Another article presenting the proceedings from the ICANN meeting in Paris.

Original article by Leslie D`Monte:

Nearly 40 years after the virtual world started, companies and individuals will be able to apply for any address on the Internet and not be limited to just the 21 suffixes like .com (accounting for 80 per cent), .net and .info or country-specific appendages like .in for India.

Top-level domain names till date were restricted by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — an international not-for-profit body that oversees the structure of the Internet. Its board, according to Paul Twomey, president and CEO of ICANN, has now given the go-ahead for total freedom on domain name and the final version is expected to be published in early-2009.

Companies and netizens can thus have unlimited choices such as .indian, .mumbai, .delhi, .bangalore, .chennai, . paris, .timbuctoo, .dilipkumar, .amitabhbachhan or .whateveryouwant. Like all desired things, these would come for a price: Rs 40 lakh to Rs 2 crore.

Indian corporate houses like the Tatas, Birlas or Reliance, for instance, could apply for .tata, .birla or .reliance and the fee will not dent their balance sheet. If they get the domain name, they could, in turn, give each employee a .tata or .birla or .reliance email identity.

There are 5 million .info names with around 650,000 added every year, and around 440,000 .in (India) registrations. An increase in clutter might make the .com stand out even more. “The .in domain did not take off, so the new TLDs will not affect the internet and .com will always rule,” said Vijay Mukhi, an Internet expert.

I totally disagree with Mr Mukhi’s stance on the introduction of the new extensions, i believe it will create a more organized internet with a .com at the end of the extension you page could load anything from a auction site to a pornographic site. If a extension has for instance .hotel i would presume that i would be greeted with a hotel site on my screen if typed in the address bar, just as if type .in i would have a web page relating to a Indian company or something related in some way geographically to India.

My Opinion to the article :

These new extensions will effect the dynamics of the internet for some in a good way and others it will complete ruin their professions (domaining/domainers) in my opinion. If the new extensions are released Cyber squatting will be would more than likely abolished and re-selling internet domains back to companies at a premium costs will be a less likely occurrence in the domain industry. As a part time domainer myself i admit i am a little worried, the only security which i have is that the users of the internet will stick with what they know and that is the good old faithful .com.

To read more of the article : http://www.business-standard.com/common/news_article.php?autono=327283&leftnm=8&subLeft=0&chkFlg=