What's in a name?
A CS201 project by Eric Albert, Yu Ping Hu, Nina Kim, Brandon Salmon, and Philip Shilane

Abstract

Consumers expect domain names to match names in the real world. For example, people will immediately recognize that whitehouse.gov belongs to the White House in Washington, DC. However, domain names with minor spelling differences can lead to sites with vastly different content. The domain whitehouse.com is not at all associated with the White House, but is in fact a pornography site. The domain naming system currently allows people to register any name not currently in use, even if the new name will lead to such confusions. Companies violate each other's trademarks, speculators sell popular domain names to the highest bidders, and businesses steal customers from established sites. This project examines the current naming system, analyzes its benefits and flaws, looks at current and potential developments, and proposes possible modifications.

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Website last modified 16 March 1998