ICANN domain name expansion to shake-up new web addresses

The web is set for one of the biggest shake-ups its ever seen after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have voted to allow a much longer list of domain endings to be available to site owners.

There are currently 21 generic top-level domain names (gTLD); aero, asia, biz, cat, com, coop, edu, gov, info, int, jobs, mil, mobi, museum, name, net, org, pro, tel, travel and the recently luanched adult xxx.

However the new motion will expand upon this massively, allowing pretty much any ending to a domian name of an indviduals choosing for a price of $185,000 and a lengthy application process.

“Today’s decision will usher in a new internet age,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of Icann’s board of directors. “We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration. Unless there is a good reason to restrain it, innovation should be allowed to run free.”

So, you could very well see sites such as www.darthvader.starwars or www.supermario.nintendo popping up before long.

Country-level domains, such as Britain’s .co.uk or Germany’s .de, will not be affected by these changes.

Via: Guardian