ICANN voted unanimously to let individuals, businesses and organizations – just about anyone – submit an application to ICANN for their own top-level domain, better known as the suffix at the end of a web address, like ".com" or ".org."
They'll start accepting applications at the beginning of 2009.
ICANN also voted today to allow non-Roman characters in domain names, opening up the Internet to web addresses that include Arabic, Asian and letters from a variety of languages.
In order to secure a custom top-level domain, applicants will have to submit a business plan and demonstrate that their proposed domain has some kind of "technical capacity." In addition, ICANN will charge between $100,000 to $500,000 for a custom top-level domain.
“This is the biggest change to the way people find each other on the Internet since its inception,” said Paul Twomey, ICANN’s president and chief executive officer. “What we’re effectively doing is opening up huge amounts of online real estate.”
The measure also opens up the possibility that the much-maligned .XXX top-level domain may find new life through this commercial channel.
ICM Registry President Stuart Lawley had been trying to secure the rights to a .XXX top-level domain for years, only to see his company's application killed by ICANN in March of last year.
Last week, Lawley posted on the ICM Registry homepage that his company has filed a petition for an independent review of ICANN's decision.
Despite the new avenue to securing .XXX, Lawley told XBIZ that he and his company will continue to pursue the lucrative top-level domain through their formal petition.
"The new application process will take a couple of years to settle in," he said.
But what if that formal petition also fails? Will Lawley simply try to apply for and purchase .XXX through this new channel?
Lawley demurred, only saying that he and his company "will continue to pursue .XXX to the very end."