New Domain Name Suggestions Will Cost $50K

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July 17, 2000 (3:47 PM EDT)

By Mary Mosquera,

Applicants can start proposing new top-level domain names to the organization that governs the Internet, but they must plunk down $50,000 along with their proposal.

These were among the policies the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) passed Sunday at its meeting in Yokohama, Japan.

ICANN wants to expand the number of domain names -- such as .com, .org, and .net -- in a measured and responsible manner. Applicants can offer ideas until Oct. 1. ICANN will announce its domain name selections Dec. 31, the organization said.

Increasing the number of suffixes will expand the Internet, enhance competition among companies that sell or resell online addresses, and lower prices. But ICANN did not say how many domain names it will choose or whether the names will be for specific or general use.

The worldwide group to whom the Commerce Department transferred Internet domain name and numbering functions wants the applicants to foot the entire bill for the review. Applicants must give a detailed description about the operator of the new registry, how it plans to promote the orderly registration of names, and how the applicant will minimize abuses of intellectual property rights.

"The fee will limit the types of proposals at a time when they should be seeking more diversity and creativity," said Jamie Love, director of Consumer Project On Technology, a public interest group in Washington, D.C.

The test bed will purposely be small, but even a few domain name applicants will be a cash infusion for the controversial organization.

ICANN has also set a schedule for at-large members to select five board members. Nominees will be chosen through August, with voter education in September and online voting taking place Oct. 1 through Oct. 10. About 40,000 Internet users around the world have applied to be at-large members.

The ICANN board will also propose to the Commerce Department by the end of August that the governing group transition the current root server system architecture to an enhanced architecture based on the use of a dedicated primary name server operated by ICANN.

ICANN has oversight over the assignment of Internet domain names, IP address numbers, and protocol parameter and port numbers. It also coordinates the stable operation of the Internet's root server system.