RealNames has announced that it is shutting down. The company
was behind sales of “keywords,” an internet addressing system which
attempted to dispense with the need for top level domain suffixes.
It has blamed its failure on Microsoft’s decision to withdraw
support.
Currently, users of Microsoft Internet Explorer can reach this
site by entering “out-law” into their browser’s address bar,
without the need to enter the more traditional format,
“http://www.out-law.com.” This short-cut is expected to disappear
on 30th June 2002.
RealNames dismissed its 83 employees on Friday after Microsoft
decided to discontinue its support through Internet Explorer.
Microsoft is the biggest shareholder in RealNames. According to The
Wall Street Journal, Microsoft became unhappy with the service
following complaints when people acquired rights to terms they
shouldn’t have.
The RealNames team expressed annoyance at Microsoft’s increasing
dominance of internet navigation. RealNames is reported to have
burned $100 million in VC funding.
