Make way for ".shop" and ".web"!

As the cyber-sea of ".com" domain names have reached a point of saturation, a couple new kids on the block seems poised to dive into the deep blue, ".shop" and ".web".

Currently, there are approximately 9.5 million registered ".com" domain names throughout the world as of June, 2000. The number can be translated to mean that 97% of nouns in the Webster`s Dictionary has been utilized for domain names. While there are ".net" and ".org" which share the same habitat, they have not seen much sunlight. Many are looking expectantly toward the upcoming meeting of the ICANN (International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) in Yokohama, Japan to resolve the matter surrounding domain names. Expected to last four days until July 17, 500 representatives from around 98 nations will attend to discuss the adoption of 6-10 new domains. For those interested in this area of internet development, ICANN provides an proposed draft through their website, www.ican.org.

Among the various domain suffixes up for consideration are ".shop", ".web"(web-related businesses), ".info", ".arts", ".rec"(recreation related), ".nom"(personal addresses), ".firm"(firms and corporations), and ".sports", among others. Of the proposed suffixes many predict that ".shop", ".firm", and ".web" would not find many objections.

The very idea of having greater possibility through the adoption of new domain suffixes is bringing a great breath of fresh air to the e-related businesses which had been practically choking without much elbow room. In addition, with the new suffixes which by themselves lend easy recognition of the type of service provided, it¡¯s popularity is next to certain. In case of ".shop" and ".web" domain suffixes, many offering cyber-malls and other e-related businesses are practically drooling and falling head over heels.

Even now, many are already scrambling in a cut-throat competition to garner new names for the proposed suffixes. It is only natural as in the case of the ".com" domain, it has given rise to number of windfalls of amounts in the millions of dollars for a possession of single well-thought out domain name. Lee Chung-Jong, the president of ¡°whois¡± which provides domain name registration service, stated, "The first round of competition for ".com" has come to an end and we are now preparing for the second round." Many in the domain registration service have already received a flood of requests for domain names.

Putting a damper on the rising heat, some experts predict, "Even with the adoption of the new domain names in Yokohama, the implementation would be some time in the end of the year at the earliest. With Korea being second in the world for ownership of domain names, the new round of name-grabbing could lead to unnecessary dollars flowing out of Korea."