5 June 2001
MEDIA RELEASE
Spare a thought for the Smiths who want to call their baby James. When he comes to secure his space on the Net, he'll be
at the end of a long line of James Smiths.
Robert Wiles, founder and CEO of new internet company Pdom, the world's largest Internet site dedicated to the
registration and trading of Personal Domain Names (PDN), says that on the Internet, the question of "what's in a name"
takes on a whole new dimension.
"Parents put a lot of thought into choosing a child's name," Wiles says. "Now they've got something else to think about.
What will happen to that name on the Net?
"The number of people registering a PDN - their Net identity - is growing by 400% per year. At this rate, 50 million
people will have registered a PDN by the end of 2003."
Wiles says the PDN phenomenon will have profound social implications.
"It will change the way people work, communicate and present themselves to the world. It will also affect the names
people choose for their Net selves, and the names people hand on to the next generation.
"For example there are 46,100 James Smiths in the United States alone. JamesSmith.com, as a Net name, is long gone."
Wiles says people should secure their names and their children's names on the Net now to ensure it's not anonymity they
present to the world now, and more importantly, in the future.
"There are still plenty of names available to register. If preferred choices are gone Pdom can help find an acceptable
variation. Or you may be able to buy it on Pdom's listing site from a willing seller."
Pdom's prices, Wiles says, are intentionally family-friendly. At Pdom, a family can register a PDN for only $14 per year
and obtain five email addresses for an additional $6 each, which is less than US$50 a year, a third of the price charged
by Pdom's large competitors.
"A family can keep this PDN for as long as they want," Wiles says. "When their children grow up, it's another place they
can call home."
About Pdom: Launched 5 June 2001, Pdom is the world's first Internet company focused on everything to do with personal
domain names and personal websites.
-ends-
CONTACT:
johanna.coughlan@pdom.com
www.pdom.com