It’s being called the most dramatic change to the Internet in decades, and we’ll be around to see it.
Last week in Singapore, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) revamped the Internet’s Domain Name System.
With a vote of 13 approving, one opposed and two abstaining, the new plan will rid the Web of the required domains — such as .com or .org.
“ICANN has opened the Internet’s naming system to unleash the global human imagination. Today’s decision respects the rights of groups to create new top-level domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind,” said ICANN president and chief executive officer Rod Beckstrom.
What this means is any company, if they so choose, can have a custom domain name for their website.
For example, The Daily Reveille’s website could change from www.lsureveille.com to www.lsureveille.news or www.reveille.lsu — the possibilities are endless.
Examples could include banks using .bank or porn sites using .xxx. I can’t wait to make a website and name it www.adam.awesome.
These new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) will “change the way people find information on the Internet and how businesses plan and structure their presence,” according to ICANN.org.
The gTLDs can end with almost any word in any language around the world, therefore allowing companies new ways to market and innovate their brands.
“[The] decision will usher in a new Internet age,” Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors, claims. “We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”
After many years of discussion and debate within the Internet community as well as business groups and the government, the decision to proceed with the gTLD program was approved, ICANN.org explains.
Unfortunately, there is a catch to this new proposal.
Registration for unique domains starts at $185,000, and each has an annual fee of $25,000, according to G4tv.com.
There goes adam.awesome.
ICANN’s website says a global campaign for the new proposal will begin soon to share this dramatic change with the world.
It also states applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from January 12, 2012, to April 12, 2012.
The site gives no word of an official launch day.
This is definitely a scary move for the Internet. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad development.
As a creature of habit, I’m not big on dramatic changes — but I could see this proposal as a positive step in the long run.
People are used to nearly everything ending in .com, but the possibilities of these new domains could be helpful for search options.
Many will meet this change with opposition. But once everyone gets used to the new system, .com will seem unnatural.
Tweaking domains is like owning a DVR — once you experience it, you can’t imagine yourself without one.
Change isn’t always a bad thing, and the gTLDs could revolutionize the way people experience the Internet — one .xxx at a time.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
 
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]