The Domain Name GameThe Domain Name Game
The Widgets Corporation decides to start a Web site and naturally wants to name it Widgets.Com. But much to the consternation of its management, it discovers there already is a Widgets.com. Someone else has registered the "domain name" and Widgets is stuck. It happens every day as the battle for the best domain names grows. But what in fact is a domain name and what are the issues surrounding their use? Domain names are simply the addresses of the Internet. 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. Domain names are divided into hierarchies. The top-level of the hierarchy appears after the last dot in the 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. The disputes that arise over domain names involve "second level" domain names directly to the left of the top-level domain name. 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. For example, even though both the Delta Faucet Company and Delta Airlines would like the "delta.com" domain name, only one Delta company can have delta.com. Unfortunately for both Delta Faucet Company and Delta Airlines, that Delta company is Delta Financial of Woodbury, New York. Instead of using delta.com, Delta Airlines uses deltaairlines.com, while Delta Faucet Company uses deltafaucet.com. In order to register a second-level domain name under a top-level domain, a request must be made to the organization that has the power to assign names for that top-level domain. Prior to December 1999, a company called Network Solutions Inc. ("NSI") was almost solely responsible for the registration of second level domain names for the most popular top-level domains, including .com, .net and .org. As of December 1999, the ability to register.com, .net and .org domain names was spread out among many registrars. These registrars are accredited by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (or "ICANN"), a non-profit corporation formed specifically to control Internet domain name management and similar functions. NSI continues to assign domain names, but now they are just one of many domain name registrars. All of these registrars assign names on a first-come, first-served basis, and do not do any checking before assigning a new domain name. Because of the increasing popularity of the Internet, companies have realized that having a domain name that is the same as their company name or the name of one of their products can be an extremely valuable part of establishing an Internet presence. When a company finds that the domain name corresponding to their corporate name or product trademark is owned by someone else, the company can either choose a different name or fight to get the domain name back from its current owners. When a dispute over a domain name occurs, the parties can always turn to the courts. While courts and judges have the authority to award control and ownership over domain names, the judicial process is notoriously slow. Consequently, many parties have avoided the courts and turned to the domain name dispute policies of the domain name registrars. In response to intense lobbying from trademark owners and famous individuals, Congress passed the Anticyber-squatting Consumer Protection Act in November of 1999. This act made it easier for individuals and companies to take over domain names that are confusingly similar to their names or valid trademarks. To do so, however, they must establish that the domain name holder acted in bad faith. One portion of this Act related to famous individuals. This portion allows individuals to file a civil action against anyone who registers their name as a second level domain name for the purpose of selling the domain name for a profit. The more general portion of the statute protects companies against persons who, in bad faith, register a domain name that is the same or confusingly similar to an existing trademark.
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Free Hosting - A Real Bargain?
Francisco Aloy
With the availability of many free hosting offers so prevalent on the Internet, are they the bargain they seem to be?I must admit the offer of free hosting does have major appeal however, rarely is something of value given away for nothing. At first glance, free hosting sounds like a good deal! Upon closer inspection, you'll find close to 100% of them not suitable for a business website at all.
Before getting one of the free hosting packages, the person needs to have a specific idea what the website is going to be used for. Is it personal or for business?
If it's a personal website that's going to be used to post the family newsletter, photographs and so on, it's a perfectly good use of one. On the other hand, if it's a website built for commercial purposes, the free hosting packages are of limited utility to a business operation.
Most of the well documented opposition to free websites invariably mentions the use of very long URL's as one of the main examples but there are more fundamental reasons you shouldn't ever use a free website as your main business website.
Most business websites will need advanced mail handling and script hosting capabilities not offered by the free web hosting accounts. As your business grows and you realize the need for the above, your step onto the next business level is severely hampered.
These are services most Internet businesses need that are not provided by free hosting packages:
CGI Scripting PHP Scripting Autoresponders MySQL Databases
On account of the lack of scripting support you'll find many of the tools of eCommerce will not function on your free website, such as: shopping cart software and order tracking, javascripts, to name a few.
If at a later stage of development you decide to order some of the above support items "a la carte," you'll find out the outrageous cost of them...so much for a free hosting account!
All the above shouldn't imply there are no legitimate business uses for a free hosting account, there are! They can be used for hosting pages that link back to your main website, for re-directed URL's, for hosting any kind of web page that doesn't need any of the advanced support options of your main business website.
They can also be used for showcasing individual products contained within your main website with a link back to your landing page. They can increase your SE ranking if they are well designed with tight, relevant copy that goes well with your main website. Quality and accuracy do have their payoff!
Another important, and often erroneous point, is that it will help your main website have a wider appeal to many of the SE's because of the incoming links. However, the incoming links from free hosting accounts are not considered quality links by the SE's.
Used with insight and vision, free hosting services can ad value to your web operation. The main point to keep in mind is that the same care and preparation given to your main website should also be given to your free websites. The quality of the writing and production should be to help your main website, not to detract from it.
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by Francisco Aloy
(C)2004 Francisco Aloy ============================================== Agreement reminder, not part of the article: Please include my working hyperlink in the resource box. Remove paragraph before posting.
Francisco Aloy is the author of "Yes, I Want to Start My Internet Business Without Being SCAMMED!." He has an online business catering to the needs of the Newbie Net Entrepreneur. For more website building info AND a Business Opportunity, visit our Kiosk section at http://www.newbie-business-guide.com/website_building.html
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Small Business PackageJanuary 10, 2005 BanPro NET announces the addition of a "Small Business Package" to it's web hosting services. Specializing in small and home based business web services since 2000, this package is the result of careful research into the basic needs and demands of small business hosting clients. There's plenty of server capacity for a website to grow from and tons of additional free software targeted towards the small and home business all at a very affordable rate. This package is intended to not just meet a client's needs, but also to help (the often non-technical) customer in overcoming the many challenges that building a successful small business website comes with.
Details on this new Small Business Package can be found at www.banpro.net
--- :About BanPro NET: BanPro NET first began providing web services in 2000, with only a single server in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The day that first server went online, Scott Bannon, the owner of BanPro NET used a black Magic-Marker to write the following message on an office wall; "To provide high quality products and services. To treat each customer as a good friend. To be an asset to our community. This is the BanPro NET philosophy."
Staying true to that philosophy, BanPro NET has been rewarded with a steady growth of clients and respect for the reputation it's acquired as a leader in providing quality service and customer support.
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