Part of the mandate of ICANN is to make the internet representative and inclusive. Over the last ten years they have tried to pick new top level domain names that would best serve the internet and this centralized process saw the introduction of new domain extensions such as .biz, .info, .mobi, .pro, and .tel.  A new domain program has been in discussion for a number of years and the timelines for it are expected to be announced fairly soon. The new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) paradigm will allow anyone to pay an application fee and so long as they fulfill certain criteria they will be able to run a domain name registry.

There are three main types of new gTLDs that are expected:

• Geographic
• Special Interest
• Corporate Interest  

For example it is expected that Paris, Berlin, and New York City (and others) will apply for .paris, .berlin and .nyc.  It is also expected that companies like Cannon, Nike and IBM will apply for and run .cannon, .nike and .ibm domain registries.   There are also special interest groups that are anticipated to apply for  .shop, .sport, .gay and .golf.  

There are two main differences that are expected with the new gTLD process.  First, it is expected that there will be many more new gTLD's introduced over a fairly short period of time.  Second, it is expected that some of these new gTLD's will fail. There has not been a failed gTLD yet and the new approach being taken by ICANN is that they will no longer try to pick the winners but will, instead, let the market decide.

About Eranet
Todaynic.com International Limited(Eranet.com) was incorporated in Hong Kong in 2005, directly under Todaynic.com, Inc. which was established in 2000. As one of the first ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), Verisign, HKDNR, and CNNIC (The China Internet Network Information Center) accredited registrars, Eranet is also a leading provider of services in domain name registration and web hosting.

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