Today, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – the governing body that co-ordinates the system of top level domains, such as .com and .org) announced plans to open up the global top level domain (gTLD) system so that theoretically anything could be available as an alternative to .com. The expansion also means that the domain name system will be opened up to support other languages besides those based on the current Roman script. For example, Russia uses the Cyrillic script and there’s a good chance that domains will be available based on that script.

This is huge news for those of us in the web hosting industry, so we’re watching events closely and will keep you posted as we hear more. It’s pretty significant for the rest of the world, though, too. Previously, there were only 21 top level domains to choose from, including .com, .net, .info and so on. Once these changes take place, the options will be theoretically limitless. Companies will be able to apply for domains more appropriate for their business and their customers, and consortiums may get together to create regional domains. For example, city-themed top level domains like .nyc and .paris are already being considered and organisations could bid for .theirbrandname – so whether you buy you own business TLD or you’re just casually surfing there’s a good chance you’ll end up using the new extensions.

ICANN’s expecting to start taking applications for new names in the second quarter of 2009, so there’s plenty of time to get organised if you’re interested. It won’t be an option for everyone, though – applications will need to be made by established organisations and are expected to cost at least six figures in American dollars. It’s likely that further application rounds will follow.

For more information, visit ICANN’s website.