Postal Service becomes a dot-com

The U.S. Postal Service launched a new World Wide Web site last week that not only offers new services, but a new address as well.

USPS switched from a dot-gov site (www.usps.gov), to a dot-com location (www.usps.com).

"We wanted to make it easier for our customers to find us," said Mark Saunders, spokesman for USPS. "People are more accustomed to dot-com [addresses] than dot-gov."

Dot-com domain names have been restricted to commercial users, and the change has disturbed some industry representatives. "We are extremely concerned that this "mutation' could deceive the public into believing they are not dealing with a government entity," said Ed Black, president of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a nonprofit organization that represents computer and communication firms.

The Web site change comes on the heels of USPS' announcement that it would offer an electronic bill payment service.