Well... (Score:5)
Bullshit US attitude problem (Score:1)
I am a US citizen, so this is my opinion of my own country.
Why won't there be a
"Hey, we invented the internet. We own the internet. We create all the laws on the entire globe. Without the US, the internet would not exist."
It makes me want to puke. By having a
Re:This great news (Score:2)
I quote (from your user bio [slashdot.org]) "...I am the founder and lead developer for Algorithims Unlimited Ltd. We are based out of India..." (emphasis added by me).
How does giving away a domain for an entirely different country stop your company from being great (as you claim)? It's not like they're giving away .com addresses. And India has it's own TLD (.in).
I don't understand your reasoning, unless your company has some sort of bizarre business plan to sell .us, which doesn't seem all that probable (and why would a company called Algorithims Unlimited Ltd. be selling domains in the first place?). Please explain.
Oh, BTW, that's a dreadful company name (Ltd. is short for Limited, so you've got Unlimited Limited in there), and I hope you got someone who can spell to register the company name - Algorithms only has one "i".
Re:A bit weak for /. (Score:1)
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:1)
Re:There will be no .us giveaway (Score:1)
Just for your information, I believe that pratice was recently changed in Canada. The
Re:You know you read too much slashdot when... (Score:1)
Good grief, it's over already (Score:3)
ICANNWatch carries an update on efforts to block the .us giveaway...
Look, the election ended months ago and Bush won. I don't like it any more than you do but do we really need to keep bringing it up?
A bit weak for /. (Score:1)
Re:There will be no .us giveaway (Score:1)
www.all.your.domains.are.belong.to.us
And they aren't giving them up!
.
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:5)
And part of it is the bitching and moaning. But the biggest thing we can do is the one thing most won't: Get off your lazy behinds and vote! It's a bit amusing and a bit sad to see everyone whining about how "they" are taking away our rights, yet half the people in the nation don't even bother to vote in presidential elections.
The system stinks? The people in power don't listen? Make them listen. Better yet, run for office and become a person in power. Democracy ain't easy.
And it sure as heck isn't served by pre-defeatism.
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:2)
Nearly 100% of the power in this country lies not with it's elected leaders, but within the few members of the Supreme Court.
I'd say oligarchy, especially if we include all the filthy rich people who contribute millions to political campaigns, but hey....
BTW, do yourself a quick favor and look up firstly how many previous presidents were not from very wealthy families, and then go down the list and compare the percentages with those with positions such as governor, senator etc...
The slashdot 2 minute between postings limit: /.'ers since Spring 2001.
Pissing off coffee drinking
Re:There will be no .us giveaway (Score:1)
Following the Canadian example My Company.us will be available only for federally registered corporations (or with a presence in at least three states, or something along these lines), otherwise it'll have to use something like MyCompany.ca.us or Mycompany.tx.us...
Harder to remember, dilluted even more with the proposed introduction this year of
Re:Not even close! (Score:1)
Two quick points.
Is the USA the fed or the fed + 50 states?
What does the spending for FY2001 look like if you add fed + 50 states? Wouldn't that be a more accurate estimation of USA spending? I'm not trying to take sides, but perhaps the orignal poster is thinking in terms of the actual United States, not the United States government only?
Re:Not even close! (Score:1)
No..what I'm suggesting is that the budget for the USA is the sum of the budget for the 50 US states plus the budget for the federal governemnt.
What part of that doesn't make sense?
Nationalize IP via TLDs (Score:2)
Article?? (Score:1)
Re:History will be the judge (Score:1)
There was a great John McCain quote about the last such spectrum giveaway:
I congratulate the broadcasters and their surrogates here in the Senate and the Congress. I congratulate them on prevailing. I congratulate them for their incredible influence that has prevented us from mandating an auction of the spectrum which belongs to the taxpayers.
Surrogates! Ouch! No wonder they all hate him.
democracy also involves responsibility (Score:2)
If you really want a democracy, everyone does need to vote.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, whether it's a law or not. Less than a third of Americans vote, which means two thirds of the country may object to the choice, but haven't voiced that.
