Opening TLD's: More competition or more confusion?

1. US Questions net overhaul plan
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7797206.stm
   
2. Q&A Internet shake-up
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7475279.stm
3. Internet overhaul wins approval
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7475986.stm
   

ICANN will allow private entities to bid for TLD's (top-level domains). This means in addition to the current examples of .com, .net, .biz, .edu, .gov, .uk, .us, .tv, etc., private entities will be able to great other names such as .bank, .hotel, etc.

Alledgedly this will reduce competition for .com domains which are in short supply and selling for ever higher prices. However, I wonder if this proposal will really do this or simply create more competition and more money for ICANN. In addition, I cannot help but believe this move will increase confusion.

If ICANN wants to lower competition for .com's, then only let coporations actually engaged in international business purchase the names. All other entitites should be restricted to country domains (.us, .uk, .jp, etc.). Furthermore, .gov and .edu which are restricted to US government and educational institutions should be under the .us TLD.

Other News

1. Legal Papers Served via Facebook
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7785004.stm
   
2. Music Industry to Abandon Mass Suits
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122966038836021137.html
3. Penny web auctions under scrutiny (Are they gambling?)
   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7793054.stm
4. The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World (Online use trends. What do users want?)
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122884677205091919.html
   

In addition to normal blog posts, I will post a number of entries with only links and no discussion of these links. These will be links that I find interesting and to which I may want to refer in the future.

Pay to Perform?

Google Wants Its Own Fast Track on the Web
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122929270127905065.html

Should entities be able to buy better throughput and increased speeds for their servers? This is essentially the question behind the Net Neutrality idea. Supporters argue that the web should be equally open to everyone. Opponents see know problem with paying for better speed/priority in a queue. Indeed, the more one pays on hardware, software, ISP fees, the better the server and its connection to the Internet, the faster its throughput. Telcomms argue that they ought to be able to compete for some of this money: especially in that they bear the brunt of the cost of maintaining a network that has won other companies so much money. On the other hand, perhaps the Internet should remain a simple network of tubes with equal plumbing for all.

Niche Net

The BBC reported today on efforts to better search results by considering the demographics of the searcher. For example, if the searcher is of a certain ethnicity and searches for a keyword word, the results that other searchers of the same ethnicity found relevant for that keyword will be weighted higher.

The article discusses trying to classify sites in terms of their demographic and mentions the idea of "white" and "black" sites, but can sites really be classified as such? Furthermore, the article states this may segregate and compartmentalize knowledge, and the Internet has been proposed as a social leveler.

Of course, the Internet is not level in demographics of access. Age, economic, and social background all affect who is online. Indeed in some ways, these niches already exist because of language differences. And, perhaps, niche culture is growing online with the use of social networks and blogs. Many may read what their friends find interesting and share.

The current question, however, is should we promote further classification of information by demographic.

The full BBC story is here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7787810.stm

About Me and this Blog

I am 22 years old, and recently graduate from an American liberal arts college with majors in Computer Science, Spanish, and Mathematics, and with minors in Law and Justice and Computational Science. For sometime I have tracked news of the interaction between technology and society on my personal computer and kept notes. I seek now to share my interest in this field with other enthusiasts online. Please participate in the conversation.

I will immediately start posting new stories, but I will also over time add some interesting past stories from this year.

Enjoy,
Scott

Mobile Web

1. Poorer Nations Go Online on Cellphones
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122844530354182063.html
2. MySpace Sets Video for Mobile
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122827284915475015.html

I'm residing in Okinawa, Japan, currently working as an English teacher for the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. The use of cellphones here is absolutely phenominal. They are everywhere and are the primary means many students use to access the Internet. Some high school students have a difficult time operating a mouse, because personal computers simply are not in large spread use here.

I noticed the same trend in Latin America where I lived previously. In the case of Latin America, the wired infastructure was never fully deloped. In addition, I saw many adults using new technologies because the pricing structure encouraged it. In Mexico, for example, adults frequetly text message each other on mobile phones. Indeed, many landline phones have the ability to recieve text messages as well. This seems to be because the cost of texts is so much cheeper than placing voice calls.

New sites are being optimized for mobile devices, and MySpace also announced that mobile browsers of its site will now be able to acess videos (2). Opera is realeasing a new browser for the mobile platform (it did produce a version for the iPhone, but Apple refused to distribute it in its AppStore). The new browser, however, raises privacy concerns in my mind as a central server is used to compress all web traffic. This could potentially enable a greater user-tracking.

Sharing More and Sharing From New Mediums

1. TV+Social Networks:
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122461909287855339.html#video%3D20738B02-F2E2-4539-8209-B5800152582B%26articleTabs%3Darticle
2. Tracking Minutiae: The New Examined Life, Online Statististics
   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122852285532784401.html
3. BBC Click! episode that aired around 8-Dec-2008.

You may now chat with other movie viewers while watching via your BuleRay Internet ready player. In addition, new sites are popping up to help you track everything from food intake to your sex life. You can also create new levels are share them online now using your Sony PlayStation (BBC Click!). Be warned, however, this information may be used by private investigators and the federal government the article warns. The article reports:

In the application for jobs with Mr. Obama's administration, applicants are asked to list all of the social networks that they are involved in and to supply any potentially problematic blog posts from their online past. "All this stuff is creating a huge digital paper trail that could come back and haunt you," says Mr. Soghoian.

Maybe I shouldn't open this blog? I might offend some future employer who chances to read it.