Google and Microsoft can do the world a favor by stopping the upcoming .sucks top-level domain damn near dead in its tracks. How? Simply by not indexing anything with a .sucks domain extension on their search engines. Or pages that refer to such domains, which start appearing March 30.

Such a blackout probably won’t stop companies needing to buy .sucks versions of their trademarks, at $2,500 each, as brand protection. But, it will keep most Internet users from accidentally seeing what ends up on those sites. More importantly, it could protect innocent civilians from malicious Internet assaults, perhaps anonymously launched with no recourse available.

Support the .sucks Search Engine Blackout!

Do you really want some former friend, ex-spouse, or general purpose hater to purchase your name with a .sucks extension? At $299 this isn’t something everyone will do, but most people, I think, have someone who has $299 worth of hatred towards them. And the price is discounted to $199 through June 1!

Of course, the spiteful person will also have to “invest” in theirownname.sucks to prevent a retaliatory response. I don’t think it is much of a stretch for what starts on .sucks to end up as physical violence.

That ICANN created such a situation is perhaps the best reason I can think of to give control of the Internet group less needing of adult supervision. I’ve never really liked the idea of flooding the Internet with hundreds of new domain names.

In approving .sucks as one of hundreds of new top-level domains, ICANN created a situation where a company, in this case .sucks owner Vox Populi, gets to run what amounts to an Internet protection racket. Pay the company for the .sucks domain or accept the consequences of someone else getting it.

It is not just trademarks that are in trouble, though they potentially need to protect themselves in many of the other new top-level domains.

While blacking out .sucks from search engine results won’t solve all the Internet’s many problems, it will help make the Internet at least a little friendlier. And that doesn’t suck at all.

P.S. If you think I am onto something, please share this post or help get the word out some other way. Maybe we can use the hashtag #dotsucksblackout to catch people’s attention, especially at Google, Microsoft and other search engine providers.

photo credit: Serena. via photopin cc