During my first year in college, my dorm was given an introductory lecture on fraternity rush. One of my floormates stood up, flatly stated that he wasn’t interested and started edging toward the common-room door.
When asked why he had no interest, he replied "Because I don’t need to pay someone to tell me how cool I am."
I was reminded of this when Register.com, a Web site address vendor, recently announced that it would start issuing exclusive -- and expensive -- Internet addresses ending in .pro, complementing the familiar .com, .org, .gov and so forth. The addresses, which won’t be available until late in 2002, will be reserved for entities the New York-based firm deems "professionals."
The higher cost of the addresses – between $250 and $300, compared to the $25-$75 required for other ones – will cover verifying the professional credentials of applicants. Anyone registering a .pro address will be able to send encrypted documents and take advantage of digital "signature" services, wherever the latter are accepted.
Initial occupations deemed worthy by Register.com include doctors, lawyers, and financial professionals, although the definition may expand in the future to include engineers and architects.
Classifications can be nebulous creatures, at best. For example, online surveys that ask for job descriptions often fail to include "writer" as a choice. If I’m feeling high-minded I’ll check "craftsman," and if I’m in a deadline crunch I’ll usually check "manufacturing."
Register.com’s good intentions aside, it’s only going to be a matter of time – a very, very short time – before these start leading to gambling sites and naughty diversions. Anyone want to bet against me on this?
Furthermore, verification can only go so far. If these site names are considered corporate assets, they can be auctioned off if an owner goes into bankruptcy.
Finally, I question whether a simple site name can imply professionalism and/or competence. Let the bidding begin now for kennethlay.pro.
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Angry Dan Update: After viewing "Happy Dan," the encouraging animation from Fifth Third Bank mentioned in last week’s column [Loose Cannon: How I Caught A Nasty Coda, May 13, 2002] readers wanted to know if there was a URL for "Angry Dan," Happy Dan’s chastising counterpart. One enterprising reader discovered it through testing a series of URLs, and I present it for the enjoyment of all:
http://www.questmps.com/53/DAN/danlaunch-a.htm
To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact rlevey@primediabusiness.com.
