Masters of Their Domains.

• Author: Walker, Jesse
• Position: Consumer organizations propose new domain names - Brief Article

American Web addresses invariably end with one of five suffixes: .com, .org, .net, .gov, or .edu. This summer, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers--the global body that distributes domain names--may lengthen that list. Along with the predictable demands for .biz, .shop, .web, and the like, there have been more provocative suggestions.

In March, John Richard of Essential Information and James Love of the Consumer Project on Technology, both Nader-affiliated organizations, proposed 10 new top-level domains. Among them: .union ("a 'union label' for cyberspace"), taxpayer (for "taxpayer organizations that would monitor budgets and management practices of governments"), and .sucks. The latter would "facilitate criticism of a firm or organization, such as aol.sucks, wipo.sucks, or even greenpeace.sucks[ldots]. The domain would also be available for other uses, such as work.sucks, life.sucks or television.sucks." Richard and Love also note that .sucks might "be popular in the marketplace." Whether they're referring to Hoover or to Hustler isn't clear.

The list, alas, is limited by its authors' ideology. They propose a domain for "church groups who organize shareholder suits on issues of conscience," but none for...