Could SSID's become as valuable as domain names?

[Magicpig2]

Has anyone come across The Wireless Registry yet? It's basically the Godaddy of wireless names, or SSID's, the names you give your devices, eg; phones, wifi routers, tablets etc.
It launched a week or so ago off the back of Internet of Things and allows you to register your SSID before someone else does. Because it's new, hardly anybody has used it, meaning there's thousands of prime keywords, numbers, letters, etc that are still available. The company think that billions of devices could eventually be registered with them, and who knows, possibly become as valuable as domain names, especially when there aren't going to be hundreds of extensions attached to each name!
Anyway, as a domainer, it's tempting to think this is an untapped goldmine all for the taking, so see what you think

 

[AEProgram]

whats the cost etc?

 

[Paul]

ESSIDs--what people normally talk about when they say SSID--don't have to be unique, and rarely are. In fact, the only way to create a large wireless network is to not have a unique ESSID. For example, I have three access points at my house advertising the same ESSID.

BSSIDs are unique, but they are hexadecimal and therefore not human friendly. Each access point needs its own BSSID.

---------- Post added at 05:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:50 PM ----------

Also, I find it very unlikely that the Wi-Fi Alliance will ever humor anything remotely as centralized as DNS. They're all for freedom and zero fees for end users. So basically, what we have here is a scam, unfortunately.

 

[Magicpig2]

whats the cost etc?

It's $5 per name per year and free for the first 12 months although the more email addresses you own the more free registrations you can make :cy:

---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:13 PM ----------

Also, I find it very unlikely that the Wi-Fi Alliance will ever humor anything remotely as centralized as DNS. They're all for freedom and zero fees for end users. So basically, what we have here is a scam, unfortunately.

I don't think it's a scam, the co founders have both been promoting The Wireless Registry and there's quite a lot of reading material available etc. The question is if it'll be successful or not. To register a bunch of names for free and keep them for 12 months to see if it grows or not makes sense to me, as I'd hate to miss this boat should it set sail...

 

[Paul]

How is it not a scam? Go register a name, then tell me what it is, and I'll use it as my SSID--and there's nothing this company can do about it.

And what co-founders? The Wi-Fi Alliance has no co-founders. It was founded by a group of established networking companies like Cisco and 3Com.

 

[Paul]

Looks like Raymond Hackney either fell for it, or worse.

 

[equity78]

I didn't fall for anything, we post news articles, about tech and other things related.

I think this was my comment in the post, "It seems a bit of a stretch to think there would be any real demand for the “DNS of Things”"

So not quite.

I would say the investors may have fell for it,

The Wireless Registry received $1.12M in Debt funding. (12/27/13)
Posted 12/29/13 at 9:55pm via sec.gov
Dollar
The Wireless Registry received $850k in Seed funding. (10/15/13)
Posted 11/7/13 at 12:22pm

Read more: http://crunchbase.com/company/the-wireless-registry#ixzz2rZdaFEMx

 

[Paul]

Hehe true, the investors definitely fell for it. Although, it could be profitable; most people don't know enough about Wi-Fi to avoid getting caught by something like this.

Theoretically, there isn't anything to stop an ISP from splitting off of the central DNS system and starting its own, so I suppose it's comparable; DNS did start out this way. However, there's been a lot of emphasis in the networking industry on not repeating the mistakes of DNS, so I think it's unlikely. That being said, a lot of people could make a lot of money selling an idea.

Sorry, Raymond, I'm normally a fan of your concise posts; I wasn't happy to see you make a post with giant links to something I had just called a scam.

 

[Magicpig2]

Anyway, I've been able to register numbers and letters and a host of other names that if were.com's, would make me wealthier than Rick Schwartz :cy:

PS. For these names to work, everybody would have to download the Wireless Registry app so the device can be read correctly, hence they're going to have to succeed enormously for it to gain any traction.

There's an informative interview with one of the founders of the Wireless Registry. Begins at 25:37.

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/21/does-your-coffee-machine-need-its-own-domain-name/

 

[Kate]

I don't see the point of it. Besides, any Internet-enabled device can be assigned a DNS name
That's right, all you need is a domain name, you create a host name of your choice and you have a nice and unique idenfier :gl:

This thing looks almost as useful as .tel perhaps.

As long as people fall for it, they are winning.
Pssttt... Wanna buy an acre of the Moon ? Cheap :]

 

[Magicpig2]

I don't see the point of it. Besides, any Internet-enabled device can be assigned a DNS name
That's right, all you need is a domain name, you create a host name of your choice and you have a nice and unique idenfier :gl:

I suppose the idea is that with the Internet of Things, and with billions of devices connected and communicating with eachother, and ultimately you, the marketing potential alone is huge. Rather than domain names being static addresses that you have to reach out to access, the SSID's of companies and businesses selling products and services would have direct access to you, your tastes, spending habits, favorite activities,etc. There's already talk of public transport becoming free if you opt in to recieving adverts on your phone, tablet, smartwatch or google glasses. SSID's would become essential in reaching you and you detecting them.

PS. Until yesterday, numbers from 14 upwards were available. Someone has now registered 14 to 30. It's the first time in a few days I've seen anything else get registered.

PPS. This is my 100th post :blink:

 

[Paul]

And what's to keep me from using your SSID, magicpig2?

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

I did sign up for a free name (I did NOT have to hand over my cc number, and I wouldn't have done it anyway), but now that I better understand how this works, I tend to agree with Paul Buonopane that this is probably not a very useful registry. But calling it a scam seems a bit strong.

And I wouldn't exactly diss Raymond Hackney for posting a news story; it's not like he was pumping it, just reporting on it.



*

 

[Paul]

Yeah, I was a tad harsh. To someone who's certified in networking, though, it's like telling people to jump off a cliff.

 

[Magicpig2]

And what's to keep me from using your SSID, magicpig2?

Absolutely nothing, but if this registry takes off and it gets businesses and companies on board, then potentially I'd be able to sell some of the premium names and numbers that I've been able to register.

As I posted earlier, the registering of names is free to do, so why not sit on them for a year and see how it develops until then?

 

[JayJay]

As I posted earlier, the registering of names is free to do, so why not sit on them for a year and see how it develops until then?

Agreed, no harm in trying, alot of things have seemed ridiculous in the past and turned out worthwhile. Grabbed a few myself today as did a few other long time NP'ers.

 

[Magicpig2]

If it does take off, The Wireless Registry should create a resellers marketplace along the lines of Sedo...

 

[DomainGnome]

This seems about as useful as the International Star Registry, but without the pretty frameable certificate. I wonder if they will publish your name in a book called “Your Place in the Gizmos”?

 

[Magicpig2]

The Wireless Registry is included as one of the '21 Technologies That Will Decentralize The World'.

http://www.shareable.net/blog/21-technologies-that-will-decentralize-the-world

 

[JayJay]

Co-founder of The Wireless Registry's patent, makes it a bit more interesting to me anyways:

http://1.usa.gov/1c1eXv7