[kictanet] Scramble for New Domain Names Begins

[Alice Munyua]

    http://slatest.slate.com/id/2284157/


    Scramble for New Domain Names Begins

For years, most internet addresses have relied on a standard set of Web 
addresses ending in .com, .net, and .edu. Now, an impending mass 
expansion of domain names is set to add subject-specific (and 
potentially controversial) suffixes into the mix. The //Washington Post/ 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/06/AR2011020603940.html?hpid=topnews>/ 
reports that .god, .gay, and .islam are just some of the infinite number 
of names to be introduced in a move that may make the Internet more 
intuitive, or just more irritating. Naturally this will throw up the 
usual set of controversies: Who, for example, gets to control .abortion, 
.muhammad, and .nazi? The new suffixes will be dolled out by an obscure 
nonprofit based in California that OKed the expansion in 2008 but still 
hasn't figured out exactly how it will work. The Internet Corporation 
for Assigned Names and Numbers will come to a decision this spring and 
then begin considering proposals from companies and government. ICANN 
has encouraged applicants to "Join the Internet land rush!" on its Web 
site, although the new suffixes will come at a price. *It costs $185,000 
just to apply, plus an annual $25,000 fee to operate the new domain 
name. *Critics say the "landrush" is simply a moneymaking scheme for the 
group and corporations that own the domains. The chairman of ICANN says 
the high fees are necessary because the nonprofit anticipates a lot of 
suffix-related lawsuits.

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