It's amazing the things some people worry about. Consider the flap caused this month by the announcement that the new .pro (for professional) Internet domain address has finally been approved.
The problem, according to media reports, is that the new name stirs up an old hornet's nest of status envy, personal insecurity and linguistic confusion. For now, registration is available exclusively to certified lawyers, doctors and accountants. This has caused a lot of people to get very hot under the collar (perhaps they worry that life outside the .pro pale will give their hitherto respectable white collars a tinge of blue). Apparently not everyone thinks doctors, lawyers and accountants should be singled out as the only ones worthy of a "premium-brand" Net address. Objections have been voiced already: What about certified dentists, nurses, pharmacists, teachers, clerics, journalists, hairdressers, plumbers and electricians? What about "professional" athletes, dancers and entertainers, that is, people who play sports or perform for a living, not just as a hobby? Who is not a potential pro these days?
The sensible reply to such agitated questions is: Read the fine print. RegistryPro, the New York-based entity that will administer .pro, confirms that it was created to provide names initially to doctors, lawyers and accountants, but "with more professionals to come." In other words, nobody has said that doctors, lawyers and accountants are the only professionals. It has merely been implied that they are especially clear-cut examples of professionals, holding internationally recognizable standards of certification. Moreover, there are more than 35 million of them worldwide. RegistryPro evidently thought that giving these three groups first access to .pro addresses would be a logical -- and uncontroversial -- first step.