New domain names edge closer

New top-level domain names on the horizon

Six new internet domain names look set to be given the official go ahead in November by Icann, the organisation which oversees the net.

It comes almost a year after the suffixes, among them .biz and .museum, were first agreed on.

New names

.biz - businesses

.name - individuals

.museum - museums

.pro - professionals

.aero - aviation

.coop - cooperatives

.info - general information

They could be online by January next year, following pressure on Icann to speed up the introduction of new domain names.

Negotiations on a seventh domain name, .pro, are also expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

But Icann is not likely to approve another set of new domains for at least a year after that, according to participants at the organisation's quarterly meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Currently, the internet uses a limited pool of so-called top-level generic domains such as .com, .net and .org. Each nation also has its own country code.

The names .edu and .gov are restricted to educational institutions and government agencies.

But the rapid growth in internet use has meant domain name registrations have far exceeded anyone's expectations.

Lengthy negotiations

A lawyer for Icann, Louis Touton, acknowledged that the slow pace of progress on the new domains has frustrated many.

"Everybody has been way too optimistic," he said.

One of the reasons for the delay in the rollout has been lengthy negotiations to ensure that the new domains were ready to cope with the rush of people looking to grab a new piece of cyberspace.

"It's something that's never been done before in this environment," said Mr Touton.

Despite detailed legal documents, the introduction of new domain names has been plagued with problems.

The managers of the business-focused .biz domain have been accused of running an illegal lottery in its pre-registration process.

And there are fears that many people who have pre-registered a .info domain may be cybersquatting.

It appears that many have managed to bypass the system of checks and have gained trademarked domains by using false trademark information.