Be master of your domain

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

I became the proud owner of the internet domain name foreman.co.nz yesterday and I'm feeling pleased with myself.

For $68.57, including GST, I have established the right to use the web address www.foreman.co.nz as well as any e-mail address ending in @foreman.co.nz.

As long as I pay an annual charge of $39.95 plus GST these addresses will be mine, and e-mails sent to michael@foreman.co.nz will get through to me no matter which internet service provider I am using.

It feels as if I have made a permanent mark on the ever-changing internet.

Richard Shearer, general manager of Taranaki web-hosting company WebFarm, says more people are thinking of domain names as a valuable asset, a piece of internet real estate.

Within the past year more than 10,000 businesses and individuals have used WebFarm's online domain registration service FreeParking (www.freeparking.co.nz), making it the country's largest registrar.

While business customers register domain names to protect their brands, Mr Shearer says most private individuals are interested in being able to use "vanity" e-mail addresses.

"People register their surnames, Christian names, nicknames or any kind of handle they might want to use on the net," he says. "It's a bit like having a personalised number plate on your car, but the other advantage is that it gets you out of being tied to any particular internet service provider.

"You can keep the same e-mail address if you have changed your ISP or even the country you live in.

"It's something that can be passed on or used by other members of the family. For example, you can set up e-mail addresses for your partner and your children by putting their christian names in front of your family domain name."

Mr Shearer says a lot of clubs or other communities of users are setting up domain names so they can provide personal email addresses to members.

"The locally owned skateboarding website www.skateboarding.com has issued a couple of thousand yourname@nzskateboarding.com e-mail addresses," he says.

Setting up a domain name requires no special technical skill and you may choose any name you like provided it has not been taken.

New Zealand domain names are controlled by InternetNZ, which administers the structure through a company called Domainz (www.domainz.net.nz).

You may check the availability of .nz names and register domains at this site but many people find it easier to use an accredited registrar such as FreeParking.

Most local domain registrars also offer "generic" or United States-based domains such as .com, .net, .org, or the recently established .biz or .info domains.

"The generic or American names can work out cheaper than New Zealand names," says Mr Shearer.

Domainz charges a $21 "initial name-holder fee" to every new domain holder on top of FreeParking's charge of $39.95.

For a United States .com name, on the other hand, FreeParking charges $49.95 a year.

"The name-holder fee is a bit like an account set-up charge," he says. "It makes a New Zealand name more expensive the first time but for that one-time fee you can register as many New Zealand names as you like. It's a bit of a pain but we are hoping to get rid of it when Domainz changes over to a new registration model."

Mr Shearer says US domains appeal most to businesses targeting the international market.

"A lot of people in the US don't understand the concept of country-code domains [like .co.nz] because they never need to use them," he says. "But the big drawback with .com domains is that virtually every name is taken."

When I visited FreeParking's website I found my surname was available in the domains .co.nz, .gen.nz .net.nz and .org.nz. It took me a couple of minutes to fill out an online form to register and pay for the domain.

Once a domain name has been set up it "lives" on the registrar's name server, but you have to wait for a twice-daily "zone push" before it will be recognised by the internet at large.

You can then arrange for your domain name to point to your website and e-mail address, but some ISPs charge between $7 and $11 a month for this service.