New Domain Name Extensions to Debut

The race for great domain names just gained another lap: Registration could start as soon as late May for sites with the extensions .biz and .info.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has approved plans for the newest top-level domain name suffixes.

The 19-member ICANN board last week gave approval for ICANN President and Chief Executive Officer Stuart Lynn to authorize the two TLD registries, says Brett LaGrande, ICANN representative. The new TLDs are the first since the mid-1980s, and join .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil, and a host of country-code suffixes.

Rollouts are still to be scheduled for five other new top-level domains approved by the board: .name, .pro, .aero, .museum, and .coop.

Limits on Who Gets .Biz

The .biz TLD is being restricted to commercial or business purposes. NeuLevel is the holder of the registry for .biz, according to ICANN. The company expects to begin allowing businesses and corporations to start claiming .biz domain names later this month. Addresses that are awarded will become active in October, the company says. NeuLevel, based in Virginia, is a partnership between Neustar and Melbourne IT.

The .info domain, meanwhile, is an unrestricted TLD open to any business or individual user to register for any purpose, ICANN says. Afilias, based in Ireland, is the holder of the .info registry. Internet users can expect .info domain names in use as early as August. Companies with trademarks registered prior to October 2, 2000 will be able to begin registering .info domain names in late June.

Afilias will charge registrars $5.75 for each .info domain name, according to an Afilias spokesperson. For an end customer, a .info domain name may cost about $35, comparable to what a .com domain costs now, she says.