Making the root domain a free-for-all effectively promotes what .com was to the global root. We can only do this once, and then the root namespace is gone forever.
We will never again be able to create new top level domains that have special restricted meanings, such as .arpa, .gov and the concept of country TLDs[1]. Any sensible name that we want to use will probably already be taken. Even it is not taken, a new special purpose name would never be able to differentiate from squatters using the same level of the namespace.
Not only that, but the special casing of existing TLDs such as .gov could get diluted to the point that the majority will not recognise them as official any more.
There is a place for free-for-all on domain name registrations, and it is .com.
[1] I presume that they will reserve two letter registrations for the specific case of new countries coming into existence, but my point is about the concept of new uses, rather than this specific case.
We will never again be able to create new top level domains that have special restricted meanings, such as .arpa, .gov and the concept of country TLDs[1]. Any sensible name that we want to use will probably already be taken. Even it is not taken, a new special purpose name would never be able to differentiate from squatters using the same level of the namespace.
Not only that, but the special casing of existing TLDs such as .gov could get diluted to the point that the majority will not recognise them as official any more.
There is a place for free-for-all on domain name registrations, and it is .com.
[1] I presume that they will reserve two letter registrations for the specific case of new countries coming into existence, but my point is about the concept of new uses, rather than this specific case.