A year after ICANN announced its plans to expand the TLD (Top Level Domain) namespace, we are finally able to see the application list for new TLDs. There are nearly 2 000 applications, each costing US$185 000. ICANN believes that each suffix will cost owners about US$25 000 per year to maintain and they will be required to commit to a 10-year maintenance agreement.
Among the applications are many variations on a theme and conflicts over potential ownership. As a result, these suffixes are all going through a review process. For the next seven months major players will have an option to veto the introduction of particular TLDs. Since there are so many applications and there are many conflicts that need to be resolved, ICANN is planning on releasing the new domains in batches of 500 in a go. The first batch should go live in about a year. Of course, the plan to expand the namespace so dramatically has been met with mixed opinion.
To read the full, original article click on this link:Why domain name expansion will cause mayhem on the internet | memeburn
