lyndon.

globeandmail.com: What’s in a name?

All you need is $100,000 to be master of your own domain

The plan was foolproof.

It started fermenting in our heads after a radical online shakeup was announced this week. As of next year, it seems, we’re going to be freed of the shackles of .com, .net, .org, and their cronies. To date, every Internet address has had to end in such “top-level domains,” be they generic like .com, or country-specific domains like Canada’s .ca. Under the new rules, however, every top-level domain under the sun will be up for grabs.

The top level domains will reportedly cost upward of $100,000, one of those funny numbers that’s either two years’ salary or pocket change, depending on where you find yourself. Someone with the wherewithal will be able to buy the .dog domain, and then rent out subdomains to anyone wanting to put up their poodle site in style. Someone else could snap up the .camera domain, and hive off chunks of it to camera makers and photography sites alike.

Companies will spend millions snapping up domains for their own trademarks. Pornographers will deploy the genius for clever names that’s become the hallmark of their profession (besides the porn). And opportunists will pounce.

Hmm, interesting. I posted a story on this a week ago, but I didn’t realize you could actually buy outright the entire top level domain. When you consider that some domains have sold for a few million dollars each (vodka.com anyone?), $100,000 doesn’t look too bad.

I want .lyndon so I can use lyndon@lyndon.lyndon as my new email address. vain? maybe. pure genius? damn right! I wish my name was shorter though, oh like my three letter named friend (you know who you are).