"ICANN has opened the Internet's naming system to unleash the global human imagination. Today's decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains (TDLs) in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind," said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICANN.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced today that they will open the internet address system going beyond the familiar set of 22 gTDLs or Generic Top Domain Levels that include .com, .org, .net and .info. With this announcement, the future of URLs or internet addresses becomes infinitely more interesting.
Imagine the possibilities for businesses and organizations to promote their brands or more specifically describe themselves via their web address. According to the press release, the new TDLs will be open to in any language or script.
What does this mean for the normal internet user? Well, it means that we will potentially have brand names or descriptive word after the dot. Imagine latte.starbucks, shop.ebay or marathon.running as the web addresses. This in itself is not a big problem. It simply means we may have to rethink a little bit how we relate to web addresses. So start thinking about what you want for your new gTLD, ICANN will start taking applications after Jan. 12th, 2012.
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