Requests to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) include .porn, .ninja, and .ferrari.
Currently there are 280 ccTLDs but only 22 "generics" in the domain name system right now, but that is all about to change. The new gTLD application window opened on 12 January 2012 and closed on 30 May 2012.
(Icann) said it had received 884 requests for new suffixes from the US, out of a total of 1,930.
By contrast there have been 40 such applications from the UK, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region and 17 from Africa.
Several top-level domains have been applied for by more than one party, including .sex, .home and .diy.
Both the US drug maker Merck & Co and its German rival Merck KGaA appear to have applied for the .merck ending, which may trigger an auction process.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and its affiliated agencies applied for the .akdn and.agakhan endings.
Bharti Airtel Limited from India applied for the .airtel ending, while UniForum SA (NPC) trading as Registry.Africa applied for .africa ending. Electronic Media Network Limited (M-Net) from South Africa applied for .africamagic apparently for its Africa Magic channels on DSTV offerings.
Samsung - which had objected to the process - has taken part, applying for both .samsung and its equivalent in the Korean alphabet.
However, Coca-Cola and the cereal manufacturer Kellogg's, which also signed a petition in protest, have abstained.
By contrast Google has applied for dozens of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) name strings.
Obvious choices included .google and .youtube, but there were also unexpected inclusions such as .and, .boo, .dad and .new.
The search giant has also requested .music, which has been claimed by seven other organisations including the online retailer Amazon.
Other gTLDs attracting multiple requests include .art, .book, .news, .play, .shop and .vip.
The most contested name is .app which received 13 applications.
Icann said that it had received a total of 1,930 requests for its first round of new net names - 166 of them were in alternatives to the Latin alphabet.
It has now invited anyone with an objection to any of the claims to lodge their complaint within the next seven months.
Icann then aims to make the new domains live in batches of about 500, with the first set going live some time after March 2013.
"The plan we have delivered is solid and fair," said Icann's chief executive, Rod Beckstrom. "It is our fundamental obligation to increase innovation and consumer choice."
However, critics have attacked the plan, noting the costs involved and the fact that bodies in the first batch to be processed may gain an unfair advantage.
Nations including Brazil, China and Russia have also suggested Icann's functions be passed to the UN or another body more under governments' control.
Applicants had to pay a $185,000 (£118,800) fee to take part in the application process. They also face a minimum $25,000 annual renewal charge to keep their suffix once it has been granted.
The BBC made one of 40 applications for a new top-level domain name from the UK
The big names of the internet have either invested massively or not at all. Amazon for example has applied for 76 names, Google for 101 and Microsoft 11. But there's no applications from Facebook or Twitter.
And neither did I see any applications from any of major players in Kenya, such as Safaricom or East African Breweries Limited.
Strange that our giants are sleeping on the job! or maybe they have no global ambitions
ReplyDelete