The name is the game

For independence movements, an Internet domain can be half the battle.

Ancient philosophers believed there was a profound connection between names and the things they identified. In the Internet age, this magical relationship now seems to occur between domain names and nonexistent or contested geopolitical entities. Just say the name, or better, register it, and your ‘domain’ will become real.

So does the Latin phrase nomen omen – one name, one destiny – ring true for the Web as well?

If the destinies in question relate to geopolitics you can never be too sure. The growing importance of the Internet in the economy and the interplay between governments is beginning to determine a curious – and so far thankfully bloodless – trend to transfer physical territorial disputes onto the more intangible borders of the virtual planet.

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