Companies could replace .com registration extension with personalized Internet domains

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the governing body that controls the association and allocation of Internet domain names, decided on Monday after meeting in Singapore, that in the future the web page addresses can be ended in a suffixes specific to company profiles.

ICANN decision is one of the most important factors that could affect the way to develop and reorganize the Web and Internet addresses.

Despite fears that change might create confusion and could favor large companies, ICANN members voted overwhelmingly for change: 13 votes for, one against and two abstentions.

Following this decision, Web addresses will be able to move from general notations such as ".Com", ".Net" or ".Org" to the extensions dedicated for each company type like ".Apple", ".BMW" or ".Toyota."

The personalized domain names will not be cheap, however. Although ICANN is a non-profit organization, adjusting the technology behind the implementation of such a domain will cost 185 000 dollars. Also, as a measure against speculators, companies will have to meet a long list of requirements to apply for a corporate domain