RFC 2345 (rfc2345) - Page 1 of 14

Domain Names and Company Name Retrieval

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Network Working Group                                        J. Klensin
Request for Comments: 2345                                          MCI
Category: Experimental                                          T. Wolf
                                                       Dun & Bradstreet
                                                             G. Oglesby
                                                                    MCI
                                                               May 1998


                Domain Names and Company Name Retrieval

Status of this Memo

   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
   Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   Location of web information for particular companies based on their
   names has become an increasingly difficult problem as the Internet
   and the web grow.   The use of a naming convention and the domain
   name system (DNS) for that purpose has caused complications for the
   latter while not solving the problem.  While there have been several
   proposals to use contemporary, high-capability, directory service and
   search protocols to reduce the dependencies on DNS conventions, none
   of them have been significantly deployed.

   This document proposes a company name to URL mapping service based on
   the oldest and least complex of Internet directory protocols, whois,
   in order to explore whether an extremely simple and widely-deployed
   protocol can succeed where more complex and powerful options have
   failed or been excessively delayed.

1. Introduction and Context

   In recent months, there have been many discussions in various
   segments of the Internet community about "the top level domain
   problem".  Perhaps characteristically, that term is used by different
   groups to identify different, and perhaps nearly orthogonal, issues.
   Those issues include:





Klensin, et. al.              Experimental
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