ICANN Opens Domain Naming

Move over, dot-com — get ready for dot-anything.

The group that governs Internet domain names is opening up the system so that companies and organizations can apply to create their own versions of .com, .org or .gov. Under the new rules, instead of a coke.com, Coca-Cola might control the domain .coke and assign Web addresses such as drink.coke or bottle.coke.

The Marina del Rey group known as ICANN called it "one of the biggest changes ever" to the way the Internet's naming system works. With the domain expansion, the group of 22 existing suffixes — many of which were established in the early 1980s — could quickly balloon to hundreds or thousands. ICANN said more recognizable addresses would allow Web users to find what they're looking for more quickly.

ICANN has been planning the naming expansion for much of the last decade. The group, which has been the steward of the Internet's naming system since 1998, said it would begin accepting applications in January.

Internet observers expect that the initial expansion might bring 500 new options for site suffixes, which are called generic top-level domain names (or gTLDs). There are only 22 now, including the original eight, (.com, .edu, .gov, .int., .mil, .net, .org and .arpa).

Since 2000, ICANN has added 14 top-level domains, including .biz, .info and .jobs. Few of the new names have caught on, with .com remaining the standard across many industries.

Still it can be difficult and expensive to find new .com names, with the most desirable long ago snapped up by companies, individuals and speculators who stockpile names in hopes of selling them to the highest bidder.
LAMediaWatch.com