Patent ID: 7099956

Claim:
A method for assigning domain names configured according to a domain name system, each domain name including a user selected subdomain label to the left of a fully-qualified domain name, the method comprising: obtaining fully-qualified domain names associated with different corresponding host IP addresses in resource records of domain name servers from a plurality of domain name holders; communicating with the domain name servers to effect reassignment of name service records for the fully-qualified domain names, whereby the fully-qualified domain names are pointed to at least one IP address of a subdomain management system; maintaining a database of subdomain labels for the fully-qualified domain names, wherein each subdomain label is not associated with an IP address in the name service records, the database accessible by the subdomain management system and relating each subdomain label to a user-determinable address for content and to at least one of the fully-qualified domain names; and providing an interface interoperable with the database to relate user selected subdomain labels with user selected ones of the fully-qualified domain names to provide domain names, each domain name comprising a fully-qualified domain name and at least one subdomain label to the left of the fully-qualified domain name, wherein the subdomain management system is a separate entity from the domain name owners and the user.