The Foreign Service Journal, April 2011

12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 1 1 is about to change with the addition of a whole array of Web sites with more subject-specific, sometimes contro- versial suffixes. As Ian Shapira reports in a Feb. 7 Washington Post article, the impending expansion of the Inter- net’s domain name system has already spurred thousands of “Web wildcat- ters” to stake their claims on poten- tially lucrative new territories. The Internet Corporation for As- signed Names and Numbers (www. icann.org ) is the body charged with as- signing the new domain names, part of its mission to keep the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. Formed in 1998, the California-based nonprofit approved the expansion of the current naming system three years ago, but is still working out the details. As part of that effort, hundreds of investors, consultants and entrepre- neurs converged in San Francisco for the first-ever “.nxt” conference, a three-day affair (Feb. 8-10) featuring seminars on ICANN’s complicated application procedures. The confer- ence’s Web site features a banner reading “Join the Internet land rush!” But unlike the 1889 race to claim land in Oklahoma, which was open to all comers, participants in the 2011 competition have to pony up $185,000 just to submit an application — and that is on top of the $25,000 annual dues all domain operators have to pay ICANN. (Unsuccessful applicants will have some of their application fee re- turned.) ICANN says this requirement will ensure that only well-financed organ- izations operate the domains, and pro- tect against cybersquatters who ac- quire domain names not to operate them but to be bought out. But critics complain that the process cuts out many grassroots organizations, devel- oping countries and individuals. They also charge that the main purpose of the expansion is to make money for ICANN and the winning applicants, even if that causes aggravation for trademark holders and confusion for the average Internet user. Many organizations and companies are competing for the same domain names, in disputes that will likely have to be settled either via an ICANN- sponsored auction or a board decision. For instance, two companies vying for the environmentally friendly .eco do- main have competing endorsements: one from a nonprofit chaired by former Vice President Al Gore; the other from a group founded by former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev. ICANN hopes to start accepting ap- plications this spring, but has given no timeline for instituting the new do- mains. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor Libya’s Next Leader? Cybernotes seldom dabbles in pop culture, but an item in the March 1 edition of The Guardian persuaded us to make an exception. Blogger Rich- ard Adams makes a compelling case that if rambling, narcissistic rhetoric is a prerequisite for being a successful dictator, then Libya may have found a worthy successor to Muammar al- Qadhafi in bad-boy Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen. (For those of you overseas: Sheen’s decidedly colorful remarks on a whole range of topics recently drove CBS to fire him from its hit sitcom, “Two and a Half Men.”) Skeptical? Take the quiz ( www. guardian.co.uk/world/quiz/2011/m ar/01/muammar-gaddafi-charlie- sheen-quiz ) and see for yourself. — Steven Alan Honley, Editor C Y B E R N O T E S