The suffixes - .com, .net and .org –that we have all become so used to could now change to .food, .cars, .clothes, .storage and other various domain name endings. A powerful global company that charts the course of the Internet decided today to make available countless new domain suffixes, allowing companies to be creative and unique when guiding users to their websites.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is meeting in Singapore this week discussing changes that would no longer require private companies to choose from a restricted list of top-level domains (gTLDs), such as .com, when they register for a website address. Best.selfstorage anyone?
"It's the biggest change I think we have seen on the Internet," Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), told reporters. "We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration."
ICANN will receive applications for new names beginning January 12 next year with the first approvals likely by the end of 2012.
"Corporations may choose to apply for their own domain, offering them new possibilities for structuring their online and offline presence," said Michele Jourdan, communications manager for ICANN. "They may also offer corporations better brand control. Additionally, entirely new domains may come into existence that brings about new commercial opportunities."
During its six-day meeting in Singapore to discuss a wide range of matters, the ICANN board voted today to proceed with the new gTLD program. ICANN is a non-profit body managing the Domain Name System and Internet Protocol addresses that form the technical backbone of the Web.
"New gTLDs represent one of the biggest changes to the Internet since its inception," said Jourdan."While they won't have a technical impact on the way the Internet operates, they could potentially change the way people find information and how businesses plan and structure their online presence," she said.
The first companies to take advantage of the change and launch websites with their own, unique domain names will likely be global giants like Apple, Toyota and BMW, resulting in domain names ending in brands like .toyota, .apple, or .coke. Japanese electronics giant Canon, for instance, has already said it plans to apply for rights to use domain names ending with .canon. The new directive is seen as a big opportunity for brands to gain more control over their online presence and send visitors more directly to different parts of their web sites.
A name change comes with the hefty price tag of $185,000 just to apply and there are a number of criteria that must be met. ICANN will not consider applications from individuals or sole proprietorships. Only “established corporations, organizations or institutions in good standing may apply for a new gTLD.” The gTLD applicant guidebook decided on restrictions in an effort to weed out opportunistic applicants that just seek to resell domain names for a profit after buying them cheaply, a problem that plagued the early days of the Internet.
"It's the next expansion of the Internet, it's the future of the Internet," said Kieren McCarthy, the CEO of .Nxt,Inc, a San Francisco-based company which covers Internet policy and governance issues.
"I think our kids will think that we were crazy to always talk about .coms."
Sources Used:
Gopalakrishnan, Raju. “Internet Body Throws Open Domain Names.” Reuters. June 20, 2011.
Han, Bernice. “New Internet Era Beckons With Company Domain Names.” Yahoo News. June 19, 2011.