The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has voted today on opening up the top-level domain market and with a 12-1 vote in favor and two abstaining, the group has lifted all top-level domain name restrictions. This will allow anyone with US$185.000 to spare to buy just about any domain their heart desires, from .ilikepie to .apple or .nazi (ok maybe not that one).
“ICANN has opened the Internet’s naming system to unleash the global human imagination. Today’s decision respects the rights of groups to create TLDs in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system (DNS) to better serve all of mankind.”
To prevent cybersquatting, any individual or organization applying for one of the new domain names will have to show a legitimate claim to the name in order to be approved, and if approved they’ll have to maintain an operational site at the purchased address.
Applications for the new gTLDs are scheduled to start on January 12, 2012 and close on April 12 the same year.
Can’t wait to see how this will change the feel of our interwebz.
