ICANN has taken a new step to enable more flexibility in domain names. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has planned to create top level domain names which would enable brands to create their own TLDs like .google, .nyc, .canon and so on.“ICANN has opened the Internet’s addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination. No one can predict where this historic decision will take us,” Rod Beckstrom, President and CEO of ICANN, said.
Now that the proposal has been approved, ICANN will start a ‘communications’ period during which it will explain to the world how the new gTLDs work and why they’re useful. It will also continue to accept feedback and suggestions.
Creating a new gTLD will cost $185,000 up front and an additional $25,000 per year to maintain. The steep cost is also designed to keep out those looking for a quick buck. ICANN believes between 300 and 1,000 of these new TLDs will be created at first.
Critics say this will lead to confusion and problems for the company in many ways. Company have to protect their brand names before being registered under other people.