Don't like the choices? hand in a blank or void ballot (writing reasons for not choosing either candidate usually makes a ballot void in most countries). This way, all voters are counted, and all blank or invalid votes are counted as such, displaying that people are willing to vote, just not for those options.
global address... (Score:2)
personally I think it's unlikely that the US will give non-us extensions to the global community... which is a pity, as
a true global domain grouping would be great, with clear listings whether it is fully supported in your country (ThinkGeek for example does not ship certain items to Australia)
Who Cares Already (Score:1)
So what?
Goto Google, type in "my needs", and choose a Web site.
Who cares what the TLD is.
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Read the back of your tax form (Score:1)
:) Of course, then we'd face the challenge of buildign everything back together after it sat and rotted for a year.
Oops (Score:1)
No need to flame me over it. Or call simple misinformation "lies." (I will now prove I am a better man, by suppressing my urge to flame back. have a nice day.)
Most dot-coms US anyway? (Score:2)
You're both wrong... (Score:1)
Sooooo... Debt held by the public: $3,276,772,616,898.09 [treas.gov] ($3.27 trillion)
Re:But what about .EDU? (Score:1)
Why do you need an .EDU in iran? Don't they kill internet users there?
Well, not exactly killing, they only make it a hard time for us, which some may consider worse. The problem is that we need to change the situation:
The current .ir registrar has a really hard mechanism for registering a domain, and for changing that, we need to tell them that Iranians will just go and register some .com or .net if they don't open the registry, and they will lose lots of money, among other things.
Global domains are good for that, the government can't restrict you with its weird policies. With one less global TLD, Internet content providers in a country like ours should go kill themselves if not killed by them. ;-)
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But what about .EDU? (Score:4)
I wonder what will happen to .edu: As outlined in the RFC 1591 [rfc.net], the TLD belongs to the global community of educational insitutes, and not only Americans:
But according to this Slashdot article [slashdot.org], the US Department of Commerce gave it away to something named EDUCAUSE [educause.edu], that doesn't let universities outside USA [educause.edu] to get a .EDU.
As a user of a .edu [sharif.edu] here in Iran, that really aches...
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Re:I'm just impressed this is getting press (Score:2)
It is impressive. BUt 'older' media outlets like newspapers seem to be doing a better job covering the Internet and obscure issues than heavy internet properties like CNN & MSNBC - their stuff is too whitewashed.
I've been impressed at the technology coverage of papers like the LA Times and the NY TImes. Sure, they may be a few days late sometimes, but they still give our issues a wider audience.
nic.us's last words: (Score:1)
Yeah, that was lame.
The first of a million kisses (for business) (Score:2)
Is there money in the
Are the public airwaves ripe for commercialization? Give licenses away for a pittance (while thwarting the licensing of small bandwidth community stations that would compete with corporate behemoths).
Is there oil in the Alaskan wilderness? Allow business to pump it, though the quantity is slight and the environmental damage great.
Is the health of school students compromised by the unsafe standards of the US beef industry? Sure, but relax regulations, anyway.
This isn't government of, by, or for the people, but a plain old fashioned free-for-all by the base and greedy, conducted under the nose of a public too bored and uninformed to care.
Working with what's out there (Score:1)
BUT...
He got elected, without a big campaign war-chest or corporate support. When he is in the position, he supports issues a lot of us feel strongly about, like campaign finance reform and ending the ridiculous practice of trying to legislate morality, such as whether you prefer to smoke or drink your favorite mind-altering substance.
Our most recent presidential election showed us that the nation's voters find themselves neatly split down the middle of an ideological divide where the difference seems a lot like Coke vs. Pepsi and a lot of people feel like their vote has little meaning. Jesse took a similar situation, found converts on both sides of the fence, brought in a lot of new voters, and took a race the pundits never gave him a chance of winning. At his wackiest, I at least know that his actions are motivated by his own twisted Jesse sense of what's right, not by the latest opinion poll or what his old-boy's power club handlers think he should represent. You may not like the politician, but the model is sound. We can put minor party players in office.
