ICANN destroys Google's dotless domain dream
Internet names overlord finishes new global top level domain checking process
Free ESG report : Seamless data management with Avere FXT
Google's dream of “dotless domains”, already on the receiving end of a firm ”no” from the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), has been killed off by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Dotless domains would allow web addresses like “http://search”, but would be tricky to implement without DNS jiggery pokery so serious the IAB thinks we're better off without them. ICANN has now said, in this resolution, that it feels dotless domains raise “security and stability concerns”. Seeing as ICANN's job is to act as “ … coordinator of the Internet naming system for the security, stability and resiliency of the DNS and the Internet's unique identifier system” it's hard for it to sign off on something with the potential to make DNS less secure, stable and resilient.
The Chocolate Factory has received better news from ICANN on other fronts, as the Corporation has completed its first round of consideration for new global top level domains (GTLDs).
1,745 of the 1,930 applications received have made it through initial screening, with only three binned and 61 deemed worthy of deep future scrutiny, none of which are associated with The Chocolate Factory. Refused domains include .AFRICA and .GCC.
More assessment awaits before the remaining GTLD applicants learn whether they can press their new addresses into service. ®
