ICANN Claims New Domains

Looking for a good domain name? .Com and .net are no longer your only options. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numberson Thursday picked seven new top-level domain names in an effort to relieve the overcrowded .com and .net domains.

ICANN's board, meeting in Marina Del Rey, California, approved .biz for businesses, .info for general use, .name for individuals, .pro for professionals, .museum for museums, .coop for business cooperatives, and .aero for the aviation industry. ICANN is the organization that governs the Internet domain-name system. (See ICANN Staff Narrows New Domain Name Options.")

Among the top-level domains ICANN passed on were proposals that would segregate Web content for children and adults with top-level domains including .kids and .xxx. Other rejected contenders were .web and .tel. Parties interested in managing the domains had proposed 191 top-level domains. (See "ICANN Vote Plan Draws Criticism.")

ICANN President Mike Roberts says it could take some time before names can be registered within the new domains. "An operation like this hasn't been done in a decade," Roberts says, adding that ICANN wouldn't delay implementation, which is in the hands of the companies that will control the new domains.

"[The companies] have more work to do than we have," Roberts says.

Roberts can't predict when the new top-level domains will be in use. "You can't expect certainty. The companies have said it could take three to nine months. Some of them have to start from scratch," he says. "Some still have to write a business plan."

One of the winners in the battle to control a new top-level domain is Verisign, which also owns Network Solutions, one of the largest registrars for .com domains and previously the sole operator of .com, .net, and .org names. (See "VeriSign Acquires Network Solutions.")