A complete overhaul of the way people navigate the internet has been given the go ahead in Paris. The Internet’s regulator ICANN voted unanimously to relax the strict rules on Top Level domain names, such as .com or .uk, can be relaxed.

The decision means that companies could turn brands into web addresses while individuals could use their names.
Some believe there could be at least 5,000 new top-level domains, but others say there could be demand for billions.
Peter Dengate Thrush, a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), said the decision was of “historic importance”.
The new system should come in next year, but ICANN admits there will be plenty of problems, and it may have to arbitrate between different organisations seeking the same name.

Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer at the domain name management specialist NetNames (www.netnames.com) assesses decision’s impact on the industry.

“While it is clear the Internet domain name structure needs to evolve, the ICANN vote in favour of opening up Top Level Domains (TLDs) leads to complex questions for marketers and trademark owners.

“It can be argued that the expansion of available suffixes is the equivalent of opening a can of worms in terms of online infringement and cybersquatting – it seems logical to assume that as domain numbers increase, so too will the levels of speculative activity.

“Brand owners may find themselves in the position of having to register numerous new domains to protect themselves but, with varying fee estimates that could well turn out to be an untenable marketing expense for some. Nonetheless, the impact on existing domains remains to be seen. In the case of a big brand, presumably any browsers visiting a newly registered domain would be redirected to the original TLD in any case. There will also be question marks over how new domains will affect Search Optimisation and consequent site traffic and PPC advertising rates.

“One thing that does seem clear is, with the final pricing and potential refund and dispute procedures not yet in place for applicants, brand owners and the trademark community will be keeping an extremely close eye on developments in the coming months.
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