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General
What is an Internet Address Book .name Package?
Good question! Perhaps the following information will help you out:
Blog post covering the launch: New Features Launched
Screencast:
How much does the Internet Address Book .name Package cost after the 90 day trial?
The Internet Address Book .name Package is available for a special introductory price of €8.95 per year, including tax. This includes your own personal domain name (eg. Bruce.Smith.name), an email address which can be forwarded wherever you like (eg. eman.htimS|ecurB#eman.htimS|ecurB), an Internet Address Page (http://bruce.smith.name) for publishing your contact information and an OpenID for logging onto sites supporting the standard. The first year of your subscription is backdated to the date at which your trial started.
While we would have loved to offer you these services for free, domain name unfortunately are not free. With that in mind, we have been working really hard to not only offer you the domain name and email, but additional services (Internet Address Page and OpenID) and the simplest possible registration experience at the most competitive price possible.
While we could have offered all these services based on our own domain (some we do) at a much lower price (free) we think it's important that everyone has the opportunity to create their identity somewhere they can call their own. We dont want to lock you in, we don't want what is really yours, we just want to help as much as we can with tools and a platform.
I'm already a member of the Internet Address Book, how can I get an Internet Address Book .name Package?
Easy, all you need to do is log into The Internet Address Book here: Internet Address Book
Then either click on the following link: My .name or click on the "My Internet Address Book" button at the top of the screen and select "My .name".
On this screen you can then select your .name domain and start your trial!
.name Domain Name
What is the .name domain?
The .name domain is an internet address designed especially for people, to put it another way, it's the .com for individuals. We feel it's important that everyone on the internet has a place they can truly call your own, and on the internet, those places are called domain names.
Registering your own domain provides you with the following important advantages:
It's easy to remember
Your .name domain is based on your real world name. This makes it easy to remember both the location of your Internet Address Page and your new email address. As more and more sites support OpenID, we're pretty sure you'll grow to appreciate having one of those based on your own name too. The bottom line, with your own domain you can begin to unify your identity and creativity (photos, videos, blogs, etc.) by making everything accessible from one, unified location.
Its yours for as long as you like
Your new .name domain is just that, it's yours. We don't want you to build out your identity on our property (like every other service on the internet today), that locks you in, we want you to build it out on your property. You should be the one to choose what contact details people can contact you on, which photos/videos you want people to know about. You are the one who best knows what internet based information defines who you are. We also believe your email address should belong to you, not Hotmail, Yahoo or Google, its yours, and it should be yours for as long as you like, and to take wherever you like.
You can take it wherever you like
Do you use Yahoo mail, but look longingly at the features provided to Google mail users? Are you a Google mail user but want to take advantage of the new Outlook support that Hotmail has introduced? Is your email address provided by your internet service provider and you just got a better offer? What is holding you back?
Yup, chaning email addresses is a real pain, and thats the way they like it. Why is it a pain? Because your email address does not belong to you, it belongs to Yahoo or Hotmail or Google or your Internet Service Provider. With you .name email address you can change just once more, and then never ever have to change it again. Swapping from Hotmail to Google is as simple as updating your forwarding address, no more lock in.
With a .name email address you can change providers based on the value they offer you, whenever you like, as often as you like, for as long as you like.
Why isn't my name available?
If your name is not available then it's because somebody else has already purchased it. Domains are offered on a "First come, Frst served" basis, so the sooner you sign up for your .name domain the greater the chance your name will be available. Our name chooser tool does try to provide you with a list of the best possible available alternatives.
In the future the Internet Address Book will be able to look after addresses from other top-level domains, for example .com, .org, .net etc. We think the important thing is that you have a place on the internet that belongs to you, which top level domain it's on is less important.
Who owns the .name domain name that I register?
You do. It's yours in the same way that www.google.com belongs to Google. It's yours to keep for as long as you like, even for life if you want to. Of course you can cancel it or transfer it to any ICANN Accredited Registrar whenever you like.
Can i transfer my domain name to a different registrar?
