The Good and the Bad of Top-Level Domains

Abstract

ICANN recently announced an “open season” on top-level domains, to start some time in 2009. This will dramatically expand the namespace for Internet domain names and will allow cities, industries, and companies to register specific top-level domains for themselves. What effect will this have on the companies involved and on Internet users? In this column, the author explores that question and gives his opinion on the answer. © 2009, IEEE. All rights reserved.