ICANN: New domains coming in 2010
The new domains can be anywhere from three to 63 characters long
June 24, 2009 02:58 PM ETNetwork World - Internet policymakers are forging ahead with a controversial plan to introduce hundreds of generic top-level domains -- such as .nyc, .sport and .food -- next year.
However, U.S. corporations with large portfolios of domain names are still pushing for a go-slow approach and more protection for trademark owners to prevent cybersquatting and other deceptive practices such as phishing.
In addition, leading registries are arguing for the continued separation of back-end and retail domain name operations. ICANN also faces criticism about the fees it plans to charge new gTLD applicants.
The issue of new gTLDs is the hottest topics at this week's meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is being held in Sydney, Australia.
ICANN says the new gTLDs will provide more innovation, choice and competition on the Internet, especially for non-English language domains. The new domains can be anywhere from three to 63 characters in length and can support Chinese, Arabic and other scripts.
So far, dozens of groups have announced plans to apply for new gTLDs representing cities such as .paris, regions such as .africa, charities such as .green, and generic terms such as .food and .wine. Some companies plan to reserve their own names such as .deloitte.
"ICANN has announced that they will start taking applications in the first quarter of 2010," says Brian Cute, vice president of Afilias, which is providing back-end services to the proposed .eco domain for environmental information. "ICANN is going to be publishing a third version of its guidebook [for new gTLD applicants]…so they are going to be reaching a decision relatively soon."
ICANN, which has been talking about adding new gTLDs since 2007, has issued two versions of its applicant guidebook to the Internet community for comment. A final version of the guidebook is expected by October.
Tim Switzer, vice president of NeuStar Registry Services, says ongoing discussion surrounds the following issues: protection for trademarks and intellectual property; whether registrars can operate new gTLD registries; how community and geography-based gTLDs will be evaluated; and the fast tracking of foreign language domains.
"These are some of the areas that are still in play that ICANN is continuing to work through," Switzer says.
Cute says there are a lot of unanswered questions about how the availability of hundreds of new gTLDs will affect the market dynamics of the domain name industry.
Multinationals are concerned about "if there is going to be a flood of new gTLDs, how does it impact intellectual property rights? How does it impact competition? How does it impact pricing?" Cute notes. "If there's a large influx, how is it going to impact the market?"
Reprinted with permission from
Story copyright 2009 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved.
Internet
Additional Resources



Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.
White Papers & Webcasts
Southern Company
Download Now
Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.
Defending Against the Storm
Download Now
Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.
Share our Strength
Download Now
Preparing Your Business Services for the Future
Would you trust your network monitoring tools enough to know when something is truly halting a business service?
IPAM: Slashing Network Costs
Slashing Network Costs by Consolidating and Automating Core Network Services
Essential Archive Requirements for E-Discovery
Register Now!
Horror stories: Managing IT Across Multiple Locations
How one extra sharp IT manager eliminates daily agony, hassle and repetition.
Computerworld Reports
Disaster Recovery & Cost Savings Zone
Thousands of customers world-wide have turned to virtualization solutions from Riverbed as a way to reduce costs.
