Charging For The Interwebs
20 Jun 2011One of the most wonderful things about the web and open source are that all you need is a computer, an Internet connection, a domain name and a text editor and you can host your own website. The Internet is a great equaliser - a teenager in his/her bedroom truly can reach out to the world with a service that is every bit as good as those created by billion-dollar companies and maybe better.
Until now.
In their infinite wisdom ICANN has enabled custom TLDs from $185,000 plus $25,000 per annum.
Needless to say, this limits their availability only to large companies. No longer is there a level playing field - large companies can pay for a TLD that is simply not available to smaller companies, organisations or individuals.
Does this matter? Well I don’t know for certain, but this is the first time that part of the Internet has been closed off to the rest of us, and it just doesn’t feel right to me.