[dns-wg] Elimination of 2nd level ccTLD domain names

At 1:01 PM +0100 2004-10-21, Tim Deegan wrote:

>  Blocking just the two-letter SLDs is still a reasonable policy; it
>  solves the problem for the predictable case (ccTLDs).  It doesn't
>  prevent collisions with new gTLDs but that's not a reason to drop it
>  entirely.

	The ISO is going to run out of potential two-letter ccTLDs pretty 
soon.  Two letters only give you 676 possible combinations and there 
are already almost 300 countries.  It won't take too many more name 
changes or new countries being created out of old ones, before you 
start running out of possible combinations you can hand out that will 
have any bearing whatsoever on the actual name of the country.

	This is the same type of problem you have in most 
English-speaking countries with the name "smith" and chinese-speaking 
countries with the name "chang".  It's also not unlike the Y2k 
problem.

	When they run out of two-letter ccTLDs that they can hand out, 
what do you think they're going to do?


	At the very least, any policy that prohibits two-letter SLDs (on 
the basis of potential conflicts with ccTLDs) should acknowledge this 
future problem.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad at stop.mail-abuse.org>

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755

   SAGE member since 1995.  See <http://www.sage.org/> for more info.