CrankyRants.com

The U.S. Commerce Department and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have renewed their contract for ICANN to operate the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) function for five more years.

This means that authority over the Web’s domain names will remain under U.S. control until 2011. Various non-U.S. countries and interests had campaigned to place the control with an international organization like the United Nations or with private corporate interests.

There are plenty of opinions about the U.S. pushing their views on the world through this authority. Look no further than the demise of the .xxx extensions… not that I would have taken part or admitted to doing so. But Cranky.xxx would have had a nice ring to it.

On the whole the decision isn’t a huge surprise. And the threats by some European Nations to simply host an alternate name server network are just plain dumb. But as the online economy continues to engulf larger chunks of the global economy, expect the issue to become more heated and much more difficult to resolve 5 years from now.

BIS provides background checks to employers globally.

As we wallow through the age of “Dot Com Is Already Taken”… you have to marvel at the creativity of some web site owners. For those with deep pockets, it’s no problem at all to drop a few figures at Sedo and get what you really want. For those without the means, i.e… the rest of us… we’re left to fend for ourselves.

Take Dogs for instance. Hundreds of thousands of sites out there currently sling their dog collars and dog chains and little doggie dinners at us from just about every pet site name under the sun. After the obvious names are gone, how is an honest person supposed to manage their pet product sales and get a name out there that will float to the top of people’s hearts and minds? Simple… you make it cute, catchy, and long-lasting. You make it PoopyPuppies.com. 

Love this name! I was very pleased a few months back with an unusual and catchy name for a pet site tailored towards crazy pet people, which wouldn’t take a combo rocket scientist/veterinarian to figure out. But PoopyPuppies beats me out hands down. Practically markets itself, though runs the risk of attracting a somewhat “unwanted” crowd looking for actual photos of the topic. You know who you are.

Need to start a new section here simply calling attention to “out there but brilliant” domain names. Everyone has one they’re proud of. Send ‘em if ya got ‘em.