The reason the issue of names has become so important has a lot to do with the peculiarities of cyberspace. Since cyberspace has no place, a business or person s domain name not only represents their identity but also their location. In a very real sense, if you are an e-business, you only exist through your name. From a technical standpoint, the important part of any domain name is not the name itself but the number to which it corresponds. This unique location number is the actual web address.
Most people have a hard time remembering numbers.
So, long before anyone thought the Internet was going to become the powerful economic force it is, the DNS system was devised to allow for easy to remember names to be assigned to these numbers. Now, NSF has indicated that it wishes to divorce itself from the DNS business and turn the system over to the private sector. Any new system must also ensure that competition can flourish, improving service and reducing prices. Returning to Shakespeare, everyone knows the ultimate price the young Montague and Capulet lovers were forced to pay for their names. I am hopeful that the discussion stemming from today s hearing will help ensure that individuals and business can pay substantially less for their Internet names in the future.