Re:Ventura (Score:1)
But more importantly the reality is that Jesse won by capturing a complex demogaphic based on a campaign that cut across a variety of issues. He won the votes of a large number of conservative women who like GOP fiscal policy but don't want their right to a legal abortion overturned. He captured a lot of pro-hemp and pro-drug law reform votes as a candidate with a better chance than the Green or Grass Roots party candidates. Naturally he secured many Reform Party and other libertarian votes.
Certainly his fame as a former pro-wrestler and B-movie actor was a strong factor in his victory. But so was his success as a local Mayor, his popular radio show, his clever and cost-effective series of radio and television ads, and his relentlessly optimistic stumping - Ralph Nader could learn a thing or two from his "We Will Win" attitude.
Jeeze, do the GOP and DNC pay you people to schmooze around the 'net bad-mouthing minor-party politics? Why don't you shut up and leave political discussions to people who aren't afraid to put a name to their thoughts?
No Surprise (Score:5)
I know there's a lot of support for the "free market" on Slashdot, but somehow I don't think this is what y'all mean. When are people going to stop bickering over meaningless partisan differences and start realizing that most politicians on both sides of the fence are interested in their own political careers and accumulation of power above all else, and are more than willing to sell our interests out for relatively paltry sums? For crying out load, vote for someone that takes a credible stand on campaign finance reform! (Hint: if the phrase "one of the costliest campaigns in history" or something similar shows up nest to their name on a regular basis, then their stand is not credible).
.US extensions would make the best pr0n sites (Score:2)
I'm just impressed this is getting press (Score:3)
Its always nice to see the folks in Washington working hard to make sure that things are handled correctly.
Re:There will be no .us giveaway (Score:2)
I have dibs on "all.your.ninth.level.domains.are.belong.to.us"
Re:The first of a million kisses (for business) (Score:1)
As opposed to doing what ?
"Is the health of school students compromised by the unsafe standards of the US beef industry? "
Sure, it is suddenly unsafe after so many years of being safe. You are one of these people who want to have everybody pay more for a beef just because there is a one in a billion chance that something bad might happen.
Do you also support banning all cars because this would save about 40 000 lives every year ?
You need to learn how to balance risks vs costs of eliminating these risks.
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:1)
I has became fashionable to openly try to change election rules after the fact and claim the victory based on these new rules as mr. Gore tried to pull of in the last election.
Re:History is made by those who show up (Score:1)
...and that would be ?
PS.
It is a serious question.
Re:The first of a million kisses (for business) (Score:1)
Simple enough, isn't it ?
History will be the judge (Score:4)
The .us giveaway doesn't differ much from the American tradition of irrevocably giving blocks of broadcast frequences to commercial entities. The average American is screwed in the process, and the rich get richer. With their extra money, they can buy more politicians^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H donate more money to political campaigns and continue to dictate our national policy
We can bitch, we can moan, we can hang politicians by their ankles, but we can't prevent this from happening. History, however, will judge this as it really is.
Re:OBZerowong (Score:1)
Oh like I shoudl talk, my sig misquotes that thing anyway:-P
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Re:The first of a million kisses (for business) (Score:1)
As opposed to doing what ?
Well, the thought of auctioning off the
This great news (Score:1)
I say let them give it away, it won't affect you (Score:1)
There will be no .us giveaway (Score:5)
It's really sad. All we US citizens get slammed for buying up
I don't really see that happening, though. The suits in DC like the control they can wield over the
It's sad, really. Europe has a much better approach to country TLDs. But; in the States, Verisign will probably get the deal for the
But...imagine the RIAA's new URL:
www.all.your.music.are.belong.to.us
Or DC's new website:
www.all.your.freedoms.are.belong.to.us
Phoenix