The US Commerce Department is asking for public comment on who should be the caretakers of the Internet's domain names and how to address crowding of certain domain-name spaces.
"It is our hope that by creating a public record of the comments, all who are interested in resolving these issues can benefit from one another's thinking, and that this public record will itself further the process of agreement being reached on key issues," Larry Irving, assistant secretary of Commerce, said in a statement.
Until 18 August, the administration will ask for public comment via email or snailmail on issues such as who should assign domain names when the National Science Foundation ends its agreement with Network Solutions, the current caretaker, in 1998. Also at issue is how to resolve trademark disputes, and whether or not to just retire the overpopulated .com domain altogether.
An interagency task force is currently addressing these questions after the administration rejected parts of international guidelines unveiled this spring by the International Ad Hoc Committee.
