Confederation of European Computer User Associations

Confédération Européenne des Associations d'Utilisateurs des Technologies de I'Information
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NEWS FLASH
Newborn babies with their own free websites.
Everybody should have .EU first and last name Internet address.

 

CECUA Euro News Flash

Newborn babies with their own free websites.
Everybody should have .EU first and last name Internet address.

Newborn California Babies get Their own free websites. California is stealing the march on Europe and the EU. CECUA is challenging the EU to fight back and give every citizen, private and corporate, a personalized .EU Internet address, an address like the person's own first and family name and just as easy to remember.

The historical opportunity is NOW with the .EU registration starting soon and it will translate EUs commitment and determination of an Information Society for ALL into action.

The technology is there, the infrastructure is there. However, the political initiative and leadership is still missing. Europe will not get another historical chance like this again.

CECUA has received a lot of attention and positive comments on the proposal for a .EU for all European Citizens both private and corporate ones. Comments like: "this is great", "let us do it" and also "let us do something different from the Americans" are being made increasingly. However, that may prove easier said than done, because the Americans are catching on to the fact that the information is more than technology - it is societal.

As reported in the Daily Telegraph, Newborn California Babies get Their own free websites.

Namezero, a US internet company, is offering all babies born at the Sequoia hospital in Redwood City, California, a free website address, known as a domain name, with accompanying e-mail address for life. In trendy techy Silicon Valley, the craze is sure to catch on.

Bruce Keiser, chief executive of Namezero, said:
"As our society's communications structure becomes increasingly centred around the Internet, the domain name is becoming an important form of identity; in today's transient world, it is more important than a telephone number or postal address.

"By registering a child's name at birth, parents are ensuring that the child will have it throughout their lifetime.

" So far, the first candidate has yet to arrive to take advantage of their first free offer in life, which begins tomorrow. Sequoia on average has 1,400 births at the hospital every year.

Linda Kresge, chief nurse executive at Sequoia hospital, said: "Parents in Silicon Valley enjoy progressive ways of keeping in touch with friends and families.

"Free websites and e-mail addresses are a fun way to welcome new babies to the 21st century."

California is one of the so-called US trend setting states. What starts out in California other States will catch on to it sooner than later.

CECUA is challenging the EU take the initiative NOW. The EU should take the initiative and offer every citizen, not only newborn babies, an Internet address. Having your own Internet address is just as important as having your own address and telephone. It is becoming just as important as having your own name.

And CECUA wants the EU to go further than California and make the Internet address a personal one. What does that mean? It means that the Internet address should look like the person's first and family name. CECUA wants to personalize a person's Internet address and which will stay the same throughout his or her entire life. This Internet address should be just as easy to remember as the person's name.

Receiving the personalized Internet address and starting to use it is an important step toward joining the Information Society for All, an issue being raised by CECUA in conjunction with the new .EU Top Level Domain. Wouldn't it be nice for Europe to lead the world for once by providing every citizen with own personal name Internet address? 400 million people with a personal name .EU Internet address! Would that not be the ultimate proof of an Information Society for all?

This is a political issue. The technology is there. The infrastructure is there. What is missing? Political leadership from the EU. The introduction of the .EU Top Level Domain is a historical opportunity for putting such a leadership into action. This moment will not come again. For the EU it is "to be or not to be".

Dear reader, do you have an opinion? Do you want to comment on this issue? Do you want to debate this issue? Please tell us what you think. CECUA provides just the platform for your debate or your comments. Please contact us at jon.thorhallsson@cecua.org or stuart.goold@cecua.org