YouTube Moves On To Blocking All Music Videos In The UK

Why Is Al Gore Supporting A .Eco Top-Level Domain

from the can-we-get-serious? dept

Tue, Mar 10th 2009 5:34am — Kevin Donovan

Considering he invented the thing, it's weird that Al Gore is supporting an initiative that would only add confusion and expense to the Internet. Gore and his Alliance for Climate Protection are publicly endorsing a new effort to create .eco, a new top-level domain for individuals and corporations to "signal their interest in joining a global ecological movement that promotes nonpartisan change." Profits from the initiative, for which Dot Eco LLC is currently lobbying ICANN, at their meeting in Mexico, would help fund environmental research.

While the goal is laudatory, the method is just silly. Instead of digital posturing, there are a host of other established, effective organizations and ways that companies and individuals can help protect the environment. A .eco TLD is not necessary to demonstrate support for the environment, it just adds another cost for companies and confuses users.

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Filed Under: al gore, eco, tld

27 Comments

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R. Miles, 10 Mar 2009 @ 5:43am

Let him have his wish!
Then, the rest of us can fight for a .dumbass TLD for every politician who takes office.

algore@hisemail.dumbass

Nice, eh?
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R. Miles, 10 Mar 2009 @ 5:43am

Re: Let him have his wish!
Um, didn't realize the email address would turn to a link.

It's not real, people, so don't click it.
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Bill, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:09am

This is off topic but related to the post itself. When pronouncing .eco do you say dot eco or just eco? I'm wondering about the use of a/an here. I read this as dot eco which would require the use of "a", but I can see where some might shortcut and pronounce this as just eco where "an" is appropriate.
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Ima Fish, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:14am

Re:
I'd probably write "a .eco". But I'm not a grammar nazi, so I'll say noting more.
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Dan, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:26am

I call www.zyd.eco
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Bill, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:49am

Re: Re:
I hear ya. I'm not typically a grammar nazi myself, which is a good thing, because when my grammar doesn't suck it's often by accident.

I just wondered here because the title read incorrect to me, and I figured this Internet thing is getting popular to write about so maybe I should learn proper usage.
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jonnyq, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:54am

Like "carbon credits", it's just another way to profit from "green", and that's Gore's primary concern. There's money to be had.
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Jackie, 10 Mar 2009 @ 6:54am

Al Gore
Al Gore is an Idoit... nuf said
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Peet McKimmie (profile), 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:05am

Re: Re: Re:
The only news report I've seen this on (Naked News!) spelled it out as in "dot-e-c-o"...
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harknell, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:11am

Does anyone use anything but .com?
Come on, really, when was the last time anyone ever used anything but .com? In some cases .org is where you might look for a site based on an open source program, or a genuine non-profit company.....but really, when has anyone ever typed in a non .com address hoping to find a company?

.mobi, .tv, .xxx, .whateverthehell, .etc..... All of the alts (or proposed ones) are just excuses for people not being creative. No matter how many times people complain that all of the "good" .com's are gone, I still see a ton of new ones all the time that are brand new and work fine. Language is flexible, you just need to work it.

So yet another useless extension to add to the list
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Overcast, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:19am

Just more BS to try to get attention to himself and his axe to grind. Anything that can net a bit more cash to support the fuel for his jets and limos... along with flying to and fro everywhere to save the world from the Carbon Dioxide that plants need to survive, I guess?

Still .XXX would be much more useful.

How about a .BS top level domain for all this Eco-Crap?
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:43am

porn.eco
Environmentally serving your pornography needs since 2009. Seriously though...what an idiot.

I wish he would just go away. I fully support environmental causes, but I don't believe Al Gore's nomination of himself as king in this area is any more than him being self-righteous and trying to be perceived as important.
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ehrichweiss, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:48am

Re: Does anyone use anything but .com?
No, you're missing the big picture with the domain names but at the same time so are the people who are trying to make the TLD's.

Let's say that you run Smith Bakery. Now find a domain name for it.
Smith.com-taken
SmithBakery.com-taken
SmithBakeryonline.com-taken
mysmithbakery.com-taken
mysmithbakeryonline.com-taken
myonlinsmithbakery.com-taken
onlinesmithbakery.com-taken
Do I have to go on?

It's not about a unique name, it's about using YOUR name so you might be more apt to use a .org, .net or .co.uk if it means keeping your name. If you're not already aware, a domain name that reflects your actual business name gets you higher ranking in Google than some generic BS you had to dream up because you found every iteration of your name was already taken.

That said, the idea of the domain name as an identifier is going to have to go out the window because there is a significant number of similarly named businesses that it would be impossible to differentiate from them all. I believe there is a "Hobby Lobby" and a "Hobby-Lobby", both different businesses but only one of them deals in actual hobbies like R/C airplanes, the other is more into arts and crafts. How many AAA Muffler shops do you think there are in the US?

