[dogleash]

>I know HackerNews thinks gail.com is really clever/cool, but imagine if every single domain was like this.

Most domains already are. If it's not one lucky Gail, it's a random sub-sub-brand of a corporate behemoth who got there first, and all the content served from the domain amounts to nothing more than an advertisement flyer (or a 302 to the parent company). In the grand scheme of things, Gail's domain is probably the preferable allocation.

But these conversations are boring. I don't think there's any method for good allocation of the domain space. And anyone who defines commercial activity as a proxy for measuring good use of a domain has already decided the allocation scheme they prefer.

[floverfelt]

What's the alternative if not based on commercial activity? Lottery?

[dogleash]

Not what I’m saying. There’s two separate ideas in that paragraph. 1) allocation strategy and 2) measuring success of an allocation strategy.

Our first-come with modest renewal + transferable + UDRP is a strategy. Complaining that someone ought not to have a certain domain based on their use is based, at least implicitly, on a measurement.

[floverfelt]

Yeah fair point.