Marking a significant change in the Internet’s domain naming scheme, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board of directors has agreed to allow an expansion of the number of generic top-level domains used.
Most commonly as .com, .net, .gov and so on, generic top-level domains usually are used to determine the website’s type, whether it be commercial business, non-profit organization or government body. While the limited range of top-level domains has spurred some creativity — the adoption of the Federated States of Micronesia and Armenia’s country domains as .fm and .am, respectively, for use in radio websites — it has apparently become an open market.
Fresh on the news of ICANN’s decision, radio and Internet multimedia e-commerce company BRS Media has publicly supported the organization’s loosening of domain restrictions and plans on obtaining a domain of its own, .radio. BRS Media plans to seek ownership of the extension through ICANN’s application process as soon as it begins, reported to be early 2012.
The move will open the door to stations large and small who want to own their own .radio domain.
George T. Bundy, chairman and CEO of BRS Media Inc., said in a press release that “DotRadio will allow us to offer the most complete selection of domain extensions to interactive media companies worldwide.”
— Brian Smith
