The end of the dominance of dot.com Internet suffixes could be close. Up to ten new top level domains (TLDs) such as dot-shop and dot-biz will be introduced before the end of the year, an Internet authority decided this month.
Following discussions during its round of meetings in Cairo in March, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – this time gathered in Japan’s Yokohama – has finally decided on a time plan for introducing the new TLDs.
Those who wish to operate a new TLD need to submit their proposals before October 1, together with an application fee of $50,000.
“The fee is intended to cover the likely costs of the evaluation and approval process, and to ensure that the remainder of the ICANN community is not required to subsidise the new TLD application process,” the non-profit organisation stated.
TLD Alternatives
ICANN will announce the selected TLDs on November 20, its board of directors stated unanimously. It’s the first time in ten years alternatives to the current .com, .net and .org domains are added.
During ICANN’s discussions in the past few months, proposals for new TLDs have included .sex for adult material, .union for trade unions and .shop for commercial sites. Non-commercial root names have also been discussed, such as .art, .museum and .theater.
The board stressed that it will take into account complications for trademark holders when deciding on the new TLDs.
High profile e-commerce site Amazon.com has already stated it has to own the Amazon.shop domain name if it becomes available, and that the company’s trademark lawyers will fly into action if someone else tries to get the ownership of that domain name.
Ten TLDs
ICANN’s chairwoman Esther Dyson said it’s possible that as many as ten TLDs will be approved, but that the initial domains that will be decided on in November are likely to be a test for adding more domains in the future.
The organisation welcomes applications for fully open domains, restricted or chartered domains and non-commercial or personal domains.
