Nice
2
Anguilla is a beautiful place (and for some lucky few of us, a short ferry ride away). As someone who took A.I. courses back in the 1980s when the field was fairly primitive (I remember spending hours programming an "expert system" using the Prolog computer language to diagnose childhood diseases that was far inferior to anything you can get online to check symptoms), the natural intelligence of the island of Anguilla beats anything artificial. It doesn't take brains to know it's a place you want to visit.
3
This topic has been pertinent for a number of years and creatively explored in a contemporary context by this short film: https://harpers.org/blog/2019/08/tv-g-anthony-svatek-tuvalu/
3
These new TLDs are nothing new. This one, .ai, may sound cool, but anyone that buys into it being a good long term idea for a brand really needs to do their homework. The data has been clear on this for decades. In years past, promoters have pushed .mobi, .tel, .biz, .info, .cm - and plenty of others - on us and these TLDs have all failed to gain use for the same reason none of the new TLDs will ever gain traction. In the US, people's fingers type in com after the dot by default. It's never going to change. There are millions and millions of .com examples. The other TLDs don't even have dozens and dozens of examples. I think it's better for a startup to use two or three words and a .com before considering an alternate TLD. If they go with another TLD anyway and they manage to stay in business (which is hard in and of itself), they'll eventually get the .com. They always do. Facebook started off on TheFacebook.com. Dropbox used Dropbox.net. JoinMe started off on Join.Me. Overstock famously tried rebranding as O.co. That didn't work out well for them. All of these companies realized that their customers were typing in .com regardless of their branding efforts. This is why the best one-word .com domain names have started selling for 7- and 8-figures. One-word .com domain names are valuable intellectual property that have stood the test of time. These other TLDs are built on foundations as sturdy as the sand in Crocus Bay. Pretty to look at but useless for building a business on.
2
I suspect that Chinese, Israeli and Russian intelligence clearly, coldly, consistently and cynically exploit and infest this sunny tropical British Empire Caribbean legacy 'domain' process in order to make their nation state interests and their values great again.
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AI is a marketing term... MI is what these companies really do. Machine learning has been around for decades it’s just the new fade in Silicon Valley. Something to do with all this data that’s collected unfortunately garbage in equals garbage out.
2
Clearly it is not “real” intelligent.
1
Wait?, .ai showing up on the front page of the New York Times is exactly the same as Brad dumping Jen circa 2005: zero change in Anguilla. Same population size and frozen GDP. Hurricanes come and go as do famous athletes and celebrities. Similarily, gadabouts, ragamuffins and an on occasion, a Boris Johnson appear and disappear like a "stick-a-fire". Intelligence in Anguilla is decidedly not artificial.
1
“ .com remains the giant, accounting for 40 percent of all registered domain names. But last year, 33 percent of start-ups had domain names other than .com...”
If that’s true, then .com must be increasing its share, not decreasing as the “but” implies.
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.com is and always has been the only domain suffix that matters.
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What a ridiculous system.
And the whole .org scam is just another set of corporate vultures swooping in to extract money from something without adding value.
When will we learn...
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Some stupid things never change. Years ago having a 212 area code meant you were "important" in business because everyone knew that 212 was NEW YORK! Actually it meant nothing if that was all you had. Same things with .tv (tuvalu) and .ai (Anguilla). Unless you have actual value as a company, who cares?
1
in the first year domain names were available, a private citizen bought toyota.com for $250. He renewed it for a second year for $95.
During the second year, Toyota came to him and said they wanted it. He sold it to them for seven figures. This may be urban legend, but it's at least highly plausible.
5
" ... a suddenly valuable slice of online real estate."
It sounds more like "unreal estate" to me.
1
I don't work with website developing, but it is really cool to see websites that would have a .ai extension, as is or the people who buy domains with a .tv
I thinkg people related to technology will try to get websites sit on this .ai places, and it will help the island of Anguilla with an extra income.
Congrats to the Island!
Btw, after reading this article, this is a place in my list of future trips!!
www.realgramas.com.br
4
@Esmeralda Bermudas
I think you are already in an enviable place already, Ms Bermudas. Of course, provided it is not the hurricane season.
