Domain Name World

What stopped any single company from buying up all the good domain names in the Internets beginning?

Example lets say you were a company that had the ability to create domain names to sell..... what stopped any particular company from creating and hold for themselves all the good one word www names like ... cooking.com , autos.com, or anything else you can imagine.. for themselves?

Public Comments

1. Some do that. The problem is trying to figure out what name will be in demand. I want to start the "AuroBackLimberTraction Company. Who would know that? How would they snatch that domain name?
2. Quite simply, nobody thought of it. Remember, back then, folks weren't nearly as net-savvy as they are now, and no-one thought that domain names would go for the sort of crazy money being asked for them now. The purpose for which the net was originally programmed (of exchanging information/data between scientists) never even envisaged the sort of net we have now. By the time folks started to realise what was happening, it was way too late for anyone to try this sort of stunt--they'd have needed the resources of Lichtenstein, the Bahamas and the gnomes of Zurich all rolled into one. Maybe this is a good thing--after all, can you imagine what would happen if someone like Bill Gates got control over domain names?? Hope This of Help Scots
3. Hi. Many people were 'cyber-squatting' in the early days. Some made a bit of money, most were forced to give up obvious domain grabs.