For companies that want to make a name on the Internet, deciding on a domain calls for great care to pick the right one.

In Hong Kong, where every week new companies and old are unveiling Web strategies, they need to be especially careful picking a name: They'll probably only get one. Hong Kong, which has its own top-level domain, .hk, has been very stingy with the big pool of .com.hk's, .org.hk's, and so on. However, that may change soon. If it does, the Web-happy business community here is likely to breathe a big sigh of relief. A task force formed by the government's Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau is preparing a consultation paper for release in the next few weeks, outlining proposed changes in domain-name rules and the responsibility for those rules. For now, here's the problem: If you want a .hk domain name, you need to have a registered business. If you've already registered a domain for that business, and you want another one, you need to give a good reason. Those requests are rarely granted, acknowledged Ng Nam, director of the Joint University Computer Center (JUCC), which hands out .hk domains. If you just want to put up a personal or family Web page, forget it. There are no personal domain names under .hk. "The rules are set in order to avoid people trying to grab names," Ng said. The open policy for .com, .org, and other top-level domains assigned in the U.S. has led to legal disputes over cybersquatting and helped to cause a shortage of names under those domains, he said. The JUCC is a consortium of computer centers at several local universities. The government's 15-member task force, representing a wide spectrum of the community, will consider whether a more representative body should assign domain names, as well as how to deal with speculation and how rules should be set in the future.