Of course. While we would love to have you stay, we dont want you to if you dont want to.
After the free trial period ends, you can transfer the domain name and email address to any ICANN Accredited Registrar that supports transfers of .name domains. To transfer, you need the "Auth-Code", this code is like a password that any Registrar can use to transfer your address.
How can I delete my .name domain name or cancel my subscription?
If you are in free trial, simply do nothing, your .name registration will automatically be deleted at the end of the free trial period.
If you have subscribed and still want to cancel then please send an email to moc.koobsserddatenretni|troppus#moc.koobsserddatenretni|troppus. We are working on an automated processes, but it is just going to take us a little longer.
Of course we would really like to hear why you felt our services didn't offer you enough value, and weclome you back if you ever felt we were worth a second look.
What happens to my .name domain if the Internet Address Book closes down?
While we are not planning on going anywhere soon, this is a really important question, especially since we have told you that your .name is yours for as long as you like, perhaps even for the rest of your life. We hope thats a realyl long time, so anything could happen!
You personal .name domain is actually the safest and most secure address possible. Unlike your Hotmail, Google, Yahoo, MySpace, LinkedIn or Facebook addresses it does not rely on any one company to survive. Your domain name is registered in the .name Registry, the organisation responsbile for managing the .name top level domain. Such a domain is on par with .com domains, and together these are part of one of the most fundamental internet services, the Domain Name System (DNS).
You will be building your identity on internet services that are fundamental to the internet itself. There can be no more reliable, secure or open mechanism on which to build your identity.
DNS and a Unified Identity Namespace
DNS is the Domain Name System, it is a fundamental internet technology, while it does a number of deeply technical tasks, one of its primary roles is to assign internet property rights. The way it does this is via domain names, for example www.google.com is the domain name owned by Google, and it’s their internet property. Due to the fundamental nature of the DNS to the internet, unless your computer itself is compromised, you can have a very high degree of confidence that typing www.google.com correctly into your browser will take you to only one place, that is, the Google servers.
A unified namespace refers to the ability to organise any number of different resources in a consistent way. For example today that unified namespace is difficult to achieve because services expect you to use their namespace, for example:
| The Hotmail namespace for your email: | moc.liamtoh|htimS.nhoJ#moc.liamtoh|htimS.nhoJ |
| MySpace namespace for your profile: | http://www.myspace.com/johnsmith |
| An OpenID provider for your OpenID account: | http://johnsmith.myopendID.com/ |
And the list goes on, with a unified namespace, based on a top level domain provided by the Internet Domain Name System (Like .name) the following can be achieved:
| Email: | eman.htims|nhoj#eman.htims|nhoj |
| Profile: | http://john.smith.name |
| OpenID: | http://john.smith.name |
The other advantage, is that by using DNS, domain belongs to via a subscription for as long as you like. This makes it a safe place to start building an online brand around because if you decide for some reason to change providers, you can. You domain name will stay the same, it will just direct all future requests seamlessly to your new service provider instead of the old.
.name Email Address
How can I change the address my .name email address is forwarding to?
You can change the address that your personalised .name email address (eg. eman.htims|ecurB#eman.htims|ecurB) forwards to at any time via the management tools in your Internet Address Book.
First, log into The Internet Address Book here: Internet Address Book
Then either click on the following link: My .name or click on the "My Internet Address Book" button at the top of the screen and select "My .name".
On this screen you will find a "Forward email to" textbox, enter the new address and click the "Save Changes" button.
How can I set up my email application to send email using my .name email address?
By forwarding emails sent to your personalised .name email address to one of your existing email addresses there shouldn't be anything to do in order to recieve emails, just keeping checking your mail just as you do today. Sending emails using your new address will require some configuration, with each service requiring different steps.
