Aggravating the supply problem is the growing practice of obtaining myriad domain names. Cybersquatters are people who simply register lots of names. They are potentially innocent. Cyberpirates, though, buy up domain names with the intention of selling the names. But motives for registering multiple names aren't necessarily sinister.
Many organizations now see the practice as a protective strategy.
Another problem is that domain names have often been at odds with registered service marks and trademarks. Recently, the group adopted a dispute resolution policy meant as a compromise between proposals from the new domain name registrars and the World Intellectual Property Organization. A few possible new top-level domain names include .rec, .store for merchants and .web for Web emphasis as well as .sex for pornographic sites. Emigh is a freelance writer in Boston. Computerworld Inc. All rights reserved.