December Focus: Domain Names [Technically Speaking]
By John Anderson

Today, almost everyone knows what a domain name is and can easily register one by using their favorite search engine.

WHAT IS A DOMAIN NAME?

Each website on the Internet has a numeric address that functions like coordinates on a map (208.226.13.28). Instead of pointing to a geographic location on earth, these numeric addresses, called IP addresses, point to a location on the Internet. Computers have no problems remembering numeric addresses. To make surfing the web easier, the domain name system was created to allow people to use easy to remember names for websites instead of number sequences.

Every domain name contains two or more components separated by periods, or "dots." The last part of the address, "com", is called the "top level domain." To the left of the dot in the name is what is called the "second-level domain". It is also possible to have sub-domains such as "subdomain.Domain.com."

Your domain does not have to be associated with a website and can be used exclusively for email purposes.

.com - For commercial entities, which anyone, anywhere in the world, can register.
.net - Originally designated for organizations directly involved in Internet operations.
.org - Originally designated for organizations, including non-profits.
.edu - For four-year accredited institutions of higher learning.
.gov - For U.S. Federal Government entities
.mil - For U.S. military

Country codes - For individual countries based on the International Standards Organization. For example, ca for Canada, and jp for Japan.

There are also now a few new or proposed extensions such as .info, .pro, and .law you can choose from.

A domain name should be short and descriptive. This is your online letterhead and should be easily associated with you or your firm. This is best done by making sure that it contains your name or area of practice.

There are not many rules for registering a domain name. A few of the more important ones are the length and type of characters you use. The only valid characters you can use in a domain name are letters, numbers and a hyphen. Special characters like the underscore "_" or "&" are NOT permitted. Domain names also cannot contain spaces or begin or end with a hyphen, "-".

A domain name can be up to 63 characters long including the 4 characters used to identify the Top Level Domain (.NET, .COM, .ORG, or .EDU).

FINDING A DOMAIN NAME

Now that you know what your domain name should look like, you can start searching for a name. Find a registrar and use their search features to find an available domain name.

There are currently over 30 Registries authorized by The Internet Consortium for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) http://www.icann.org, the organization charged by the U.S. Department of Commerce to oversee the Internet.

If the name you want already registered under the ".com" extension try to use a slight variation on that name, or think up a new name. You should also consider registering it under ".net" or under another extension such as cc, info, or tv.

REGISTERING A DOMAIN NAME

Now that you have found an available name you will need to register that name. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

Who "owns" a registered domain name? - Legally, you only own a license to use the domain - you do not gain title to it. However, for all practical purposes, the end result is the same. As long as the name has nothing to do with someone else’s trademark or legal right to own the name, you own the domain name that you registered.

Another factor that affects ownership is who is listed as the Administrative Contact for the domain. The administrative contact is the person or group who is authorized to interact on behalf of the domain name registrant. It is strongly recommended that this contact be you or someone from your organization. If you have a website hosting company register your domain name for you, find out if you will be the Administrative Contact. If the hosting company is listed as the Administrative Contact then they could be considered the owner. If you decide to leave that hosting company you may not be able to take your name with you.

Administrative contact information is found by performing a "whois" search. If you find any errors you should immediately contact the company that registered the domain for you.

You can look up your registration information for your domain using a "Whois" Search. "Whois" is a searchable database maintained by the registrar, which contains information about networks, networking organizations, domain names, and the contacts associated with them for respective domains. This can be valuable information and you should always check for accuracy.

Once registered, the domain is usually associated with an active website but this is not always the case.Your domain can be used only for email or held until you create a website. The domain name can be "reserved" or "parked" until needed.

Either way, before a domain can be issued it must be programmed into at least two computers which are known as name servers which act as directories that tell Internet users where the web space is precisely located on the Internet.

Your domain name is the Internet address of your virtual real estate. Hopefully these tips will help answer some of your questions and give people an easy way to find you.

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