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If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

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Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#31

Post by StavrosK »

chaosmachine wrote: post #28
StavrosK wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suggest? Getting a .com domain? Have you tried to do that recently? All dictionary words and most two-word combinations are taken by squatters. I searched for a domain name for a new web app the other day and wanted a .com name, it was almost impossible to find anything . I spent two days searching until I found something. .net and .org are better, but users always expect (and type in) .com.

"most two-word combinations are taken by squatters" Not true. Spend a few minutes playing with this: http://impossibility.org/

The fact that that tool even exists is an indication that I'm right. Sure, some combinations exist, but when "wallhat.com" is taken (by a squatter, it seems), I don't have much hope.

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#32

Post by StavrosK »

haploid wrote: post #29
StavrosK wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because ten people rushed out when the planet was first created and bought all the land for $10 per acre and are now selling it for 200x that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Act

Yep. Contrast this with the domain situation, where there's no limit of 160 domains per person.

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#33

Post by [deleted] »

StavrosK wrote: post #31
chaosmachine wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"most two-word combinations are taken by squatters" Not true. Spend a few minutes playing with this: http://impossibility.org/

The fact that that tool even exists is an indication that I'm right. Sure, some combinations exist, but when "wallhat.com" is taken (by a squatter, it seems), I don't have much hope.

[deleted]

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#34

Post by petercooper »

StavrosK wrote: post #30
petercooper wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the argument but am also beginning to be convinced by the opposing argument for many cases.. Consider 37signals' products, they don't have the product name in the verbatim .com form for any that I see - they've had to append words on the end. Apple doesn't own MacBook.com. Even companies who own their product names as domains (e.g. Fogbugz.com) aren't necessarily using them as a primary URL. It seems cus…

The fact that companies are doing it doesn't mean that customers aren't fazed by it. Sure, 37signals is doing well, but do you think the "hq" part of the basecamp domain helped? When 37signals weren't that well-known and wanted to market it, how many potential customers do you think they lost because people typed "basecamp.com", didn't go where they intended to and never visited again? Customer retention is like tryi…

I can't find fault with your arguments because I'm sure they're true for many cases (and the 'plugging the holes' is entirely valid).

That said, my gut feeling is that at least a plurality of people are Googling terms like 'basecamp' rather than typing them in as URLs. And I doubt that those who do type in URLs are fickle enough to write off the task on one failure. Proving it either way would be laborious (but would make for interesting research).

Good catch on my phased/fazed mismatch, btw! ;-)

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#36

Post by gambler »

burgerbrain wrote: post #2

Hopefully? Stop abusing country code TLDs already...

If there wasn't an artificially created shortage of TLDs, people probably wouldn't abuse country domains.

Besides, this game has started long time ago. It's not like .com, .net and .org bear any meaning either. Domains today are not really semantic. They might have been 15 years ago, but not now.

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#37

Post by jarek »

StavrosK wrote: post #27
Legion wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> .net and .org are better, but users always expect (and type in) .com. Which makes country code TLDs an answer... how? They're not .com either.

I didn't say ccTLDs were better than .com, but they're as good as .net/.org. If you're going to get a .net, you might as well get a .ly and make your service one memorable word.

memorab.ly is taken :(

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#39

Post by guelo »

StavrosK wrote: post #14
burgerbrain wrote: post #2

Hopefully? Stop abusing country code TLDs already...

What do you suggest? Getting a .com domain? Have you tried to do that recently? All dictionary words and most two-word combinations are taken by squatters. I searched for a domain name for a new web app the other day and wanted a .com name, it was almost impossible to find anything . I spent two days searching until I found something. .net and .org are better, but users always expect (and type in) .com.

There's also the USA issue with .com. Sure, ICE seems to be targeting torrent domains for seizure for now but no one knows who they'll go after next or if your business will be collateral damage from some other seizure, with no due process or recourse.

Re: If Libya Shuts Down the Internet, What Happens To .ly Domains?

#40

Post by abstractbill »

StavrosK wrote: post #14
burgerbrain wrote: post #2

Hopefully? Stop abusing country code TLDs already...

What do you suggest? Getting a .com domain? Have you tried to do that recently? All dictionary words and most two-word combinations are taken by squatters. I searched for a domain name for a new web app the other day and wanted a .com name, it was almost impossible to find anything . I spent two days searching until I found something. .net and .org are better, but users always expect (and type in) .com.

It's not actually that bad. I recently wrote a script that sends me daily emails of all .com domains that are expiring that day, sorted by length, and by a measure of how "English-like" they are (just using a frequency table for pairs of letters). I was surprised by how much good stuff is available.
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