The Hindu : Front Page : Web addresses to become diverse

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Friday, Jun 27, 2008
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Web addresses to become diverse

Registering a new domain to cost $100,000-$500,000
The websites using new names could go live in late-2009

New York: Online addresses could soon look a lot more diverse as the organisation that oversees web identities may approve a proposal to create an unlimited number of so-called top-level domains — the familiar suffixes such as ‘.com’ at the end of Web addresses.

Under the plan, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will allow organisations to apply for any top-level domain, a report said. Businesses, for example, could use brand names such as ‘.ibm’ or ‘.ebay’ in their Web addresses. Cities could sign up for names like ‘.nyc’ or ‘.berlin,’ The W all Street Journal reported.

It will be possible to apply to use more general terms, such as ‘.news’ or ‘.sports,’ to define sites associated with categories of information.

ICANN, a non-profit group that acts as regulator for the Internet, expects the change to spur the creation of more websites — and to allow individuals and organisations to express their identities in new ways, the report said.

“This is the biggest change to the way people find each other on the Internet since its inception,” Paul Twomey, ICANN’s president and CEO was quoted as saying.

Registering a new top-level domain will cost somewhere between $100,000 and $500,000, the group said.

When the current addressing structure was first developed in the 1980s, few anticipated that the Web would grow into the global communications and commerce network it is today.

At the time, it was believed that a handful of categories — ‘.com’ for commercial sites, ‘.edu’ for educational intuitions, and ‘.gov’ for government — were enough, the Journal said.

Today there are more than 160 million websites, about 70 million of which end in ‘.com.’ Another 80 million end in country-specific suffixes. These categories do not reflect the Internet’s myriad uses, said Mr. Twoney.

ICANN increased the pool of available top-level domains in 2001 and 2003, but limited the names it made available to a handful of suffixes that include ”.aero” and ”.mobi.”

Mr. Twoney said the expansion is akin to the land grants the U.S. government made in the 19th century. “What we’re effectively doing is opening up huge amounts of online real estate.”

ICANN is also making it possible to register domains using non-English characters — such as Chinese or Arabic — which has been a big issue in some parts of the world.

ICANN, the Journal said, has spent years preparing for the change and has invested around $10 million in technology.

If the proposal comes through, organisations will be able to apply for new top-level domains starting around April 2009. The first websites using the new names could be live later that year. — PTI

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