At 09:53 6/10/98 -0700, you wrote:
.org was never meant as a domain for nonprofits; it was meant as a catchall to be used when your organization didn't fit into .com, .net, .edu or .gov.
Do you have a reference for that Steven? It doesn't match what I remember...
The MITRE Corporation registered mitre.org in 1985 and the Aerospace Corporation registered aero.org in 1987. This idea that .ORG was only for non-profit organizations is an example of historical revisionism propogated by people who were not there at the time the TLDs were created.
Oh, Lord, let's settle this. Anyone ever think of checking the *gasp!* pertinent RFCs?: RFC 1032 DOMAIN ADMINISTRATORS GUIDE November 1987 "COM" is meant to incorporate subdomains of companies and businesses. "EDU" was initiated to accommodate subdomains set up by universities and other educational institutions. "GOV" exists to act as parent domain for subdomains set up by government agencies. "MIL" was initiated to act as parent to subdomains that are developed by military organizations. "NET" was introduced as a parent domain for various network-type organizations. Organizations that belong within this top-level domain are generic or network-specific, such as network service centers and consortia. "NET" also encompasses network management-related organizations, such as information centers and operations centers. "ORG" exists as a parent to subdomains that do not clearly fall within the other top-level domains. This may include technical- support groups, professional societies, or similar organizations. Quite clearly, .net and .org are not intended to be catch-all TLDs for folks whose .com domain name choice is taken; they have specific organizational meanings. In this, as in so many other matters related to the RFCs, Network Solutions (and their progeny) flouts the 'rules' with impunity. As someone else pointed out, it *seems* that as soon as NSI was allowed to start profiting from registrations, the idea of following any RFCs that might interfere with the money flow fell by the wayside. What do spammers and nails have in common? They're both intended for hammering. Dean Robb PC-Easy On-site computer services (757) 495-EASY [3279]