The gTLD Story
Since ICANN was founded more than ten years ago as a not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to coordinating the Internet's addressing system, one of its foundational principles has been to promote competition in the domain name marketplace while ensuring Internet security and stability.
The expansion of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) space will allow for a greater degree of innovation and choice. This is a complex and involved process that requires the coordination and consensus of many groups and factions.
The ICANN team continues to share with the Internet community the ongoing program developments through the release of draft applicant guidebooks, excerpts, explanatory memos and in -person meetings.
In a world with over 1.6 billion Internet users – and growing – diversity, choice and competition are essential to the continued success and reach of the global network.
The ICANN Application
As of June 2011, ICANN approved the process to register virtually any string of letters or gTLD. Under the approved process applicants may seek ownership of any “gTLD”, an abbreviation for Generic Top Level Domain. gTLDs offer a selection of extensions, such as “ .music, .shop, .sport” or even Brand names like “.canon”. gTLDs are sometimes called labels, strings or extensions.
ICANN has stated that its goal is to bring “more innovation, choice and change to a global Internet. The process to obtain a gTLD will be by way of a detailed application.
The addition of gTLDs to the digital landscape will change the face of doing business on the internet forever by empowering innovation, stimulating economic activity and generating new business opportunities around the world.