Internet Governance highlights another tragedy of the commons when big companies attempt to sequester common use assets. In this case, many companies are bidding to own domains such as .book .music or .cloud.
You easily could argue that common terms like these belong to everyone. On the other hand, what are common terms ? And what are common terms in other languages ?
And the terms of the auction for suffixes didn’t restrict access to common words.
I tend to the view that some things in a society do belong to everyone and should be held in trust for the people. But like any social programs, the line between common good and negative centralised influence is very thin.
Hat tip to Wes Felter.