About Domain Names

Marketing mumbo-jumbo Sometimes you will hear marketing people say ``Web address.'' The correct term is domain name. Marketing people sometimes say ``address extension.'' The correct term is top level domain name.

A domain name of your own makes your Web pages easier to find. It also lets you create email addresses. If you follow the instructions on this page, your Web site and email will work as soon as your registration goes through, often overnight.

Choosing a name

Use the ``telephone test.'' A name should be so easy to say and spell that if you use it in a telephone conversation the other person will get it right. Avoid spellings that are not obvious. Avoid specifics like years or offices, that become useless on a certain date. Do not choose a name with multiple possible spellings and then try to register all variations. Avoid using the digit 4 to represent the word FOR; it fails the telephone test.

A Green candidate should register GREENJANESMITH.ORG, not JANE4ASSEMBLY2002.ORG.

An effort to democratize the DNS was crushed.

Registrars and registrants

Top level domain names (such as com and org) belong to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It accredits domain name registrars to create and rent second level domain names (such as consume.com and essential.org; notice the one dot) to organizations and individuals.

(The Registrar's Web sites and the media always say the Registrar "sells" the name, but it seems to me it's a rental agreement. The "owner" pays the Registrar to mention his name servers to the Master Registry of known name servers and remember to do it again as needed during the year.)

These renters are called registrants. There are many accredited registrars.

We've had good results with registrars GANDI, GKG, and 007 Names. We've had bad experiences with these registrars to avoid.

A registrant (such as Green Party of California) is allowed to create third level domain names. Most registrants create third level domain names such as www and mail, and maybe smtp and pop. Here in California we defined one we could put on literature for our slate of candidates. Notice the two dots in vote.cagreens.org.

Name service

Each server on the Internet is given a number. It's called that server's "IP address." When your browser tries to open something like http://www.example.org, it begins by asking a local ``name server'' for the IP address that has been to assigned to the name www.example.org.

(How it works.) (spec)

The local name server is part of a global network of name servers and they eventually consult a name server controlled by the owner of that name, which gives the answer and the network forwards it back to your browser.

To get an idea what that means, you can try my name server. Click the button: Or, delete the people.yahoo.com and type some other domain name in the box, then click the button.

Most companies that do Web service do name service, too. The name server that's responsible for your second level domain name is said to be authoritative for your zone. For example, the computers mentioned in the table below are authoritative for the greens.org zone.

More mumbo-jumbo A Registrar might say "primary name server." They mean "master." They might say "secondary." They mean "slave."

Some registrars want to sell you name service. In most cases you should get master name service from your Web host. If your registrar offers free slave name service, take it.

Free slave name service: Zoneedit (It's hidden in the advanced settings.), Secondary.com, and The Public DNS.
$20 one time: MyDynDNS Secondary DNS.

What to tell your registrar

When you register a second level domain name, the registrar will ask you what name servers to use. If your Web pages will be here, you should use mine. Then I will be able to create third level domain names for you easily.



server's name	server's IP address
CESARCHAVEZ.CAGREENS.ORG	207.111.216.210
AMYBIEHL.GREENS.ORG	66.159.220.136

Please do not buy ``Web forwarding'' or name service from your Registrar if you do not understand exactly what those services do. If you buy them, you will be responsible for your own name service. In that case, read the section below, ``What if you don't want my name service.''

What to tell your Registrar about me:

• GANDI: My ID is CS383-GANDI. Use that for Technical Contact. You will have to create a new ID for your Administrative and Billing Contacts.
• Verisign, aka Network Solutions Inc.: My NIC Handle (for your Technical Contact) is CS774. Warning!
• Register.com or other registrars: Spitzer, Cameron cls@truffula.sj.ca.us
Green Internet Society
1141 Jonesport CT
San Jose, CA 95131
408.929.7601

Choosing a contact address

The contact addresses (Registrant and Admin Contact) have proven to be the weak link in the security chain. If you can't receive mail at your contact address, you lose control of your domain. Servers come and go. IP numbers change. That gung-ho ``geek'' who showed up at your meeting and took on all computer-related work can disappear just as quickly. You have to be able to change your DN server info. If you can't, and your DN servers move, your domain stops working. If your Admin contact person turns hostile, [s]he can hijack your domain. For your registrant address, use your group's post office box if you're sure it won't change for years to come. Otherwise choose a reliable person in your group and give her or his street address. For admin contact, it is best not to use a ``free'' mailbox provider. Hotmail may terminate your account arbitrarily without reason or notice. Mail.com, Excite, and Yahoo are not much better. Use an address you expect will be stable for years to come.

When you're finished with a domain name

Don't just abandon it. If it's got a woman's first name in it, the day it becomes available the porn operators will grab it. They're counting on any links your site may have earned to bring them accidental traffic. There will be Green Web pages with links to porno sites with your name on them.

If the name is truly useless, log into your Registrar account and do the Registrar's procedure for terminating a domain name registration. Then (here's where the Key Value of ``Personal Responsibility'' comes in) do a thorough Web search for links to your now-useless name. Notify every Web author that the link is no good.

If there is any chance the name you have registered will continue to be valuable to progressive organizers, keep it alive! Transfer it to a cheap registrar (see above) and find someone to adopt it. Whatever you do, don't just walk away and let the contact info go bad.

What about the .WS top-level domain?

It stands for Western Samoa. The government of Samoa says it stands for ``Web Site'' and promotes it as an alternative to .com or .org. The only registrar for .WS is SamoaNIC which is just another Verisign storefront. The big commercial registrars resell .WS names also. If you register with SamoaNIC and use my name service, your technical contact is clssamoa. Please do not register .WS domains. There are no good registrars. There is no good Whois service.

What if you don't want my name service

Cases may arise where you want to use a domain name that someone else serves.

Suppose, for example, that you're the Dean of Eclectic Studies at Exact Middle Pleat University. The school's Gothic Information Services (GIS) department administers the DNS zone EXAMPLE.EDU and they have agreed to let you locate VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU with me, but they refused to delegate it to me as a DNS zone of its own. That is, they will run your DNS and I will run your Web and mail servers.

Ask them to install the following Resource Records:


name	class	type	value
VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU.	IN	A	207.111.216.214
WWW.VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU.	IN	CNAME	VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU.
VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU.	IN	MX	10 VERDES.EXAMPLE.EDU.

Troubleshooting your DNS with the host command.

Avoiding second-level domain names

Does your project really need its own second-level domain name? Would http://vote.greens.org/yourcandidate work? How about yourlocal.txgreens.org? Does your state's Green Party have a second-level name? Consider asking them for a third level name under it.

The ".USA domain" is a scam.