Josh sends link:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070627.wpeople0627/BNStory/International/home

I found this story interesting because it ties into what’s happening with new/proposed domain extensions like .London or .Berlin …  Cities are becoming people’s identities.  you don’t live in Britain…  you live in London. 

That said, I’m incredibly skeptical that a critical mass of people will want to be associated with London if they live in Richmond Hill or Surrey. And I think people in Laguna Beach would never go for an .LA name to identify themselves with Los Angeles, although that is the major city group they belong to.

These ideas are often created and sold by profit hungry would-be registry operators who are trying to get a slice of the Internet pie, hopeful of selling cocacola.berlin to coke for $100 a year; lest some other nefarious party take it (and repeating for thousands of brand holders).

Perhaps in the future as cities create free trade zones between mercantilistic partner cities, some underlying behavior will change and there will be real, long term sustainable demand for extensions such as these. Time will tell I suppose, but it will be many years of profitless renewals before that day arrives.