1
Hmmm. And just this week I received a phishing message with an .ai tacked on the end.
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Better invest that money because it won't be lasting.
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Got married there, we eloped. All I remember is mosquitoes, BBQ chicken, manta rays while snorkeling, and spectacular evenings watching the planets chase the Southern Cross over the sea.
The magistrate took one look at us and said "let's get this over with, I have a court case coming up." I sure hope the administrators are more gracious than she was back in the pre-Yelp days.
Oh yeah! We heard Chuck Norris had a pad there which is weird since the island drives on the left, and Chuck is certainly a drive on the right sort of guy.
2
@Smokepainter* Chuck drives wherever he wants.
Sitting on domains or nabbing expired ones in the hopes of bilking large sums of money out of small businesses and nonprofits is such an awful practice. Who doesn’t know a small museum, club or school whose volunteers missed a renewal and now a faceless firm is trying to sell it back to them for more than their annual budget?
I don’t know the solution - maybe a “use it or lose it” policy or some kind of limit on the amount that a price can be inflated- but there has to be something that could help and discourage these unethical practices.
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@Nicole It is unfortunate that sometimes small businesses and individuals lose their domain names, and squatting can be really problematic, but the domain name system has checks in place. Domain names don't just get deleted the day they expire - they enter a long redemption period. And registrars will send you many emails before the domain expires warning you that it will expire.
There is a UDRP system that allows businesses to challenge a registration if they can prove their unique rights to the domain (a trademark helps, proof of use may help, but also proving that the new registrant doesn't have legitimate rights). But, the system also gets abused by companies with deep pockets who believe their rights are the only rights that matter. Look into the case of Nissan.com - a man by the name Nissan takes on a multibillion dollar carmaker.
Sometimes, generic names get auctioned and re-registered by people and businesses who also establish rights. Yes, sometimes, generic names get listed for sale for prices that may seem exorbitant. But it is legal, and ethical, to buy, own and sell domain names, like it is legal to own and sell real estate you aren't using, or any other asset.
A use it or lose it policy would be impossible to manage given that there are 100s of millions of registered domain names.
If you own a domain name central to your business, renew it for ten years (<$100, the longest term allowed) and set auto-renewal on, so every year the term gets extended again.
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The beautiful island of Anguilla should immediately - at the very least - double their fee to $100/year.
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I spent many Christmas in Anguilla 15 years and more ago. Wonderful place! I guess it’s way more crowded now! If you get a chance go!
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@ Mark Bantz..
Sitting in Sandy Ground (pictured) now. Trust me, it’s still an unspoiled paradise that few travelers and no cruise ships visit. Anguilla is the best Caribbean destination that nobody has ever heard of.
2
Good for Anguilla. It is a wonderful island with great people. After all the damage they have had from various hurricanes I am glad they have a reliable source of income.
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You missed mentioning the first big top level domain windfall for a tiny island: Tuvalu, which was awarded .tv
The other important part: Google doesn’t care what your domain is, so unless it’s something to avoid having to pay a squatters ransom demand, find the cheapest memorable solution and run with it.
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@David Esrati: Tuvalu is the name of the country. Interestingly, the main island is Funafuti, where the airport is. That abbreviation is FUN.
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@David Esrati That's not entirely accurate. While Google says it does treat some strings just like it does .com, those are only a few (.co, .io, I believe .tv, .ai, etc). But, depending on where you're located and whether your business operates locally or globally, using a country-code TLD may be more (or less) beneficial than a .com.
But at the end of the day, .com remains most memorable. Companies continue to vie for valuable .com keywords because .com means recognition, power, status. And, for many many less obvious reasons - such as, if you're building a business on voice.social, some of your customers will be confused, others will try to email you at voice.com, and business partners may unintentionally email valuable information to the .com owner, because they don't recognize or remember .social. Or, they'll try VoiceSocial.com, which is just as bad.
It's astounding to me that in 2020 there is still a perception that anyone who asks for money for their digital asset is a squatter. I wonder how you feel about the guy owning a second home he puts up on Airbnb, or a landlord who owns five apartments, or developers with thousands of vacant apartments in their portfolio.