by Wade Roush, Technology Review
Modern societies depend on systems of unique identifiers. If you’re a U.S. citizen, for example, it’s vital that your Social Security number be yours alone, or somebody else could start picking up your checks after you retire. Similarly, it’s crucial that no two phones have the same number, no two neighborhoods have the same zip code, and no two products at the supermarket have the same bar code. When an address system expands—say, when the phone companies introduce a new area code—it’s almost always because the community of users has outgrown the existing scheme; it means that the old identifiers either are in short supply or aren’t specific enough. But that’s not what’s prompting a huge expansion of Internet domains right now. This expansion isn’t happening because we’re running out of unique Web addresses under the existing set of gTLDs. Far from it. It’s happening because the body in charge of these things—the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN—thought it would be fun and profitable.
http://www.technologyreview.com/review/428911/icanns-boondoggle/
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