The latest buzz in the domain name world is the new plans announced by ICANN to introduce generic top level domains. It means that large corporate companies will be allowed to register domain names under their own TLD. So theoretically www.whitehouse.sucks is a possibility as early as in summer 2009 when the new regulations would come to power. Mainly, as I said the generic top level domains will be aimed at big companies, and if your brand name is not “Sucks” it is unlikely you would be allowed to register the aforementioned domain name.

After ICANN announced it is considering introducing file extension TLDs (like .exe and .doc – you can read about it visiting ICANN file extension tld) it became clear that the face of internet was about to change forever. Large companies will benefit from the new rules because they will have a possibility to increase their internet presence. However, the surfer – you and me – will suffer from confusion and too much advertising.

It will also give a good soil for thriving scammers – possibilities are endless. Although there are plans to introduce a $30,000 to $100,000 yearly fee for generic top level domains, it is plain and clear that not all generic TLDs would be used fairly.

These high fees can come hard on middle sized businesses. As the big companies will start to register their generic top level domains, smaller businesses will be forced to follow suit in order to stay in the game.

The previous ICANN’s experience of introducing new TLDs has not been so successful. INFO, MOBI and TRAVEL are all big failures and would never match the popularity of .COM or any national domain.

It seems that it is inevitable that the new rules are going to be approved officially because ICANN has allegedly spent millions of dollars on introducing the new regulations. According to ICANN itself, the new regulations has already been approved. How is this going to change our cyber-world?



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