Planning for the future

Before he is even born, some parents are lining up their child’s life.

Trust fund? Check.

Enrollment in that posh pre-school? Done.

Internet domain name? Got it.

Yes, for some parents, getting their child his own domain name is as normal and expected a parental duty as sending him to college.

In fact, some parents wait to name their child until they know the matching domain name is available.

Sounds a bit backward to us, but there you go.

“One of the criteria was, if we liked the name, the domain had to be available,” said Mark Pankow, who wished to name his fifth child “Bennett.” He got his wish.

How important is having an Internet identity?

“It is the starting point for your on-line identity,” Warren Adelman, president of GoDaddy.com Inc., told the Associated Press. “We do believe the domain name is the foundation upon which all the other Internet services are based.”

Of course, Mr. Adelman is in the business of selling domain names.

Not so fast, said researcher Peter Gruenwald, whose company specializes in kids and technology. “Given the pace of change on the Internet, it strikes me as a pretty impressive leap of faith that we’re going to use exactly the same system and the same tools ... 15 to 20 years from today.”

Some parents use the addresses themselves to send out baby updates to friends and family. By the time Junior is old enough to join in, he’ll have a huge network of contacts.

Other parents just lie low, merely paying the annual fee necessary to keep the name. That may be particularly true for parents of daughters - at least if they are wise. If a name is trafficked over the Internet, predators have an easier chance of locating a child as a potential target.

And the easier a name is to remember, the more directly it links to its holder, the simpler it is for a predator to make contact. Finding a child’s picture in a yearbook and typing in her name can quickly call up her Web address.

Joanie Smith is a lot easier to locate at Joaniesmith.com than, say, at jsmith848.com.

What’s fascinating about all this is the assumption by techno-savvy parents that an online identity is so vital - a must-have accoutrement to modern life.

Privacy was once a much stronger value in America. Laconic idols such as Gary Cooper and John Wayne symbolized (among other things) the wisdom of reticence.

Now we share intimate details with Internet strangers whom we style as “friends” - and parents consider it wise to ensure that, one day, their children will be able to do the same.


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