News in the internet field and more specifically in the sector of new site activations: ICANN has officially announced the opportunity to register new domains with a custom extension.
From today anyone will be able to register a site with a customized extension: to the more classic .com, .org, and .net, companies will be able to prefer a “.companyname”.
The ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the international body that decides on this matter, has given its green light: starting from January 12, 2012, companies and cities will be able to request registration of domains using a customized extension.
This option is available to everyone but it should be emphasized that this is not an innovation within everyone’s reach: the amount to be paid to obtain one’s own domain with customized extension is around $185,000.
It is therefore easy to hypothesize that this novelty will be more easily embraced and exploited by large companies present on a global level.
Another hypothesis is that the phenomenon of registration, by private individuals, of .com domains with the names of large companies will probably see its end.
In the past, there have been numerous cases of domain registrations carrying the names of very well-known entities, carried out by ordinary people not connected in any way to the brand itself. The purpose is clear: to resell that recently registered site back to the same company in question, at a price obviously much higher.
The lucrative phenomenon, later curbed by a series of judicial measures protecting companies, will probably cease since activating a customized extension will cost so much.
At the moment, the access methods to this option are still quite restrictive, at least in intention: the first applications can be submitted to ICANN from January 12, 2012 to April 12, 2012. Subsequently, the international body will evaluate each case individually and require as a guarantee not only the aforementioned $185,000 but an additional 25,000 euros per year.
Once approved, sites with new domains with customized extensions will be able to be launched online.
Certainly, new rounds of potential registrations are foreseen, but at this stage it has been decided to select applications, almost as if it were a “closed number” procedure.
And so, 26 years after the birth of .com, the internet is preparing for a new phase of its history, with nearly unlimited possibilities for opening sites and domains.
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