DOMAIN NAME REGISTRATION


Previously, I wrote about the reason why our CFC email addresses are directed to 'campers4christ.org', while the CFC website address is 'campersforchrist.com'. I also explained that while the new website was being developed, it was necessary to obtain another domain name for testing purposes before we brought down the old website.

To have a better understanding of the problem, one must be familiar with the various domain name categories. For example, a 'dot com' suffix is a commercial website, a 'dot org' suffix is an organizational website, a 'dot gov' suffix is a governmental website, and a 'dot edu' suffix is an educational website. There are many more of these domain categories, which are called 'generic top-level domain' names, or gTLD's, which are assigned and managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

In order to have a presence on the Internet, one must register a unique domain name with ICANN, one that isn't used by any other individual or organization. Campers for Christ Ministries should have originally been registered as an organizational website (i.e. 'campersforchrist.org'), but that domain name was either assigned to someone else, or it was mistakenly registered as a 'dot com' domain... 'campersforchrist.com' ... instead of a 'dot org' domain.

When I tried to register the domain name 'campersforchrist.org' for the development of the new website, it had already been assigned to a company in Japan!!! For what reason and use, I have no earthly idea. (Note: Their registration expires in July of this year, and we will try to capture it for CFC use at that time.)

What I do know is that in the early days of the Internet, before the corporate world determined that the Internet was a viable means of advertising, some 'smart guys' thought they could earn some 'big bucks' by registering well-known business icons, like 'Coke.com', 'Pepsi.com', 'Ford.com', or 'GMC.com'. The idea was that they might be able to sell those domain names to the actual companies at a future time for a whole lot more money than the small cost of registration. For awhile some were quite successful at this practice and this may be the reason why the group in Japan owns the registration of the domain name 'campersforchrist.org'. That seems kind of odd though, as CFC isn't exactly a household name.

This, then, is the 'rest of the story' of why Campers For Christ Ministries has two oddly spelled domain names, 'campersforchrist.com' and 'campers4christ.org'. One day we hope to be able to correct this confusing situation and be united in the name 'campersforchrist', regardless of the gTLD. Until then, please bear with us.

In case you are interested in setting up a website and have thought of a domain name you'd like to use, you can find out if that name is already registered at http://www.internic.net/index.html, the ICANN website. Any Internet Service Provider (ISP) can register your domain name for a small fee, which must be renewed annually.



 

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