There’s a wide range of domain name extensions to choose from, more recently .xxx being available for purchase and quite a few people buying them. ICANN, the company that controls and releases new domain name extensions, announced today that applications are open for companies to get their very own custom extension.

For example, Google could have .google or Walmart could have .walmart to give you an idea. As far as mainstream acceptance of these new custom extensions goes, only time will tell. Most people when thinking of a domain name think “.com” or “.net” for example.

Via Tom’s Guide:

“On Thursday, ICANN opened up the doors for companies to step up and apply for a domain that replaces the typical .com, .org, .info, .gov or other extension with their actual company name. ICANN expects to see up to 2000 applications within the small three-month window it’s currently permitting, and will likely not take additional .yournamehere domain applications for years to come.”

Your traditional .com domain name can cost upwards of $15 per year depending on the registrar. These custom extensions are much more pricey however and something that very few companies will even be willing to pay for.

“According to Reuters, an application for the new domain isn’t cheap, costing $185,000 per entry. The estimated start-up costs will be around $500,000 and annual costs will be around $100,000.”

That’s a lot of money, but as the article also stated, it’s chump change for multi Billion dollar companies. If you could buy a custom domain name extension, what would it be and why?

Custom Domain Name Extensions Coming Soon, Applications Now Open is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s bad enough that we have Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seizing domains, including legal foreign domains, just because they think the sites are doing something illegal but now it seems that the Obama administration wants to go even further and make it so you have to get government approval for that new domain.

Yes, as hard as it might to believe, Declan McCullagh over at CNET has a report that:

The Obama administration is quietly seeking the power for it and other governments to veto future top-level domain names, a move that raises questions about free expression, national sovereignty, and the role of states in shaping the future of the Internet.

This is coming about as a new wave of domain suffixes are being applied for to extend the list of top level domains that already exist: .com, .org, and .net. The Obama administration is glossing over the affair as they say in a statement to CNET:

“has merit as it diminishes the potential for blocking of top level domain strings considered objectionable by governments. This type of blocking harms the architecture of the DNS and undermines the goal of universal resolvability (i.e., a single global Internet that facilitates the free flow of goods and services and freedom of expression).”

However Declan points out that what the government is looking for is veto rights over any new domain suffix being created.

The Obama administration is proposing (PDF) that domain approval procedures be changed to include a mandatory “review” by an ICANN advisory panel comprised of representatives of roughly 100 nations. The process is open-ended, saying that any government “may raise an objection to a proposed (suffix) for any reason.” Unless at least one other nation disagrees, the proposed new domain name “shall” be rejected.

This would create an explicit governmental veto over new top-level domains. Under the procedures previously used in the creation of .biz, .name, and .info, among others, governments could offer advice, but the members of the ICANN board had the final decision.

Okay so Obama isn’t really looking have a say over what you want to call your new domain but that doesn’t mean that having a veto over whether a new domain suffix is added isn’t good either.

Obama wants you to clear that new domain name with the government is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of the most worrisome things is happening on the web right now and with increasing frequency. Domains are being seized by the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security under the auspices of ICE. Not only are they being seized but it is happening without any notification but also apparently with the assistance of ICANN.

In a story that doesn’t seem to be getting any press from any of the major tech blogs ICE has gone on a warpath against any an all torrent types sites regardless of the fact that some of these sites don’t even list or store torrent files themselves.

TorrentFreak has the story of the newest domain seizure where Torrent-Finder.com suddenly started displaying the seizure notice from the U.S. Government and this is where it gets really bothersome. You see Torrent-Finder doesn’t provide any tracker services, carries no torrents, and lists no copyright works unless an individual intentionally searches for them. Even then the results are not displayed direct by the site but rather as in an iframe which means Torrent-Finder doesn’t touch any of the results.

The second really scary part of this is that the seizure was down without the participation of GoDaddy, the actual host of Torrent-Finder.

“My domain has been seized without any previous complaint or notice from any court!” the exasperated owner of Torrent-Finder told TorrentFreak this morning.

“I firstly had DNS downtime. While I was contacting GoDaddy I noticed the DNS had changed. Godaddy had no idea what was going on and until now they do not understand the situation and they say it was totally from ICANN,” he explained.

via TorrentFreak

So in other words ICANN totally bypassed GoDaddy and assisted the U.S. Government in the seizure of the site.

Now you still might be wondering about the title of this post but the fact is that Google can produce the same results that Torrent-Finder, or any torrent search engine out there, as you can see by this very simple search (instant as well) for Mad Men torrents on Google:

Or how about Hey Jude by the Beatles:

The fact that Google can perform exactly the same types of searches and probably return even better results why are the sites doing the same thing being seized?

By the reasoning currently being used then Google should have its domain seized.

Why has there been no outrage over this obvious outrageous abuse of the legal system?

Where are the major news sources like TechCrunch, Mashable, New York Times or any of the other powerful media voices?

Where is the Electronic Freedom Foundation and this case obviously deserves to be hauled before the courts.

What has been done here is wrong and is proven to be wrong every time Google is used to perform a search.

If it is this easy for the U.S. Government, and ICANN, to totally bypass due process in this way who is next? Your site, my site, or some site that might piss off a government?

Where is the outrage because that is exactly what this is – an outrage.

So, when is the U.S. Government going to seize the Google domain? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apparently anti-spam activists and security experts have been trying to tell anuone who would listen for the last couple of months that TstDomains was closely linked to Intercage/Atrivo; a hosting company now out of business, but had been listed as one of the more active hosters of spam and malware. ICANN says the loss of accreditation is the result of EstDomains president, Vladimir Tsastsin, being convicted in Estonia for crimes including money laundering and credit card fraud

Be advised that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) for EstDomains Inc. (Customer No. 919, IANA No. 832) is terminated. Consistent with subsection 5.3.3 of the RAA, this termination is based on your status as President of EstDomains and your credit card fraud, money laundering and document forgery conviction.

Currently ICANN is looking for another registar; or registars, to take over the hundreds of thousands of domains that EstDomains managed. Their termination will go into effect on November 12th.

ICANN steps up and yanks EstDomains’ accreditation is a post from: The Inquisitr

Snagging a new name won’t be a simple procedure, however: ICANN will first require proof of a “business plan and technical capacity,” meaning you have to have thousands of dollars of server and router-type equipment to get through. A thorough review process will then make sure the suffix is not offensive and does not infringe on anyone’s intellectual property. The names are also expected to cost a minimum of $100,000 and as much as half a million, so the rush may not be as widespread as some have feared.

The change will go into effect next year, with registration opening in April and the first new names going live toward the end of the year. Once approved, nearly anything could be possible — .microsoft, .mcdonalds, .tech — you name it.

The ruling comes right as current domain registration is hitting a new landmark. Go Daddy has just reached an Internet growth record, becoming the first registrar with 30 million domain names under its belt.

The registration of RulesOfSaving.com pushed the company over the line today. It’s a milestone in a strong year for domain registrations: Go Daddy alone says it’s now registering, renewing, or transferring about one domain name per second, with a whopping 72 percent predicted increase in sales this year compared to last. The trend, its execs say, represents positive news for the entire web-based business industry.

“These numbers really demonstrate how the Internet is alive and well, even in these rough financial times,” Bob Parsons, Go Daddy CEO and founder, commented.

One can only assume the introduction of custom top-level domains will lead to even more growth in 2009 — even if the added activity is limited to big business.

Get Ready for Limitless Domain Names is a post from: The Inquisitr