One of my former Web Design students asked this question this morning:

I'm trying to find out the scoop about .biz and .info domains. I've seen everything from take a chance at getting the name you want for a fee to wait until 10/1 to get the domain. Help.

D.O.

Here's my reply to D.O.:

First of all, let's make sure we know what the new domains are:

.biz—businesses
.name—individuals
.museum—museums
.pro—professionals
.aero—aviation
.coop—cooperatives
.info—general information

As far as I'm concerned, I would wait until the dust settles before even thinking about getting any of those "new" domains.

1. .biz is a scam. Do you really think coke.biz is going to be available? Or ibm.biz? Nope. Every major co. with a .com is going to immediately get a .biz. Even words like "business", "computer", etc. are going to be snapped up and fought over. It's going to be like sharks around chum. I wouldn't recommend jumping into that mess. (I am NOT getting granneman.biz, as I don't care—but many, many co's will care.)

2. .biz is going to be a non-starter. .com is it. Everyone knows .com,and people are going to continue to use .com. So I wouldn't even consider using .biz.

3. Same thing holds for .info. Let the dust settle.

4. That pre-ordering stuff you're seeing just puts your name into a lottery that you may or may not win. So you pay $$$ & end up losing & not getting your domain name. If you wait, then you can just get what's open & available.

5. ANYTHING offered by "New.net" is a total scam, unsupported by the standards bodies, and likely to never be seen by a majority of the net-using public. This company is just trying to register & oversee domains THAT DO NOT REALLY EXIST! So avoid ALL of the following, since you are completely wasting your money:

.agent .chat .family .gmbh .kids .llp .med .scifi .sport .video .arts .church .free .golf .law .love .mp3 .shop .tech .xxx .auction .club .game .inc .llc .ltd .school .soc .travel

6. If you want to register a domain name in .com, .org, etc., use www.register.com, NOT Network Solutions. Heck, use ANYONE besides Network Solutions. Want to know why? Then read Why You Should Never Use Network Solutions (note that Network Solutions has been bought by Verisign and may be going by that name).

I hope this helps. Do what you want, of course, but I would wait, check out the lay of the land, & then buy what's appropriate & available.