The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN, said it had finalized agreements to integrate the domains ".biz" and ".info" into its addressing system. NeuLevel Inc., of Sterling, Virginia, will restrict .biz addresses to commercial businesses, while Afilias, a consortium of 18 domain registrars, will make .info available to the general public for any purpose. According to ICANN, Afilias plans to make its addresses active starting in early August, while NeuLevel's .biz address will be active in October.
The Internet's governing body have approved plans to make two new Internet suffixes available, giving Website owners an alternative to the crowded ".com" domain space.
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Last November, ICANN selected seven new domain names to join the existing .com, .org and .net Agreements with the operators of the remaining five domains .aero, .coop, .museum, .name and .pro are expected shortly, ICANN said.
ICANN's accreditation means both NeuLevel and Afilias can begin the process of making addresses available. Over 1 million .biz addresses have already been "pre-registered," said NeuLevel CEO Doug Armentrout, adding that they are expecting tremendous demand. Both NeuLevel and Afilias will give trademark holders a chance to discourage "cybersquatting," or the practice of snapping up addresses with the intention of reselling them. Afilias will allow trademark holders to reserve their addresses before the registration process begins. NeuLevel will allow trademark holders to file claims on their names and notify applicants if any conflicts emerge. Disputed addresses would be held for 30 days.
| Both NeuLevel and Afilias will give trademark holders a chance to discourage "cybersquatting," or the practice of snapping up addresses with the intention of reselling them.
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The announcement came one day after ICANN officials met with the Department of Commerce to answer questions about a separate deal with top registrar VeriSign Inc. that would allow VeriSign to maintain control of the lucrative .com domain in exchange for surrendering control of the .net and .org domains.
The Commerce Department, which has authority to oversee ICANN under its 1988 charter, did not reject or approve the deal, which some lawmakers had criticized as anticompetitive. Tuesday's announcement seemed to ease some of the concerns of General Counsel Ted Kassinger, who released a statement praising the deal. "We congratulate ICANN on this latest progress in introducing competition consistent with maintaining Internet stability," he said.
