So the ICANN people are discussing a major overhaul of the Internet in Paris today. I can't say I'm all that delighted.
The thing about the Internet is that it basically works. If you can read this it's because I'm able, from London, to type in www.daniweb.com and follow the links in to submit my blog. It just works.
Unfortunately, expanding the web and the domain names available will make it easier to make a mistake or to overlook a registration if you're establishing your identity on the Net. Six years ago PriceWaterhouseCoopers rebranded itself - ludicrously - as Monday. It set up a website, introducingmonday.com. It forgot to register introducingmonday.co.uk. It's no longer there, but a group of comedians called B3ta bought the .co.uk address and put an animation of two fingers up there, with a song that went 'We've got your name, la la la, everybody knows, we've got your name...'
It was of course a stroke of genius (particularly the bit with the donkey) and it was foolish of PWC to miss a domain for a country in which it operated. Now we have other domains - .eu, .biz and others, and registering for all of these will cost more and take more time to administer particularly if you're a small business.
I'm guessing there will be a load more oversights, overlaps and problems caused by these new names. It's not going to be pretty if the vote goes the way I suspect it will. I'll report back when the results are available.