For this reason, the RSLC and the Republican National Committee have filed an objection with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers—the California-based nonprofit that is in a lot of ways in charge of the Internet. Their claim is that the term "Republican" is inextricably linked to their party, and that United TLD's ownership of it might imply a connection to the Republican Party that does not exist.

If this sounds like a Republican dissing the merits of capitalism and the free market, that's because it might be. But Jankowski doesn't see it that way.

"We certainly are free-enterprise and market-capitalist, but we feel like we have the right to run our own political party," he said. "We run it in a nonprofit fashion, so I don't think the market capitalism should be involved with the actual operation of the party."

Dave Panos, a director at United TLD, says the challenge is without merit.

"They need to prove that they are the sole representative of a well-defined community," he said. "In that definition is where their argument breaks down. There isn't even a well-defined group of Republicans in this country. Not to mention the world."

Panos says the point of purchasing the domain is to open it up for anyone to use (for a fee, of course). If he wanted to run for office, for example, he could register the domain DavePanos.Republican or DavePanos.Democrat. An enterprising activist could register Obstructionist.Republican or DontVote.Republican. It's just one more possible problem in the new Internet landscape to contend with (just imagine the possibilities for the domain .Sucks for lawmakers). In fact, it doesn't necessarily have to be related to Republicans at all. If a pornography site felt like it, it could register Bush.Republican.

Panos believes that part of the reason the Republicans don't want his site to have the name is because it creates competition for the .GOP domain, one that the Republicans do have control over.

"They easily could have applied for both; I'm kind of surprised that they didn't," he said.

There certainly is a lot of potential for these sites, says Josh Bourne, the cofounder of Fair Winds Partners, a domain-name consulting firm.

"By the time a candidate announces their candidacy, especially when the candidate is older, the good and intuitive names have already been taken," he says. "But now, with new domains opening up, candidates can be a part of something more intuitive that looks new, sleek, and technologically forward."

Republicans do have plans for the .GOP domain--plans that they hope can give them an advantage over Democratic groups, none of whom registered a domain. But what exactly these plans are remains unclear. Jankowski's RSLC will be the official owner of the site, but he says it will be working very closely with other Republican groups.