Articles

ICANN Approves Proposal to Introduce New gTLDs
Margie Milam, General Counsel, MakrMonitor

July 9th, 2008 — The ICANN board approved a recommendation that expands the current domain name system in a manner that could result in a significant increase in the number of top level domains present on the Internet.

This proposal opens up the domain name system allow for great tld choices including .berlin, .nyc and .paris which have already announced intentions to apply. This will also allow for the creation of brand or generic word tlds such as .web, .radio or .newcompany.

A formal implementation plan will now be created by ICANN staff and published in early 2009. The plan is expected to call for ICANN to accept applications for new gTLDs beginning in the second half of 2009.

In addition to new gTLDs being introduced, the ICANN Board also approved a plan to "fast-track" the implementation of IDN (Internationalized Domain Names) top level domains in conjunction with the launch of new gTLDs. It is believed many existing tlds will launch the .IDN equivalent of their tld in order to allow non-Latin characters to be input in the entire domain name. This will enable .IDN domain names to be registered in many different languages.

With the potential of hundreds of new tlds being introduced to the marketplace, it presents many new challenges and opportunities for brand owners. MarkMonitor will continue to follow these developments and consult with clients on how best to navigate this new landscape.

Click here to read the full text of the ICANN resolution: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-26jun08-en.htm