The Long Road to .web: Chris Ambler Reflects on Decades of Domain History and a New Path Forward with .epic

The landscape of the internet is on the verge of a significant transformation as Verisign prepares to introduce the .web top-level domain (TLD) later this year. While the launch marks a new chapter for the domain name industry, the concept of .web is far from a modern invention. In fact, the struggle for control and the vision for its utility date back more than three decades, to the early, formative years of the World Wide Web.

In a recent episode of the Domain Name Wire podcast, host Andrew Allemann sat down with Chris Ambler, a figure whose career has been inextricably linked with the evolution of the domain name system (DNS). Ambler, who currently serves as the Director of Domains for Registered Agents, Inc., was a central figure at the very beginning of the .web story. His perspective offers a rare bridge between the experimental era of the 1990s and the highly commercialized, regulated environment of today’s ICANN-led expansion rounds.

The history of .web is often described as one of the longest and most winding narratives in the technology sector. In the mid-1990s, as the internet began to transition from an academic and military tool into a public utility, the demand for alternatives to the crowded .com space began to surge. Ambler was among the pioneers who proposed .web as a logical successor and competitor to .com. At the time, the governance of the internet was still in flux, and the processes for establishing new extensions were not yet codified. Ambler’s early role in advocating for and attempting to establish the domain set the stage for a saga that would span multiple decades, involve intense legal battles, and eventually see the rights to the string sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite the fact that Verisign, the registry operator for .com and .net, will ultimately be the entity to bring .web to market, Ambler maintains a pragmatic outlook on the outcome. During the discussion, he reflected on the early days with a sense of historical perspective rather than resentment. While he will not be the one running .web, his influence on the industry remains significant as he shifts his focus toward a new set of digital assets and infrastructure projects that aim to redefine how businesses and individuals interact with the DNS.

The next phase of Ambler’s career, and the focus of his current work at Registered Agents, Inc., involves active participation in the upcoming round of new top-level domain expansions. This next ICANN window represents a massive opportunity for companies to secure specific "strings"—the letters following the dot—that align with their business models or broader market trends. Registered Agents, Inc. has positioned itself as a major player in this space, having applied for six distinct domains: .epic, .identity, .mark, .private, .registeredagent, and .verified.