ICANN allows hundreds of new Internet domain suffixes
In the biggest expansion of Web address suffixes since ".com," ICANN approves foreign language, brand name, regional, and generic monikers.
Goodbye ".com," and hello ".cadillac," ".vegas," and ".music." The world of Internet suffixes is about to go through a major growth spurt.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, announced today that hundreds of new Web address suffixes will roll out this year, according to the Associated Press. This will be the largest growth of Internet addresses since the 1980s.
The Web has become saturated with ".com" addresses, which has made people and businesses petition ICANN for new names.
Foreign languages will be the first to get new monikers, according to the Associated Press. Next, brand names like ".cadillac" will be rolled out, then regional addresses like ".vegas" will come next. Generic and the most proposed suffixes -- such as ".app," ".music," and ".tech" -- will come last because several groups have bid on the names and these groups have to come to an agreement before addresses can be registered.
CEO of ICANN Fadi Chehade told the Associated Press that businesses and trademark holders can also protect certain names for an annual fee of around $150. Apparently, roughly 2,000 businesses submitted 1,400 new suffix addresses last year.
ICANN is known for rejecting Web addresses in the past. In 2006, it decided that ".xxx" was not permissible as a domain address. But then, in 2011, it had a change of heart and let porn and adult entertainment sites officially register under the ".xxx" domain.
According to the Associated Press, dozens of new suffixes will roll out by April. After that, they are expected to come at a rate of 20 per week.