One in a million: that's upei.ca

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is marking both 20 years of the .ca domain and the one millionth URL registered to it. The first one was upei.ca, registered in 1988.

Blair Vessey was working for computer services at the University of Prince Edward Island at the time and is now the acting director.

"This was really the first steps in bringing the internet into Canada," Vessey told CBC News Wednesday.

Vessey described the investment by the university as something of a risk. At the time UPEI was networked with universities in New Brunswick using technology dating from the 1970s. The university hoped to improve those connections, and network with universities even further away.

"It was pretty exciting stuff, but again it was so unknown at that time," said Vessey.

"None of us could guess what it would eventually turn into. But certainly there was the feeling that OK, this is the beginning of something exciting."

Despite that feeling of excitement, said Vessey, in those days before the World Wide Web and graphical browsers there was no guarantee that the internet would be useful.

Brent Krause of Calgary registered the one-millionth .ca domain name, krauslaw.ca, and is using it for a website to promote his private law practice.