How many .com domains are available?

I am thoroughly unhappy about good .com domains being squatted. I can't say how many times a perfectly good domain that I would have liked to start an internet service on is being squatted with a page of "contact me if interested in domain" message -- and it's more or less useless trying to contact these persons, as they'll not reply, or demand absurd amounts for the domain.

How can I get a recent copy of the Verisign .com TLD master zone file?<p>You need to send a fax to get it from their website so I figure there's got to be a quicker way(<a href="http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/products-and-services/domain-name-services/grow-your-domain-name-business/analyze/tld-zone-access/index.xhtml" rel="nofollow">http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/products-and-services/domai...</a>)<p>UPDATE: I downloaded the forms. Filled them out. Signed up for a HelloFax $4.99 account. Created a new fax using HelloFax. Uploaded the 2 documents. Attached my signature. And sent it. 26 minutes after making my original comment. Not too hard :). I'll update this when I hear back.<p>UPDATE 2: You can also pay $24.95 a month and get them here: <a href="http://www.premiumdrops.com/zones.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.premiumdrops.com/zones.html</a>

95,743,705 are currently being used. The amount of available domains is virtually unlimited due to the fact that you could have 'dsdijhfjkdf.com' as a domain.

Finding good domains still available is a more interesting problem than just saying there are some.

I was interested a while back in finding short (5 or 6 letter) .com domains still available. Wrote a little script to do a bulk check at Godaddy.<p>There are a few variables you can alter in my script:<p>- pre: any text BEFORE the consonant-vowel-consonant string<p>- suf: any text AFTER the string<p>- ext: the domain name extension (defaults to .com if left blank)<p>- max: the maximum number of domain name results (starting at a random character)<p>Since GoDaddy limits the bulk check to 500, the quickest way to do a domain check is to run the script setting the max at 500, then just copy and paste the result in the bulk domain lookup.<p>Couple different examples:<p><a href="http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?suf=it&#38;max=500" rel="nofollow">http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?suf=it&#38;ma...</a><p><a href="http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?pre=go&#38;suf=me&#38;max=500&#38;ext=.net" rel="nofollow">http://tonycappaert.com/projects/domaingen.php?pre=go&#38;su...</a><p>Paste the result in the Godaddy bulk check at <a href="http://www.godaddy.com/domains/searchbulk.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.godaddy.com/domains/searchbulk.aspx</a>

Is there an official channel to compile registered domains?

Shortages are a sign of a flawed market.<p>What needs to be done is something similar to the radio spectrum; require a regular bidding process on a given domain (or, more likely, the set of domains that are in-demand).<p>Squatting becomes a less desirable business when you've got to pay $100/year for an in-demand domain.

I was looking for the zone file during last week. Gladly, it is a fax away.

Barmkin.com is a pretty great domain name, actually.

If only people would stop automatically assuming .com is the only way to go, we wouldn't have a domain shortage problem.

Shouldn't ICANN's decision to allow the registration of new TLDs more or less solve this problem?