New Rush for Top Level Domains Begins

It will shortly, if ICANN's new proposal holds up, that is. According to Paul Levins, VP corporate affairs, any domain name will be possible, subject to your imagination,

The familiar .com, .net, .org and 18 other suffixes — officially "generic top-level domains" — could be joined by a seemingly endless stream of new ones next year under a landmark change approved last summer by the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, the entity that oversees the Web's address system.

Tourists might find information about the Liberty Bell, for example, at a site ending in .philly. A rapper might apply for a web address ending in .hiphop.
[...]
To beat a competitor to the punch, a company might decide it needs to control a new generic domain, such as .cereal or .detergent, but it would be costly. The currently proposed application fee is $185,000, plus an annual "continuance" fee of $25,000. If more than one company wants a suffix, there could be a bidding war.

I can imagine the porn industry fiercely competing for domains like ".ass", ".tits" and you name it, or spammers and scammers getting popular names with a ".corn" ending.[1]

Be prepared and grab a name before it will be too late.

[1] These spectacular examples are from Slashdot commenters.

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Comments

  1. AdityaApril 13, 2009 at 9:58 PM

    lol "domains like ".ass", ".tits" and you name it". But i must say there should be some kind of rule to select your ."anything"

    But this will violate the existing protocols this project might end up as an experiment which is a flop or just it is another publicity stunt.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArchiverApril 14, 2009 at 1:27 AM

    "Anything goes" is probably a PR move, but with the replacement of IPv4 with IPv6, it should be possible to add more top level domains.

    ReplyDelete
  3. IntelligenceApril 20, 2009 at 8:56 AM

    I heard the government wanted all porn sites to end in .XXX but for some reason it didn't go through. I am not into porn at all, so every time i run into it, it's A REALLY big deal.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ArchiverApril 20, 2009 at 9:34 AM

    You are probably referring to the domain name suggestion like ".ass, .tits", etc in the article. They were meant as a joke. I truly do not believe they will let anyone to have those domains. Then again, maybe they will. It is a billion dollar industry.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Meet Her HereApril 20, 2009 at 1:34 PM

    The porn jokes are funny, but as a well known writer of erotica, in addition to all my other online endeavors, I don't have a problem with porn. I don't have a problem with sexuality.

    What I do have a problem with is this type of change. I'm usually open to change, but why can't we just stick to the usual suspects on this one? Why can't we just keep .com, .org, .net, .info? Why all these other ones? I think all it will do is add to confusion. Plus, it's going to cost domain owners more money to try and protect their brands. I'm not for it at all.

    Jolie du Pre

    ReplyDelete
  6. ArchiverApril 21, 2009 at 5:40 AM

    Your comments in reverse order, MHH.

    First, with the present system, there are few names left for all to use, unless, of course, you want to use a name like "littlebrownfoxjumpsoverthefenceeveryday.com" So they had to add some breathing space. I should also mention the possibility of millions of dollars to be made might have had some effect.

    I view the so-called fight against pornography as a subtle way of suppressing sexuality. It is difficult to say everything I want about this subject within the confines of a small rectangle comment box, but I have never believed in the intentions of those defending "clean Internet."

    ReplyDelete

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