Wish you could replace the .com or .org in your domain with anything you wanted such as .newyork or .movie? It could be a real possibility soon although you may have to wait a while as the US Government talks over the regulations and policies used by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization that oversees all domain registrations.
Time for a quick history lesson. It was twenty seven years ago when the oldest .com was registered, the same year that Commodore launched the Amiga and that Ronald Reagan assumed a second term as President of the United States. On March 15th 1985, Symbolics.com, the intrepid online domain of a computer company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the US, gained an honored place in history. In 2009, however, it was sold to XF.com Investments, for an undisclosed sum.
The existing agreement between Washington and the ICANN allows for the organization to prepare and open way for what they creatively name “the next big thing” when it comes to surfing the web, or at least when it comes to typing a website address. It appears US authorities are now having doubts about the possible conflict of interest eventually arising from the liberalization of domain naming (that will eventually allow for you to have a site named billy.theman, but that has also originated curious and weird factoids, such as the Vatican.xxx domain registration).
Many brands and companies will certainly feel the urge to get a hold of their own gTLD or at least to secure a “more proper” top level domain. Several of the ICAAN board members have had links to some domain registration companies which may plant seeds of doubt in some people’s minds over the whole ordeal. Since last week, the ICAAN has declared an open forum period to get a hold of what the public feels about the revisions of Board Conflicts of Interest Policy, Code of Conduct and Expected Standards of Behavior. So, if you want to be heard then now is the time.
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