One of the big stories to hit the Net last week was the ongoing battle over the growing demand for domain names - the names such as scmp.com and landegg.org that drive the Internet and allow mail, Web connections and data traffic to be routed.
On the Internet there are basically two groups of domain names: those for national codes such as .hk for Hong Kong, .cn for China et cetera and those that concern generic groups such as .com for companies and .edu for universities.
The problem is that the generic domains are generally more popular than the national ones. Many organisations prefer the former because of a perception that these domains somehow convey a better image.
However, since there are only four generic domain groupings in widespread use - .com, .edu, .net and .org - and some of these (particularly .com) are the subject of bidding wars, delays have occurred in obtaining new domain names.
net), has the sole right to issue domain names until at least 1998.
In addition to raising charges, by being a sole provider even a small technical glitch on its part can render large portions of the Net non-functional for extended periods of time.