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by peterwwillis 3124 days ago
> What entitles any of us to use that domain?

You're right. I didn't pay for it, so I'm not entitled to get to use it.

Just because there is only one internet, and only one top level domain namespace, and just because I don't have $150,000, does not entitle me to get to use some part of the internet in the same way as a single corporation with a lot of money.

What entitles anyone to use the internet? I don't pay for the root name servers. I don't pay for peering transit. I don't pay for core routers.

I guess your point must be that corporations [and nations] should use their money and influence to acquire large chunks of the internet and screw with it in any way that they possibly can. And we should not care, because we are not entitled to it.
1 comments
mindcrime 3124 days ago
You're right. I didn't pay for it, so I'm not entitled to get to use it.

Correct. So what was the point of the rest of your nonsensical rambling? Or do you have some other explanation of why you're entitled to you use that specific tld namespace? You can't just use arbitrary domains that you don't own, why should tld's be any different especially given the advent of gtld's which radically expanded the namespace?

You're also ignoring that that that you can still use .dev. The case where Google's ownership of it prevents you from using it (for internal use anyway) is a very specific, limited scenario.

does not entitle me to get to use some part of the internet in the same way as a single corporation with a lot of money

Nothing about this prevents you from using any part of the Internet. At worst it restricts, ever so slightly, the way you can name your resources. But there have always been restrictions on how you can name your resources.

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peterwwillis 3124 days ago
The taking of a gTLD for private use simply to associate an entire generic concept with a single corporation is an abuse of the public's interest in top-level domains to be used to navigate resource on the world wide web.

The Chairman of ICANN said at the creation of gTLDs: "Today's decision will usher in a new internet age. We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration. Unless there is a good reason to restrain it, innovation should be allowed to run free."

Taking the entire ".DEV" TLD for a single corporation, as if Google is the only development corporation in the world, is not providing a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration. Potentially millions of users of this TLD no longer have the option.

I am not the only person who feels this way: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/13/google_developer_gt...

Google also tried to take ".BLOG", for sole use by its Blogger platform. Luckily they were outbid.

When Amazon proposed it taking the ".BOOK" TLD, publishers objected because, duh, this would be a hugely unfair attack on book publishers, sellers, and authors.

On top of the above, Google broke private use of the TLD for literally everyone who wasn't using TLS (and not just for domains Google registers in the TLD), but I'm sure lots of people simply don't care when Google does dick things, so nevermind that.

My position is that a corporation should not be able to stifle free and fair use of the internet. It's not about entitlement, it's about the fact that the internet is a global economic engine intended to be used by everyone, and not just exclusive corporations with money and influence.

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