The following guides provide you with information on how to setup the major web based email services to send email from an alternative email address:
- Yahoo Mail
- Google Mail
- Microsoft Live Hotmail
- Log in to Microsoft Live Hotmail
- Click on the "Options" drop down menu in the top right and select "More options"
- Click on the "Send and receive mail from other e-mail accounts" link
- Click on the "Add an address to send mail from" button
- Enter your new personal .name email address (eg. eman.htims|ecurB#eman.htims|ecurB) and click "Send verification email"
- Wait for confirmation email to arrive in the mailbox you have forwarded your .name email address to, then confirm by following the instructions provided.
- When complete you will be able to select you .name email address in the "From" field of new emails, to make it your default email address return to "Send and receive mail from other e-mail accounts".
- Microsoft Hotmail
- When logged in, click on the "Options" tab to the right of "Address Book"
- Under "Additional Options", click on "Reply-Related Settings"
- Under the option "Reply-To Address", select the option called "Identify the address below as the reply-to address", and fill in the field below with your .name email address
- You are now ready to fully utilize your .name email address!
Internet Address Page
How can I access my Internet Address Page?
Your Internet Address Page can be accessed by typing your .name domain URL into any browser connected to the Internet. For example if your name is Bruce Smith, and you have bruce.smith.name then you would type in:
http://bruce.smith.name
What are the benefits of an Internet Address Page?
An Internet Address Page provides you with a number of benefits, but fundamentally it is about creating a place on the internet where you can publish the many addresses you have been accumulating. It's an address you can give to your firends so that they always know where they can go to find out how to get in touch with you.
The information on your Internet Address Page is provided not just via a nice looking web page:
It is also provides a way to subscribe to your details via an RSS feed, or "mashup" your information with another online web application:
And a hCard embedded in a microformat:
Over time we will be quickly expanding the features provided to you on your Internet Address Page.
Internet Address Page RSS Feed
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a standardised, XML based, data format for representing content. Over the last couple of years it has become very broadly adopted, mostly via RSS Readers, but also as the response format to Web based Application Programming Interfaces.
Providing your contact details in RSS format provides two key benefits:
- Your friends can subscribe to your RSS feed via their RSS reader, ensuring they are quickly notified if you add or change any addresses.
- The information can be "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(web_application_hybrid) Mashed-up]" with information from other applications
Internet Address Page hCard
A Microformat is the ability to embed meaning with data into a web page.
Today, when a users contact details are embedded in a web page only the way that information is displayed is embedded, for example the font, colour and alignment. A microformat, in this case a hCard, allows much more information to be included, for example information that identifies a users first name, last name, phone number, email address, etc.
By embedding this information in the page, other systems can extract meaning from the data, allowing for direct import of a users contact information from a web page into Outlook contacts.
If you are using the Firefox browser then an addon is available that identifies and allows you to work with microformats embedded in a web page. Download it from here:
Operator By Michael Kaply
OpenID
What is an OpenID?
OpenID is an emerging open standard for single sign-on. Users with an OpenID can log into any web sites supporting the standard using a single username and password.
It is a decentralised model, meaning there is no single entity or organisation controlling it. Your OpenID account is matched to a URL which is under your control, for example a blog or web site. It can also be provided by an “identity provider”, usually in the form of a third level domain eg. http://danielmc.myopenid.net.
Open ID has attracted support from companies such as Microsoft, AOL, WordPress, Sun, LiveJournal, Digg, Technorati and many more. To know if a web site supports OpenID look for the 
logo.
For more information visit OpenID.org (but beware, its technical!)
How do I change my OpenID password?
Your OpenID is provided to you in partnership with one of the leading OpenID providers MyOpenID. We have chosen them to be the default provider for Internet Address Book users and they are therefore the organisation delegated to confirm that you are exactly who you say you are.
We will be introducing features shortly to enable you to manage your password in one place, via the Internet Address Book, until then, to change your password you will need to use the following instructions:
- Browse to MyOpenId by clicking on the following link: MyOpenID Sign-In
- Enter your username, for example: http://bruce.smith.name and your Password, then click "Sign In"
- Click on the "Account Settings" link
- Complete the fields in the "Change Password" section then click "Change Password"
You are done!
