The letters "com" forming the end of web addresses are sofamiliar they've become part of our language, but companies couldsoon be able to replace them with their brand name in a shake-up inthe way the web is organised.
Sites ending with brand names such as .apple, .coke or .legocould become commonplace from next year in the biggest overhaul ofthe way web addresses are awarded since the first .com site wasregistered 26 years ago.
Non-commercial and community sites could gain similar freedom,leading to addresses ending in city or town names. With creativity,it could give rise to complete web addresses forming phrases, suchas eatiningin.london or whatson.telly. Currently there are just 22so-called "generic top-level domains", such as .org, and .info, and250 country-specific endings like .uk. More than 84 million sitesare registered ending in .com.
But thousands of new variations are expected to emerge after thechange, which will create unlimited choice. Following years ofpreparation, the move is expected to be approved in a board meetingin Singapore today of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Namesand Numbers (Icann), the body that co-ordinates website names.
The change is seen primarily as a marketing opportunity for largecompanies to promote their trademarks online. However, they willneed to seize the opportunity, as applications for the new addresseswill be accepted by Icann for just 90 days from January. Firms thatmiss the window could have to wait years for another chance.
Theo Hnarakis, chief executive of the Australian domain name-registration firm Melbourne IT DBS, warned: "As a big brand, youignore it at your peril." Buying one of the new addresses will cost115,000, putting them beyond the reach of many smaller businessesand organisations.
Applicants will also be required to demonstrate a legitimateclaim to the name they are buying.
Alan Drewsen, executive director of the International TrademarkAssociation, said it could lead to people mistyping website namesand encourage so-called "cybersquatters" who register similaraddresses to popular sites and rely on such errors to gain visitors."Once misled, users are harmed in a variety of ways, including beingdeceived into purchasing dangerous counterfeit products ordownloading viruses that steal their personal identifyinginformation or infect their computers," he said.
The first .com site was registered on 15 March 1985 by the UScomputing company Symbolics. Today 100,000 new sites are registeredeach day.
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