domain name

[flake]

Hi I'm totally new to this and I hope that I'm not asking something stupid
I just wanted to know that if I run my own server, will I be able to create a personal domain name without registering at other places?
I don't know how the whole thing works and just started learnning, but I'd appreciated if someone could give me a quick answer
Thanks

[Rune]

Nope, 'fraid not. You'd still need to register the domain name publicly at a place like Domain Direct (https://signup.domaindirect.com/cgi-bin/cpanel.cgi).

Once you register a domain name like eg. www.flake.com, you can THEN create subdomains ("Virtual Hosts") with Apache like, forum.flake.com, pictures.flake.com, stats.flake.com, etc, but you still need the "flake.com" part registerred first.

[flake]

Thanks Run
So I still need to register. Interesting
But, who are these people we take control of domain?
Why do they have such right?
Do they own the cyberspace?
What gives them the right?

I'm just really curious

Any comment would be appreciated
Thank you

[Rune]

It's just a regulatory practice. Obviously since the internet is global, there can only be ONE "www.cars.com", ONE "www.microsoft.com", etc. It's a method of registerring domain names so there's only one of each.

[flake]

Thanks again
But since it's global, who is doing this thing though?
Is it an American company? I mean, there are so many conturies in the world, do they each have a domain register company and are they all conneced to each other? (to prevent same one being registered)
and exactly, how do they register though?
Is there a database for all the domain and only they can access to it?

Thanks

[Rune]

It's kinda like the UN of the internet. ;)

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") (http://www.icann.org/general/agreements.htm)

[flake]

All clear now
I guess everything's got to be political
No matter where we go, we still got to pay the rent while no one really owns the land
Thanks Rune
I'm impressed that you know all about this
And thanks for the link too :)
problem solved!!