Domain Name Gridlock Fix from ICANN Makes More Than Dot Com Available

The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), 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 folgers.com, Folgers might control the domain .folgers and assign web addresses such as coffee.folgers or morning coffee.folgers. This opens up domains to read .anything, according to the LA Times.

ICANN called it "one of the biggest changes ever" to the way the Internet's naming system works, according to the Times. The 22 existing suffixes that are part of the domain names today could quickly balloon into the hundreds. Many of these suffixes were established in the early 1980s. The thought behind the change is to allow more recognizable addresses, which would help Web users easily find what they're looking for and do it more quickly.

In the online for-profit world, this means that instead of going to pepsi.com, you might find yourself entering drink.pepsi into the URL bar for an instant hit without a search. Instead of fox.com and then searching for Bill O'Reilly, you might be able to go to Bill O'Reilly.fox. Nonprofit groups can reserve the .school domain; one of these domains will be available to every elementary school. An online consolidation of cities websites might look like city hall.nyc., city clerk.nyc or water department .boston. This will open up the ability for any interest group to purchase its own corner of the Web by offering every auto sales a .car domain name, every lawyer a .law address, and every restaurant a site that ends with .food.

The domains online are much like real estate in the real world, and this new virtual address won't come without a hefty cost. The price tag to get a new domain created is $185,000. This is not opened for just anyone either: Only "established public or private organizations" can apply. Along with the application, you must prove that you have the technical capability necessary to keep a domain up and running, reports the Times.

ICANN has had this new expansion in the works for a good part of the last decade. The Los Angeles-based Internet Corporation approved these changes Monday at the group's Board of Directors meeting in Singapore.

Applications will be available soon and the corporation, which has long been the steward of the Internet's naming system, will allow parties a three-month window to apply for a new name.

ICANN is hoping that opening new Internet domain suffixes will undo the naming gridlock. Back in 2000, ICANN added 14 new top-level domains to the original eight. Few of these domains caught on, and the .com name still remains the most desirable. The .com domain offers slim pickings, with many of these names claimed long ago. Today it can be very expensive to purchase a desirable .com name.

Reference: LA Times