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First domain name changes hands as Net turns 40

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CIOL Bureau
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CAPE GIRARDEAU, USA: Symbolics.com, widely known as the first and oldest domain name, has changed hands for the first time since its original registration in 1985. XF.com Investments, based in Missouri, has announced on Monday that it has purchased the unique Internet address for use in their business.

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Oddly enough, the sale of the first domain is coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Internet, that is taking place this year. The first connection between two UCLA computers - pioneered by Len Kleinrock and his team of engineers - took place in 1969. This was the result of several research programs conducted to explore and articulate principles of networking between physically separate networks, leading to the development of the packet switching model of digital networking.

Named Arpanet, the network was an experimental project for the U.S. Department of Defense, initially exchanging meaningless data. The research led to the development of several packet-switched networking solutions in the late 1960s and 1970s including ARPANET and the X.25 protocols.

However, it was on March 15, 1985, that the Internet officially became active with the registration and use of the Symbolics.com domain name. Now, nearly 25 years later, there are over 180,000,000 registered domains in use, said a press release.

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"We are extremely excited to own the Symbolics.com domain name," said Aron Meystedt, the 29-year-old CEO of XF.com Investments. "To own the first domain is very special to our company, and we feel blessed for having the ability to obtain this unique property,” Meystedt added.

XF.com says they have plans for the domain name, and are creating something special for the 25th anniversary of this URL. "On March 15, 2010, Symbolics.com will celebrate its 25th year," Meystedt said, adding, "This is a special milestone for all of us. The Internet has changed the face of business and entertainment, and to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the domain that started it all is very special."

Symbolics pioneered computer development in the 1980s. The company designed and manufactured a line of Lisp machines, single-user computers optimized to run the Lisp programming language. The Lisp Machine was the first commercially available "workstation" (although that word had not yet been coined). Symbolics also made significant advances in software technology, and offered one of the premier software development environments of the 1980s and 1990s.

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