ICANN Coins the Dots

[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN), has finally announced its picks for new top level domains
(TLDs).

The final selection includes seven new domains, of which one TLD, ‘.biz’ was
proposed by Melbourne IT, which teamed up with NeuStar as JVTeam in its bid
to register the new names. JVTeam also proposed .per, a personal domain
space which was rejected by ICANN in favor of Global Name Registry’s
‘.name’.

Other TLDs given the go ahead include ‘.aero’, proposed by the
Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA); .coop,
proposed by National Cooperative Business Association, (NCBA); .info, put
forward by Afilias, a group of 19 ICANN-accredited registrars; .museum, from
Museum Domain Management Association, (MDMA) and ‘.pro’, supported by a
joint venture between Register.com and Virtual Internet, RegistryPro.

The RegistryPro application called for the creation of domain names tailored
to specific professions, such as doctors, lawyers and accountants, which it
said would allow consumers to make distinctions among professionals.

Global Name Registry will reserve second level ‘.name’ domains for family
names, meaning the form of its domains would be john.smith.name, for
example, where smith.name is reserved, and customers may register their
names at the third level.

Melbourne IT said its .biz domain would enhance navigation of the Internet
by providing a space for businesses. It did not clarify the distinction
between the .biz and .com spaces, but said .biz would be a place where
businesses can be quickly found and secure e-commerce transactions can be
performed.

“The joint venture partners believe that, of the new
registries awarded, .biz should be one of the most commercially attractive,”
said a representative.