Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names

Applications will soon open for new top-level domains in the biggest change to the system in over two decades.

From Thursday it will be possible to register almost any word as a web address suffix.

Familiar endings like .com and .org could potentially be joined by the likes of .pepsi, .virgin or .itv.

The proposals are controversial but Icann, the organisation which regulates domain names, says the change increases choice and competition.

In December, the US Federal Trade Commission wrote to Icann warning that the expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) "has the potential to magnify both the abuse of the domain name system and the corresponding challenges we encounter in tracking down Internet fraudsters."

And in the US, the Association of National Advertisers, whose members include some of America's biggest companies, have also opposed the changes.

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Hawk Reviewed by Hawk on . Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names Applications will soon open for new top-level domains in the biggest change to the system in over two decades. From Thursday it will be possible to register almost any word as a web address suffix. Familiar endings like .com and .org could potentially be joined by the likes of .pepsi, .virgin or .itv. The proposals are controversial but Icann, the organisation which regulates domain names, says the change increases choice and Rating: 5