Domain Name Space About To Burst Open

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October 31, 2000 (5:13 PM EST)

By Mary Mosquera,

Whether it's .web, .biz, .per, .info, .site, or some other bold, new suffix -- change is coming to the Internet real estate scene.

The World Wide Web is bracing for another gold rush-style claim campaign. A few little letters -- packed with potential for e-commerce and Internet users of all stripes -- will propel the Web into new frontiers.

That means more sites, more business opportunities, more communication channels, more avenues for new technology, more outlets for dazzling multimedia, and more opportunities for online everything.

Internet stakeholders are facing a shortage of generic top-level domain names as it becomes more difficult to come up with new short and simple Web addresses with the current suffixes.

The organization that governs the technical administration of the Internet is on the verge of deciding which new top-level domain names will be added to the .com, .net, and .org name space.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, is set to select several new suffixes in its meeting Nov. 13-16 at Marina del Rey, Calif.

More new domain names are expected to grow the Internet and perhaps begin to categorize online addresses like "yellow pages" books do for offline addresses and phone numbers.

Groups that propose a selected domain name will also manage its use and database, or registry. The emerging registries will be the first competitors to the "whois" database maintained by Network Solutions Inc., Herndon, Va., now owned by VeriSign Inc. (stock: VRSN).

Forty-seven groups proposed more than 200 domain names. But only select organizations could afford to participate in the process.

ICANN required each applicant to pay a $50,000 fee to support technical, business, financial, and legal review of their applications. Those that are rejected don't get refunds, so ICANN has garnered $2.35 million in the process.

Experience, technical proficiency, and financial resources are high on ICANN's list, said Ken Hansen, director of corporate development at NeuStar Inc., which submitted an application to administer the new domain names .web, .biz, and .per.

"ICANN has made stability, and the ability to maintain the Internet's infrastructure, its most important criteria during the evaluation process," Hansen said.

Companies charged with maintaining the new domain names must be able to keep them operational 24/7, he said.

"With the growing dependence on the Internet as a conduit for commerce, millions can be lost each minute if a failure occurs," Hansen said.

There is also intrigue amid the dozens of proposals, with companies making stakes alone or affiliated with others.

Running a domain name database is a moneymaking proposition. Companies that manage the registry charge those that simply register the addressees.

Afilias LLC, New York, is an alliance of 19 ICANN-accredited registrars, including the previous exclusive and still dominant domain name provider, Network Solutions, which has registered 12 million names.

Afilias wants to control .info, .site, and what some consider will be the next hot suffix, .web.

Among the Afilias companies are members of CORE, the Internet Council of Registrars, Geneva.

CORE is an Internet group of companies that had vied for administration of the Internet with ICANN, to which the Commerce Department subsequently transferred technical functions of the Internet.

CORE is also seeking on its own to be the registry of .nom, designed for personal domain names. Companies such as Internet portal Lycos Inc. (stock: LCOS) and XO Communications Inc. (stock: XOXO) have joined CORE in its application for .nom.

CORE, furthermore, would be the registry operator for .health, submitted by the World Health Organization; .museum, submitted by the Museum Domain Management Association; and .post, submitted by the Universal Postal Union

Besides the NSI-led Afilias, two other companies have applied for the .web registry -- NeuStar., Washington, D.C., and Image Online Design Inc., San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Image Online Design has had a .web registry since 1996, with 18,000 domain name holders. But it is not an ICANN-endorsed registry.

It is not known what will happen to the rights of the current .web domain holders if ICANN selects one of the other registry applicants.

NeuStar has applied for several other name registries, and two others, biz and .per, under the name JVTeam LLC, an alliance with Melbourne IT, an ICANN-accredited registrar and a leading Australian software company. It is also a CORE member.