Why Internet Domain Names?

A Domain Name is often registered to assert the registrant's interest in the intellectual property represented by the alphanumeric characters occupying the spaces between the application descriptor (usually http:// or https://) and the period (.) character immediately before the registry identifier (i.e. com, net, org, info, biz, etc).

Up to 63 alphanumeric characters can be used to compose a domain name. i.e including any of the 26 letters in the alphabet, the 10 numbers and the hyphen. Spaces are not allowed!

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), created in September 1998, is tasked by the United States Department of Commerce to oversee the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. There are currently in excess of 850 ICANN accredited registrars who can submit registration applications to the 20 top level domain name registries under ICANN's jurisdiction. It is the registrar's responsibility to ensure that domain name ownership is correctly recorded.

There are also over 240 Country specific domain name registries under the control of their respective governments.

It is entirely possible to set up an Independent Domain Name Registry where the operation is at the discretion of the operator. An example of this is CentralNic.com who operate the .uk.com domain name registry.

Through an association with domain registrar, GoDaddy.com, Firstalpha Registrars can provide a business process whereby anyone can establish themselves as an Independent Domain Name Registrar. A significant advantage, as a Firstalpha Registrar, is the ability to submit domain name applications to many of the 240+ Country specific domain name registries as well as to the top level ICANN regulated registries.

A Firstalpha Registrar is automatically affiliated with ICANN accredited registrar, Wild West Domains, Inc. who are also reputed to be the largest webhost on the planet. For information to be found on the Internet, it has to have an address that a computer can read and one which will distinguish it from other pieces of similar information. A computer must be able to translate its basic machine code into a human readable format and the domain name has become one of the most effective method for referencing URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers). Within a relatively small packet of data, quite large descriptors can be communicated through the use of an Internet Domain Name.

A Domain Name uniquely identifies its owner in much the same way that a telephone number is specific to its user. Both are sensitive to errors! Whilst phone numbers can easily be converted into their alphanumeric representations, it is only necessary for a computer to be able to translate a domain name into its numeric equivalent. There is considerable opportunity in being the owner of intellectual property represented by an Internet Domain Name.

Creating sub-domains expands the potential of domain name ownership. A short domain name can thus be used to link associated name spaces more powerfully than by simply adding named directories after the registry identifier. Therefore, fsb-member.a4m.eu resolves to the same location as a4m.eu/fsb-member.

First published at 1900 GMT on Monday, 24 December 2007.
Copyright © Richard Parsons 2007. All rights reserved.