ICANN has approved a new plan that will allow applicants to select their own domain name in what is being called the “biggest expansion to (the) Internet in forty years”.
A final draft of the proposal will be published in early 2009 and users will be able to select their own domain in the second quarter of 2009.
“This proposal allows applicants for new names to self-select their domain name so that choices are most appropriate for their customers or potentially the most marketable. It is expected that applicants will apply for targeted community strings such as (the existing) .travel for the travel industry and .cat for the Catalan community (as well as generic strings like .brandname or .yournamehere). There are already interested consortiums wanting to establish city-based top level domain, like .nyc (for New York City), .berlin and .paris.”
“The Board today accepted a recommendation from its global stakeholders that it is possible to implement many new names to the Internet, paving the way for an expansion of domain name choice and opportunity” said Dr Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN. “The potential here is huge. It represents a whole new way for people to express themselves on the Net. It’s a massive increase in the ‘real estate’ of the Internet.”
So, is .xxx back on? Also, I’m saving $10,000 for .controlaltdelete