Do you know how important you guys are?

[Simsi]

I was thinking recently, domain hoarding is not good for the global economy, why dont ICANN hoist the reg fees to legislate. But then i stumbled on a domain with a ".pn" (Pitcairn Island) extension from DomainSage's portfolio and did some background work.

Very interesting. A number of these small undeveloped islands and countries have been totally revitalised by the .TLD industry and the volume of registrations has transformed some of these places. As i understand it, the Cocos Island's (.cc) main source of income is now TLD registrations!

Whether we all know it or not, the domaining industry is changing the world's economies and revitalising remote areas. Now isn't that something to ponder?



Simsi

PS. If you like your history (in fact even if you don't), Pitcairn's is fascinating. It is where the mutineers on the Bounty fled under Fletcher Christian. There is a brilliant history of the place here: http://www.government.pn/Pitcairnshistory.htm - you'll need 15 minutes to read it but its a great read.

 

[Sarcle.com]

Yes, and unicode and idns will be next.

 

[TUFKATH]

Very nice information Simsi! I didn't know that but at the same time can't it be bad for the economy?

 

[Simsi]

...but at the same time can't it be bad for the economy?

I'm intrigued Taylor...how do you mean?

 

[TUFKATH]

I'm intrigued Taylor...how do you mean?

I'm an idiot when it comes to economy so I don't have a good idea of what I'm talking about. But I'm sure that if the domain industry didn't exist then the economy would be a bit different. Not saying without the internet because I'm sure there are solutions to that (no domains, just IPs).

 

[Simsi]

I'm an idiot when it comes to economy so I don't have a good idea of what I'm talking about. But I'm sure that if the domain industry didn't exist then the economy would be a bit different. Not saying without the internet because I'm sure there are solutions to that (no domains, just IPs).

Okay i follow that - but how is that bad?

 

[TUFKATH]

Okay i follow that - but how is that bad?

Like I said - I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff. Ask an expert :hehe:.

 

[Simsi]

Like I said - I'm an idiot when it comes to this stuff. Ask an expert :hehe:.

LOL.

 

[khuldun]

Hey nice infromation, btw it will only help boost the economy as far as my knowledge of economics guides me

 

[MCDomains]

It will boost our economy (investments being bought & sold on an open market = A GOOD THING) and the small nations economies that profit from domain regs.

 

[Michelle]

Well I will claim fame for the new street light on the left hand side, just past the tree :hehe:

No really, it is very worthwhile for these countrys income.

 

[davidc]

The main reason why IDN wont work is that ppl still thinks that some letters wont work on the Internet. And then we have the problems and solutions with email and so on.

 

[dgridley]

Nice thought, but for the most part, you won't see the benefits of domain registrations trickle down to the general population. Most of the smaller ccTLDs are handled by third parties not directly related to the governments.. it's big business, not philanthropy, or at least that's my suspicion.

 

[Simsi]

Nice thought, but for the most part, you won't see the benefits of domain registrations trickle down to the general population. Most of the smaller ccTLDs are handled by third parties not directly related to the governments.. it's big business, not philanthropy, or at least that's my suspicion.

That is true in that third parties have to often be appointed. For example, with Pitcairn, they have no Internet access so they have appointed an agent in NZ to handle registrations. The island "government" lobbied ICANN who approved the use of the recommended registrar. In turn, the registrar feeds the money less commission back to the Island government to manage.

 

[Smith]

I was thinking recently, domain hoarding is not good for the global economy,

Can you expand on this initial thought?

For the record I do not agree with you at all, but would be interested in hearing why you feel this way.

 

[Simsi]

Can you expand on this initial thought?

For the record I do not agree with you at all, but would be interested in hearing why you feel this way.

Sure But first i ought to state that my definition of "global" here actually refers to local economies that combine to form the structure of global economy.

Anyway... firstly, my line of thinking was that the low pricing of domains encourages speculators to buy in bulk. In turn, these domains get parked, crudely developed or whatever, but ultimately registered in the SE's. In turn these detract from the genuine services that people find useful, clog up the SERPS and very often just hinder people rather than help. This also means local businesses that employ people, pay taxes and trade among localised economies will contribute less to that economy.

As an aside, a lot of these domains will also, over time, become what the SE's refer to as "bad neighbourhoods", meaning that whoever buys the domain will struggle to re-establish the name with a competitive edge, with similar consequences to the above.

Important to note that I'm not implying this is the case for every domain, merely a generalised side-effect.

Secondly, it can help create a "false economy". A succesful economy, in its most basic form for the sake of this argument, simply cannot sustain itself if you have thousands and thousands people competing in a limited market. You need to have a spread of business through various sectors to provide measured and quantifiable supply and demand. In general, this domain market provides "cheap" materials for speculators but it stands to reason that because of that, the majority of material is effectively worthless, meaning speculators too become prone to losses.

Don't get me wrong here, i think its fine as a hobby, and can work as a business model...thats not in dispute. But there are only so many who can profit substantially. The danger is that people get sucked in and spend their money on worthless goods at the expense of goods that have value and contribute to their local economy.

Pricing domains at say $500 a pop, would benefit everyone. The economy, the speculator and the businesses. It would mean that buying a domain becomes a thought process with a rational approach. Buyers would be far more likley to obtain stock with more value, nurture it more and build a much more attractive proposition. In turn, spam goes down and quality goes up. Invariably, good quality comes at a good price.

I am aware there are many sides to this argument - i'm sure i could argue against it too. But until i started researching Pitcairn, i saw it as very logical. It still is, but the Pitcairn thing has convinced me there are two sides to the coin

Cheers

Simsi

 

[DOMiNIC]

I read recently that the Tuvalu government had constructed the first paved road accross the island with the proceeds of there .tv deal.

 

[Simsi]

I read recently that the Tuvalu government had constructed the first paved road accross the island with the proceeds of there .tv deal.

Yes the same thing just happened here in England too

 

[DOMiNIC]

Yes the same thing just happened here in England too

What!!!, are you saying they have finally removed all the traffic cones from the M25?

 

[Simsi]

What!!!, are you saying they have finally removed all the traffic cones from the M25?

Get Real DOM!

The M25 was supposed to stretch from the Essex Coast to Bristol but the .co.uk "boom" fell away so they turned around and went home, avoiding London The irony is they laid the North side quicker than you can drive round it.