Ever been frustrated by the fact that all the good (or great) potential names are already squatted on the internet?  Any time you want to start a website there's someone who either already is running a business on the address or has reserved it and may be willing to sell it for a steep price.  If you're a namer then chances are excellent (actually beyond excellent) that you have been. 

That may be about to change. 

ICANN.ORG recently announced that they're giving the green light to customized Top Level Domains (TLDs).  This means that we may soon see alternatives to .NET, .ORG, and .COM (and the handful of other options.)

We at Stokefire see this as a complex change, but one that may actually lead to some very positive happenings in the business world.  Today many of the most favorable addresses on Top Level Domains are held hostage by domain squatters asking for thousands (or even millions) of dollars.  Given that the new environment will allow for nearly unlimited TLDs it will reduce the amount that squatters can charge since there will always be another TLD on which the desired name is available.

I personally don't worry much about the legal issues many are raising.  I believe that ICANN already has a process for defending ones rightful trademark.  Companies already have lawyers screening new domains - and this would dovetail with existing processes.  As long as there is a central repository or clearing house for checking domains it seems that it would work well. 

If this does indeed come to pass I predict it will bring about the end of typed-in URLs.  Since there will be a lot of variability in the TLDs it will become more difficult to remember the full address.  We're already seeing a migration away from typing in addresses after the "http://" in browsers.  Firefox and others have already promoted the search tool to the top of the window - it is but a slight adjustment to make it the primary way we navigate.  I have every confidence that Google can make this happen.

As for the post title - the reference comes from Saturday Night Live - and the video is below.  Enjoy!