RE: Thoughts on top-level domains, esp. .mobi

Given that the current top level domains already consist of non
mutually-exclusive sets, I don't see why the TAG should get exercised about
the issue at all.

Either we re-engineer from the bottom: but no-one is going to stop the world
while we get off and fix it; or we accept that there is no coherent taxonomy
from a single root, and it's thus a free-for-all.

Sorry for sounding cynical, but it's a bit late in the day. The best you can
ask for is damage-limitation and some valid "useful" criteria for accepting
or rejecting new proposals

Peter Brown

| -----Original Message-----
| From: www-tag-request@w3.org [mailto:www-tag-request@w3.org] 
| On Behalf Of Bullard, Claude L (Len)
| Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 1:47 PM
| To: 'Tim Berners-Lee'; 'www-tag@w3.org'
| Subject: RE: Thoughts on top-level domains, esp. .mobi
| 
| 
| While agreeing in whole to the position that it is actively 
| harmful to divide web addressing into device-centric domains, 
| the comment
| 
| .."it is unwise, as an architectural principle, to put 
| semantics into names"
| 
| is a little over the top if considered outside the context of 
| web naming which it is assumed, subsumes 
| any namespace used on the web (the tree model).   In contrast to 
| trademarks as brands, service or test marks are created 
| precisely to assign semantics to a name typically through the 
| pairing of the mark with conformance tests that prove that 
| the test article is a conformant instance.  In such an 
| application of a name, a tight coupling of semantics and a 
| name is the precise intent.  Were service marks a tree 
| system, one would encounter the problems you note.
| 
| Good article.
| 
| len
| 
| 
| From: Tim Berners-Lee [mailto:timbl@w3.org]
| 
| In writing up some problems as I see them with the proposed 
| .mobi top level domain, I found i had half the document full 
| of general reasons why new domains are a bad idea, which 
| would apply to many if not all of the new proposals, and the 
| other half specific problems with .mobi.
| 
| The writeup is at http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/TLD
| 
| Comments welcome -- I intend to send it to the formal comment 
| list next week.
| This is a personal view only.  It is not a W3c view.  I would 
| recommend that others also send their feelings to the official list.
| 
| 
| Tim Berners-Lee
| 
| 
| ICANN Public comment form:
| 	
| http://www.icann.org/tlds/stld-apps-19mar04/stld-public-comments.htm
| 
| RFP:
| 	http://www.icann.org/tlds/new-stld-rfp/new-stld-rfp-24jun03.htm
| 
| General comments:
| 	stld-rfp-general@icann.org
| 
|

Received on Thursday, 6 May 2004 05:34:20 UTC