A recent inquiry:
It has been suggested that we purchase not just the desired .org, but also .info, .net, and .com to keep someone else from using those in a way that might detract from our site. Do you agree with the concept of registering the same name with .org, .com, .info, and .net?
It depends on the domain name and the organization. Clearly, Ford or Pepsi or Walmart should protect their domain name “branding” by controlling the extensions. And organizations that are in some sort of competition of ideas, in particular some sort of political campaign, probably should consider the value of protecting themselves from shenanigans from the opposition. And if you had a great domain name that was somehow available for all domain types, such as fish.com or smart.com, that would be worth it. But at this point in the history of domain registrations, that’s incredibly unlikely. For most others, the most I can see is getting the .com and the .org domain name – if such conventions are appropriate for the organization. If someone wants to speculate on a .info for a domain name that hasn’t been taken yet, good luck to them.
The main advantage of having a .com and .org of the same domain name would be if your users are trying to get to the site from memory and don’t remember the ending – .com and .org are the most commonly remembered. So, you make it a bit easier to find by memory, assuming your domain doesn’t have spelling challenges in the first place.