Internet overseer ICANN plans to reform the top level domain (TLD) naming system so anyone can set up a new registry, but it seems web plebs will have to make do with boring old .com and friends. According to a report, the price for a bespoke TLD will be announced this Friday at about $200,000.

The price tag will help ICANN recoup the $20m cost of implementing a more relaxed naming scheme, AP reports. It'll also discourage all but the wealthiest individuals from applying for so-called vanity TLDs.

ICANN's reforms also mean that domains formed of non-Latin characters will be allowed for the first time. The Russian government intends to foster a "Cyrillic internet", for example.

The proposals will be opened to public consultation for 45 days. ICANN will start accepting bids in the new year, and the first new TLDs should appear late in 2009. ®

Related stories

• Vatican vetos 'dot god' domain (5 March 2009)
• US.gov questions DNS liberalisation plans (23 December 2008)
• New .tel domains bid to be world's phone book (3 December 2008)
• New no-advertising domain will deter some cybersquatters (6 November 2008)
• Flanders demands its own top-level domain (22 October 2008)
• ICANN cast as online scam enabler (3 September 2008)
• ICANN approves customized top-level domains (26 June 2008)
• Kremlin pushes Cyrillic alphabet net (12 June 2008)
• ICANN gets test results on internationalised domains (28 November 2007)
• ICANN speeds IDN ccTLDs (16 November 2007)
• ICANN dukes it out with the USSR in cold war rematch smackdown (19 September 2007)