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The two letter domain names really stuck out to me. I had a boss ask me back in the early 2000's to register a two letter domain and I was surprised to find tha

The two letter domain names really stuck out to me. I had a boss ask me back in the early 2000's to register a two letter domain and I was surprised to find that Network Solutions would no longer do that. I didn't spend much time on it so maybe another registrar would but as far as I can remember two letter domains just weren't an option at the point. I guess TI, GE and HP were smart to grab them when they could!

kurtisc 8y ago
Ironically, from what I've come to expect comparing popular websites to phishing websites, I have a knee-jerk worried reaction when I see a URL that isn't 'centre-heavy'.
pimlottc 8y ago
I’m pretty sure every possible two letter combination was taken before that policy came out. There used to be an old site that visualized the two- and three-letter domain name space as two- and three-dimensional grids. It was neat seeing the pixels fill in over time.
- smhenderson 8y ago
  Looks like you're right - from Wikipedia: Two-letter .com domain names were never reserved. It was possible for anyone to register them in the very early years of the Internet (from 1985 to 1998). The first company to own an active Two Letter Domain is Hewlett-Packard. Since 1998 all permutations of the 26 × 26 = 676 .com domains have been registered and (barring the very unlikely event of a lapse in registration) they can only be obtained by buying them from the previous owner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-letter_second-level_domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-letter_second-level_dom...
  - 0x0 8y ago
    Since you can also use numbers, shouldn't that read "all permutations (...) 36x36 = 1296 .com domains" ?
    - TomMarius 8y ago
      > Two-letter Numbers are not letters, but you're right, that's the correct number of possible two-character .com domains.
  - rconti 8y ago
    Yeah, your "early 2000s comment" really stuck out to me. I'm surprised they lasted through 98. I remember thinking domain names were for people who "really knew what they were doing" and then was pissed I didn't register one before NetSol started charging (IIRC there was a big outcry because Kraft foods registered like 137 domains right before they started charging).

kurtisc 8y ago

Ironically, from what I've come to expect comparing popular websites to phishing websites, I have a knee-jerk worried reaction when I see a URL that isn't 'centre-heavy'.

pimlottc 8y ago

I’m pretty sure every possible two letter combination was taken before that policy came out. There used to be an old site that visualized the two- and three-letter domain name space as two- and three-dimensional grids. It was neat seeing the pixels fill in over time.

smhenderson 8y ago
Looks like you're right - from Wikipedia: Two-letter .com domain names were never reserved. It was possible for anyone to register them in the very early years of the Internet (from 1985 to 1998). The first company to own an active Two Letter Domain is Hewlett-Packard. Since 1998 all permutations of the 26 × 26 = 676 .com domains have been registered and (barring the very unlikely event of a lapse in registration) they can only be obtained by buying them from the previous owner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-letter_second-level_domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-letter_second-level_dom...
- 0x0 8y ago
  Since you can also use numbers, shouldn't that read "all permutations (...) 36x36 = 1296 .com domains" ?
  - TomMarius 8y ago
    > Two-letter Numbers are not letters, but you're right, that's the correct number of possible two-character .com domains.
- rconti 8y ago
  Yeah, your "early 2000s comment" really stuck out to me. I'm surprised they lasted through 98. I remember thinking domain names were for people who "really knew what they were doing" and then was pissed I didn't register one before NetSol started charging (IIRC there was a big outcry because Kraft foods registered like 137 domains right before they started charging).