So just when Al Gore goes and tries to re-invent the internet some Vancouver internet upstarts issue a global press release that sticks in his craw. I don’t know what a craw is and I don’t care to google it, but imagine that you wanted to spearhead an initiative to have a generic top level domain created to save the planet and then someone else came and stole your thunder; and power point presentation. The storm is around the .eco domain, a proposed hot designation for any company hoping to capitalize on greening its image and making those eco-bucks. And much like .edu there will be stringent standards you must live up to if you wish to be knighted with this rank. So now on one side we have Al Gore and a bunch of fancy Californians and on the other we have David Suzuki, the World Wildlife Fund and Vancouver start up Big Room. And the battle is getting fierce.

Both sides are threatening to donate massive proceeds from the .eco venture to environmental causes; eye to eye in a mexican showdown of global proportion while the ice caps melt. Aaaaand as the planet slowly cooks and chokes both sides are threatening to open the door to massive ecommerce and web hosting changes that will possibly save the planet. And lastly, both sides are betting on one big IF. That companies, and people will be flocking to .eco in a show of support, zeal and fervor for this new designation. And unlike .biz .mobi . and my favorite .info, that it will stick. Can you hear the pitch now directed at countless companies? “We can save you millions on your marketing campaign. A dot-eco domain will only cost you 50 bucks” If they care so much about saving the planet (which According to Al Gore we can’t wait any longer to do, mired in our apathy, and/or maybe legal battles) maybe they’ll meet somewhere between Vancouver and San Francisco and go on some camping trip to reach an important consensus regarding this monumental gTLD. Maybe there’s money and power involved? That seems to make men fight once in a while. Anyhow, best of luck to both of them. May they both win. And maybe everyone else who wants a top level domain will see the floodgates open too. And if so I’ve decided to start a .art TLD and I alone will be the judge of whether your art is good enough to garner this soon to be coveted suffix. Gentlemen, start your crayons.