And for the record, I don't type in the names of any website that I haven't been to previously. I do this because domain name squatters(who have eaten up the .com namespace that you seem to be in love with) will more often than not be sitting on it and each hit to them is another reason to keep ahold of the name. It's better to google the name and let it find it for you. And when you do that, you don't care about .com or .net or .eco anyway.
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ehrichweiss, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:51am

Re:
Agreed. .XXX would be very useful; too bad the Puritans seem hellbent on stopping it. "It'd only legitimize porn and make it more prevalent on the internet".....as if you could make porn "more prevalent" on the net; but you could at least make it easier to find and easier to filter.
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Yakko Warner, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:51am

Re:
Can I have artd.eco?
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Yakko Warner, 10 Mar 2009 @ 7:58am

Re: Re:
Actually, I thought the "Puritans" (to use your word) wanted it in order to segregate sex from the rest of the internet, and the argument against it is because it just won't work, porn sites aren't going to voluntarily (since it would be voluntary -- there could and would be no mandate) give up their .com addresses (especially the typo-squatted ones) and march off to some designated "red light district" like good little boys and girls.
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Fushta, 10 Mar 2009 @ 8:07am

Re: Re: Does anyone use anything but .com?
I think the original blog post's meaning is something different than you itterate above.

Let's say Ford own's Ford.com (obviously). Now, Al Gore comes up with the .eco domain. Ford wants to appear environmentally-friendly, right? So, they buy the Ford.eco domain name, and pay for it. Where does that money go? Into Al Gore's pocket (so to speak).

Let's say Ford says, "We've got enough problems. Let's not spend money on that domain name." Then Al Gore's thugs come along and say, "Hey everybody. Look at Ford. They don't have a .eco domain name. They must hate the environment. Shame on them." That very same day, Ford buys the Ford.eco domain name...unless a squatter already bought it, in which Ford would have to pay 10x the amount it would've normally cost.

Off-Topic: Also, did you know that Al Gore didn't just create the Internet? He also created Mathematics. You know...the "AlGore-ithm"
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 8:15am

Yeah, that's real confusing. You mean I would have to type .eco instead of .com? Or .edu? This internets is to cufusin.
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AZITDad, 10 Mar 2009 @ 8:17am

Not the dumbest thing I've heard...
... but it's in the top ten.

Seriously, when have the democrats ever made sense, especially the golden boy, Al?

I always laugh when Global Warming conferences are postponed due to snow.
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R. Miles, 10 Mar 2009 @ 8:40am

Re: Does anyone use anything but .com?
are just excuses for people not being creative.
I'm sorry, but I must strongly disagree.

Recently, I acquired a domain name that fit my "creativity" except for one thing: my original idea was already taken by a "site parker".

This is the biggest problem with the web, and that is people who buy domains and park them hoping to cash in.

Trying to be creative is getting much more difficult to do, often times creating a domain name that's so far off the mark, people will have a hard time finding it (or remembering it).

This doesn't even include legitimate domain names already taken by those who creatively thought of the idea first.

I would love to see a ".pnl" TLD for "personal" web sites. To me, ".com" screams business and I would definitely want my website separated from the notion I'm running a business.

But that's just me. Feel free to disagree.
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steve, 10 Mar 2009 @ 8:53am

Re: Re: Does anyone use anything but .com?
Nameofcitysmithbakery.com most likely available, unless the Smith Bakery across the street took it.

http://www.montereysmithbakery.com/
http://www.smithbakerymonterey.com/
http://www.smithbak erysanfrancisco.com/
http://www.smithbakerynewyork.com/

and so on. You just need to think, I haven't even finished my coffee yet and I came up with that. Even though I know I'm a genius, I still surprise myself from time to time.
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JMB, 10 Mar 2009 @ 9:03am

who does this harm?
seriously? who cares? No one looks at the address bar anymore anyway. Nor cares what it says. You just type what you are looking for into Google and click the link. And those that might actually be confused by a different TLD are already confused by using the address bar in the first place. So claiming a Company without a .eco domain is not environmentally friendly holds no water. The majority never looks at the text in the address bar.

Any new TLD is welcome if you ask me. It won't be long before URLS and DNS are thrown away for some sort of unique identifier that is based on content searches or something else.
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Whisk33, 10 Mar 2009 @ 9:14am

Re: Re: Does anyone use anything but .com?
Only one of your examples are actually taken. One other is a site parker... Not a very good example to prove your point since you just made 5 (or 6) available domain names...

There are times when the creativity and uniqueness of a companies name will facilitate in its distinction or its animosity. This is inherent of all business and something that will happen when you open your pool of business to the area/country/world. .eco domain will not assist in this though as with the ford example, companies will be required to obtain two domains opposed to one.

But then again when do politicians ever do anything that makes the business world run more efficiently?
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Mar 2009 @ 10:19am

Re: who does this harm?
You're forgetting emails.

How many NDRs are due to people confusing .edu w/ .com w/ .net, etc...

I'd have to check one of my mail servers, but I'm willing to bet there are quite a few.
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Droslovinia, 10 Mar 2009 @ 10:48am

Thanks JMB
I read through all the comments wondering why this is such a big deal. Once you remove the comments of the haters who would bad-mouth Al if he found a way to go to each of their houses and hand them $50,000, there doesn't seem to be a lot here.

This is a non-issue, so go back to listening to Rush and the rest of us can all move on to something else.
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Al Gore, 10 Mar 2009 @ 11:14am

Re: Thanks JMB
Wow, Droslovinia, such insight for a 'non-hater'. Why don't you go hug a tree.

By the way, I'm not really Al Gore. It's a joke.
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Alphonse Goreholio, 18 Mar 2009 @ 4:51am

I'm a big fat sweaty hipocrate
Why anyone listens to my D student ass is a mystery but keep buying my books and showing my stupid movie to the kiddies.
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