ICANN / Top Level Domains

RNA Partners is an authority on developing and introducing TLDs.  Actively engaged with ICANN community for the better part of a decade, RNA is your one-stop resource for all DNS / TLD needs.

In just over 10-years, the world has gone from not knowing what the Internet is to having it become so intertwined in one's life that many find it difficult to disengage from it.  Over one billion Internet users are typing any number of over 128- million domain names (up 31% from 2006) currently registered into their web browsers 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, and on all six continents. 

Domain Names form the core of the Domain Name System (DNS), which helps users find their way around. Every computer on the Internet has a unique address - just like a telephone number - which is a rather complicated string of numbers. It is called its "IP address" (IP stands for "Internet Protocol"). IP Addresses are hard to remember. The DNS makes using the Internet easier by allowing a familiar string of letters (the "domain name") to be used instead of the arcane IP address. So instead of typing 207.151.159.3, you can type www.internic.net. It is a "mnemonic" device that makes addresses easier to remember. 

Beginning in 1999 and continuing to this day, ICANN constituencies, supporting organizations, committees, and the broader Internet-using public that is interested in ICANN's (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) work, have been in intensive discussions about the introduction of new TLDs.   Based on the experience gained through the introduction of new TLDs (e.g. 2000's .biz and .info, and 2004's .travel, and .mobi) that dialogue has culminated in the Final Report of July 2007.  The Final Report establishes the framework for new TLD introductions to the DNS, which is anticipated to begin in 2008 and continue as and when they are applied for. This means that, in the not too distant future, the Internet could have as many as 200 TLDs as opposed to the 14 generic TLDs that exist today (along with the 240 country code domains, e.g., .jp for Japan).

The rationale for new TLDs is clear:  The Internet is marching inexorably forward.  It expands exponentially in every direction every day.  The logical expansion of the DNS - seen in that light - is intended to serve the global community of Internet users by moving it away from a crowded, chaotic .com space to a more intuitive Internet.