[LINK] 'Shake-up' for internet proposed by ICANN

[Kim Holburn]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7468855.stm

> 'Shake-up' for internet proposed
> By Darren Waters
> Technology editor, BBC News website
>
> Icann oversees the structure of the net
>
> The net could see its biggest transformation in decades if plans to  
> open up the address system are passed.
>
> The net's regulators will vote on Thursday to decide if the strict  
> rules on so-called top level domain names, such as .com or .uk, can  
> be relaxed.
>
> If approved, it could allow companies to turn their brands into  
> domain names while individuals could also carve out their own corner  
> of the net.
>
> The move could also see the launch of .xxx, after years of wrangling.
>
> Top level domains are currently limited to individual countries,  
> such as .uk (UK) or .it (Italy), as well as to commerce, .com, and  
> to institutional organisations, such as .net, or .org.
>
> To get around the restrictions, some companies have used the current  
> system to their own ends.
>
> For example, the Polynesia island nation Tuvalu, has leased the use  
> of the .tv address to many television firms.
>
> The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann),  
> which acts as a sort of regulator for the net as well as overseeing  
> the domain name system, has been working towards opening up net  
> addresses for the last three years.
>
> 	
> It's a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the  
> internet
> Dr Paul Twomey, Icann
>
> The plan would also allow for the new domain names to be  
> internationalised, and so could be written in scripts for Asian and  
> Arabic languages.
>
> Dr Paul Twomey, chief executive of Icann, told BBC News that the  
> proposals would result in the biggest change to the way the internet  
> worked in decades.
>
> "The impact of this will be different in different parts of the  
> world. But it will allow groups, communities and business to express  
> their identities online.



> Arbitration process
>
> Hundreds of new domain names could be created by the end of the  
> year, rising to thousands in the future.

....

> Icann says any string of letters can be registered as a domain, but  
> there will be an independent arbitration process for people with  
> grounds for objection.


....

> Individuals will be able to register a domain based on their own  
> name, or any other string of letters, as long as they can show a  
> "business plan and technical capacity".


--
Kim Holburn
IT Network & Security Consultant
Ph: +39 06 855 4294  M: +39 3494957443
mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request

Democracy imposed from without is the severest form of tyranny.
                           -- Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Analog, Apr 1961