<s>
RealNames	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
company	O
founded	O
in	O
1997	O
by	O
Keith	O
Teare	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
goal	O
was	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
multilingual	O
keyword-based	O
naming	O
system	O
for	O
the	O
Internet	O
that	O
would	O
translate	O
keywords	O
typed	O
into	O
the	O
address	O
bar	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
to	O
Uniform	B-Protocol
Resource	I-Protocol
Identifiers	I-Protocol
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
existing	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
,	O
that	O
would	O
access	O
the	O
page	O
registered	O
by	O
the	O
owner	O
of	O
the	O
RealNames	B-Protocol
keyword	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
effect	O
,	O
to	O
users	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
,	O
RealNames	B-Protocol
became	O
a	O
domain	B-Protocol
registry	I-Protocol
which	O
was	O
capable	O
of	O
registering	O
names	O
that	O
worked	O
without	O
needing	O
to	O
belong	O
to	O
a	O
top-level	O
domain	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
.com	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
.net	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RealNames	B-Protocol
and	O
its	O
backers	O
expected	O
this	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
lucrative	O
source	O
of	O
income	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
raised	O
more	O
than	O
$130	O
million	O
of	O
funding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RealNames	B-Protocol
depended	O
on	O
its	O
partnership	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
which	O
offered	O
the	O
RealNames	B-Protocol
service	O
on	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
RealNames	B-Protocol
shut	O
down	O
operations	O
in	O
2002	O
following	O
a	O
decision	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
redirect	O
the	O
1	O
billion	O
page	O
views	O
per	O
calendar	O
quarter	O
that	O
RealNames	B-Protocol
was	O
resolving	O
from	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
address	O
bar	O
into	O
the	O
MSN	B-Application
search	I-Application
engine	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2014	O
,	O
Tucows	O
purchased	O
RealNames.com	O
.	O
</s>
