Bring on the .whatever

ICANN, the internet naming board, has approved one of the biggest expansions we’ve seen yet in the area of domain names by opening up the market for an unlimited amount of top level domains. Currently there are 22 top level domain extensions including .com .org .gov and others.

For a mere $185,000 and a 10 year commitment, companies or groups will soon be able to submit their bid for their very own top level domain address.

After digesting the 360 page instruction guidebook, of course.

Estimates by industry analysts are already putting the number of new domains in the 1000s, mostly by companies looking to put their stamp down and by industry groups looking to open up generic suffixes like .bank or .hotel. Some popular extensions like .sport or .eco already have strong backing by groups wanting to make them a reality.

For companies with brand issues or problems with trademark infringement, buying their own domain suffix will be a fantastic way to ensure that only addresses with that extension in the URL are valid representatives or authorized re-sellers of the product.

I’m sure Hollywood is already prepping the legal team to register .movie and we all know .disney and .microsoft will be a couple of the first purchases.

ICANN has noted it will put the domains up for auction if multiple groups have legitimate claims. The world of Apple Computer vs The Beatles’ Apple Records should prove to be an epic courtroom fiasco costing more than a domain suffix should ever be worth.

Either way it will be quite entertaining to see what bizarre and idiotic suffixes people will pay for.