Introduction
The very basis of Internet is Internet Protocol (IP) used for inter computer / inter server communication,Guest Posting each computer / server having its own unique all numeric IP address. The fact that these addresses are not catchy and are difficult to remember has had a major role to play in the development of the DNS and the emergence of domain names as corporate assets. Thus, a domain name is a popular substitute for the all numeric IP address of a particular server. To make an Internet address more user friendly, a unique numeric address may be matched with a mnemonic domain name (such as ‘mcdonalds.com’). This systematization of recognition of proxy names is categorized as the ‘Domain Name System’.
Domain names are simply the addresses of the Internet. E-mail is sent and web pages are found through the use of domain names. For example, the web address for the Microsoft web site is www.microsoft.com, while Bill Gates might have an e-mail address such as [email protected] (both using the “microsoft.com” domain name). Without the domain name, a computer would have no idea where to look for a web page, and e-mail routers would not be able to send e-mail. Of course, domain names are more than just addresses, since they can be selected by the “addressee” and are usually closely associated with a particular service or product.
Generic & Geographic Top-Level Domain Names
Domain names are divided into hierarchies. The top-level of the hierarchy appears after the last dot (‘.’) in a domain name. In “microsoft.com”, the top level domain name is .COM. The .COM name is the most common top-level domain name, and is used to indicate that the domain name is owned by a commercial enterprise. Other common top-level domain names include .ORG (for non-profit organizations), .NET (for network and Internet related organizations), .EDU (for four-year colleges and universities), and .GOV (for government entities).
In addition to these generic domain names, each country has been given a unique top-level domain name. For instance, .CA indicates a domain in Canada, and .IE indicates an Irish domain. Although there is a .US top-level domain name, most organizations in the United States outside of state and local governments opt for one of the generic names (i.e., .COM, .ORG, .NET), which are available to entities in any country. For several years there have been proposals to add new generic top-level names, such as .FIRM, .STORE, and .WEB.
The disputes that arise over domain names involve “second level” domain names. The second level name is the name directly to the left of the top-level domain name in an Internet address. For instance, in the address “www.microsoft.com”, the second level domain name is Microsoft.
Two identical second level domain names cannot coexist under the same top level domain. In these new guises, they sometimes conflict with trademarks and other traditional business identifiers. Two factors exacerbate this conflict. Firstly, domain names are global and must be unique – a particular string of letters can link to only one site – while trademarks may overlap in different industries or different geographical locations. Secondly, it is common practice for many Internet users to guess at domain names. Users often seek to guess the domain name of a prominent company. For example, an Internet user interested in discussing a recent skydiving expedition with the Editors of ‘SKY DIVERS’, might try “sd.com,” “skydive.com,” or skydivers.com” to locate this magazine’s address. Thus domain names based on intuition become valuable corporate assets.