ICANN Reviewing New GTLD Candidates
Internet users could be seeing the end of the “dot.com” era very soon now that ICANN has decided to allow the creation of custom generic top-level domains (GTLDs). ICANN, the organization who manages IP addresses and domains, accepted GTLD applications from a variety of businesses and organizations earlier this year, which means that domains like .Amazon, .Ford and .Walmart could become a reality as early as next year.
Companies and organizations that wanted to apply for a custom GTLD, such as .Google, paid a $185,000 application fee for each GTLD applied for and will pay $25,000 a year to maintain each GTLD that is awarded. Nearly 2,000 GTLD applications were filed for specific company names, keywords, and foreign language domains, with several of the bigger companies filing applications for more than one GTLD. ICANN will review the applications as well as the organizations themselves before awarding any GTLDs.
While custom GTLDs could become a reality within the next year, it may take ICANN a year or two to sort out the domains that received more than one application and make a decision. For example, nine companies applied for the GTLD .Book, including Amazon, Double Bloom and DotBook. ICANN will determine who wins the rights to this GTLD and others like it.
Although some technology activists spoke out against adding new GTLDs to the system, ICANN is doing its best to prevent cybersquatting and scamming in general. The term cybersquatting refers to the practice of purchasing a domain name based on a major company name, then selling it to that company at an incredibly inflated price down the road. For example, Facebook did not file an application for the GTLD .Facebook. Many activists are concerned that an unscrupulous individual or company could purchase this GTLD and then sell it to Facebook in the future for more money than they paid for it. ICANN claims they will review each application carefully, including any criminal history or previous cybersquatting behavior. ICANN also believes the steep application fee will help reduce GTLD applications for cybersquatters.
Another thing ICANN will check is how similar one GTLD is to another and how likely one GTLD is to be mistaken for the other. This is another common scamming technique for those looking to capitalize on common websites and companies, such as purchasing the domain WhiteHouse.com in the hope that people will type that instead of WhiteHouse.org. One example of similar GTLDs is .Citi and .City. Citigroup has applied for the former domain while three other companies have put in applications for the latter. It is up to ICANN to decide if .City is too similar to .Citi and if not, which of the three companies will be awarded that GTLD.
The applicants themselves are most likely eager to put their new GTLDs in place, but ICANN seems to be content with taking its time with the final GTLD decisions. The organization has also opened up all of the new GTLD suggestions up for public comment for 60 days. Any valid comments or legitimate objections posed by the public will also be evaluated by ICANN before a final decision is made.