Approval given for new domain name system
E-commerce
27 June 2008
The number of top-level domains available on the web is to be expanded following approval from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
A meeting yesterday (June 26th) saw the organisation's board accept a proposal to allow businesses and individuals to register their own domain names, which could include brand names - for example, .nike - and more generic terms such as .sport and .news.
Once the system is in place, the number of top-level domains available will rise from 21 to thousands. It is hoped that applications for these new domain names will be able to begin in the second quarter of 2009.
"One of the most exciting prospects before us is that the expanding system is also being planned to support extensions in the languages of the world," said ICANN chairman Peter Dengate Thrush.
"This is going to be very important for the future of the internet in Asia, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia."
While the move has been broadly welcomed, there are concerns that the changes could lead to an increase in cybersquatting, with the cost for businesses attempting to combat such cases and protect their trademarks potentially being significant.
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