.icannapprovesdomainnameexpansion
June 27, 2008
Time for some alphabet soup.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or Icann (that's one of their logos at left), is a California-based non-profit that is responsible for the oversight and global coordination of the Internet's precious Domain Name System, or DNS. You know, those unique identifiers at the end of URLs - the .com, .org, .uk, .biz, .tv, etc., which are known in the business as Top Level Domains (TLDs).
Well, Icann has been pretty stingy in the past when it comes to approving new TLDs. But yesterday in Paris, the group unanimously approved of a move that could greatly open up the field to new TLDs. Under the newly proposed rules, Discovery could apply for and run a .discovery TLD. I could, if I were filled with hubrisitic delight, apply for and run .clarkboyd.
To be clear, Icann's not selling these TLDs. Instead, interested parties have to apply to the organization, and make the case that they have the right, and the technical wherewithal, to run the TLD.
So, what's to stop someone else from registering my TLD? Nothing. "Trademarks will not be automatically reserved. But there will be an objection-based mechanism for trademark owners where their arguments for protection will be considered," reads the Icann press release.
The BBC has a nice little video chat with Icann's CEO Paul Twomey. There's also this FAQ.
Icann's been mulling this move over for about three years. And with good cause. As noted above, the move might greatly increase the amount of TLD "speculation" if you will, not to mention, eventually, inevitably, litigation. And let's not think about the cyber-squatting!
If you've followed the dispute over the creation of a .xxx domain for, well, you can guess, then you might be wondering what Icann's decision means for other TLDs that might be deemed offensive. Icann promises that "offensive names will be subject to an objection-based process based on public morality and order" to be conducted by "an international arbitration body utilizing criteria drawing on provisions in a number of international treaties."
Wow. If working in international news has taught me nothing else, it's this: good luck getting something called an international arbitration body, made up of people representing sometimes staggeringly different cultural norms, to agree on anything as vague as "morality." Really, best of luck with that.
And speaking of international, there's one element of Icann's move that's been largely overlooked. It also allows for TLDs in languages other than those that use the Roman alphabet. These are the so-called Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs -- goody, more soup!). Since last fall, Icann's been giving more than a dozen different languages with different scripts a TLD test run, including Arabic, Persian, Russian, Thai, Tamil, and Chinese. No more being limited by ASCII! (Delicious!)
Oh, there is one limit on the new TLDs - they can't be more than 64 characters long. Which means I only used up half my limit with my blog post headline. Does anyone really think someone wants to type a 64 character TLD into their address bar?
Icann's move is expected to be .finalized in 2009.
Update: Apparently, not everyone is taken with Icann's decision. Reports are coming in that the Icann website, and that of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA -- no more soup!) were hacked by some Turks calling themselves NetDevilz. They even left this message, according to hack trackers zone-h: "You think that you control the domains but you don't! Everybody knows wrong. We control the domains including ICANN! Don't you believe us?"
More to follow on how to contact NetDevilz to secure your own TLD ;)
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Nice.one
Posted by: mysterymeat | July 04, 2008 at 08:49 AM