What's in a Web name?

Companies such as General Motors would be able to use their trademarked names on the Web again under a new domain name registration system unveiled by RMI.NET at ISPCon last week in Baltimore.

The noncategorized system, known as Simplified Domains, will allow companies such as GM, John Deere and Holiday Inn to use their proper names as their Web addresses. Currently, those companies and many others cannot use them in their URLs because the rights to do so have been appropriated by others.

"We've searched over the market and don't see anyone else close to doing this," RMI Chairman and CEO Douglas Hanson said. "It's a tremendous opportunity for every entity out there that was unable to get their original corporate or identifying name, whether it be .com, .net or some other dot."

The new registration eliminates the need to add one of 300 categorized suffixes after the Web name. Companies will simply insert a period three letters before the end of the name they want to use as their Web address. Hanson says discussions are underway with Microsoft and Netscape to have browsers insert the period automatically in a domain name. For example, surfers could reach the GM home page at generalmot.ors rather than at www.gm.com.

Although new suffixes such as .firm and .store are due soon, registering bodies have neglected the categorized system in recent years. "It used to be that they asked if you were a non-profit entity before giving you a .org," said Dave Lalande, RMI.NET's director of research and development. "Now when you register a .com, they ask if you'd like an .org and a .net with that."

The Simplified Domains service will cost $75 a year with a two-year contract. Names may contain up to 26 characters or numbers, all lower case, and must be cross-referenced in the U.S. trademark database.

Company officials would not comment on why the company included ".net" in its own new name-changed recently from Rocky Mountain Internet.