True to its nature, the Internet is changing again. 2012 should see the emergence of new domain suffixes like .eco, .love, and .god. And of course, this isn’t without some controversy. This will open a ton of possible domains, which could either make the Internet more intuitive (you’d know what type of site you were going to if it have the domain suffix .god, for example) or confusing (who gets control of john.smith?). There are currently 21 domain suffixes in use right now like .com, .org, and country suffixes.
A small non-profit organization, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will be responsible for determining which sites have the rights to which domain suffixes. The organization will start accepting applications from companies and governments, though the application process costs $185,000; organizations that are able to operate a domain also have to pay ICANN $25,000. For controversial domains, ICANN plans to use “morality and public order” as their guidelines for approval.
I’m curious…what do you think of this opening up of domain suffixes? Would you want your auto dealership website to have access to a .auto or .dealership suffix? Even if it had a large cost attached to it? Do you think it will make the Internet more intuitive or confusing?
