The battle over Internet domain names: Global or national TLDs?

Milton L Mueller

Telecommunications Policy, 1998, vol. 22, issue 2, 89-107

Abstract: The paper examines the global controversy over Internet domain names, specifically the choice between top-level domain (TLD) names based on country codes and top-level domain names based on generic terms. The paper describes the historical background of the existing TLD naming scheme and the breakdown in the principles and procedures used to ration domain names. It develops a critique of national TLD names and an argument for expanding the number of global TLDs. Global TLDs are more useful semantically, permit more room for price competition and service innovation, and are more suited to non-territorial basis of Internet communication. More generally, they foster a regime of free international trade in Internet-related services.

Date: 1998
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