The Domain Gold Rush Is On

Soon enough you can get your very own top-level domain (TLD) name on the Internet.

Domain regulator Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved unanimously a proposal to open up restrictions on top-level domain names. This means that Web addresses won't be limited to just the ".com", ".net", ".org" or some of the other popular TLDs in existence. With the new system anyone can apply for having a customized TLD like ".cars", ".paris" or ".blog". The news is eBay is already poised to take ".ebay".

Currently there are 21 top-level domain names, 7 of which may be used without restrictions - ".com", ".net", ".org", ".info", ".name", ".pro" and ".name". The other TLDs are either reserved for special purposes or otherwise considered sponsored and limited to select groups only.

The new ICANN gTLD Strategy will pave the way for a huge expansion of the Internet with thousands of new domains available for every conceivable industry and purpose. Global brand names are expected to lead in this virtual gold rush. Various industries will be competing for control over their respective fields, for example ".hotels" or ".shipping".

The other important innovation of the strategy involves allowing the use of non-Roman characters for Internet addressing. Thus, Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea as well as Arab nations and Eastern European nations that use different character sets may soon have Internet addresses in their own languages.

Reactions to the new Internet system are mixed. Many express a sigh of relief as this would allow registrants to take on a domain which may already have been taken mostly by so-called Web squatters and domain hoarders. It also means that the importance of ".com" will be diluted over time and websites will be more uniquely addressed. Many new TLDs have been applied to the ICANN body in the past due to the limitations of the handful of TLDs available to the Internet. Attempts at a similar multiple-root domain system have been proposed before most notably by the UnifiedRoot group.

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On the flipside, there are those who foresee a fallout of confusion as Internet users might have a difficult time distinguishing which website to go to after a search much like trying to figure out which John Smith to call up when looking at a telephone directory. Some brand owners are also concerned with an anticipated bedlam in registering their brands across an endless range of TLDs and how that will affect the protection of their respective intellectual property rights.

ICANN officials are dispelling the worries saying that they have taken all aspects of the strategy in consideration and are essentially prepared for any inevitability. The ICANN cites they are putting objection-based mechanisms in place to ensure viability of the new domain system. You can peruse the ICANN official statement from their website.

As a final note, it would take a while before domain buyers can place their stake at a brand-new top-level domain. ICANN estimates the infrastructure to be setup and functional by late 2009 with registrants required to shell out top-dollars in the 6-figure amounts.