Don't expect your custom .mynamehere TLD just yet

Yesterday the big news hit -- ICANN will allow an unprecedented expansion of the range of available top level domains (TLD). An almost unlimited expansion, in fact, since the governing body for internet domains approved the use of any word, within the limits of the law and common sense, as a domain extension. Until now, individuals and companies were limited to a list of 21 TLDs, including .com, .net, .org, .info, .edu, and a couple of hundred region-specific domains, including .eu and .asia. So, how does the URL john.smith sound to you?

The big boom of new domains won't be as big, and as instant, as some news outlets may have lead their audience believe. Yes, in theory the variety of possible TLDs will be almost infinite. But then the tedious details emerge. First off, the registration process will not be open for at least another year. Second, it will be expensive beyond the means of the average person -- ICANN will collect a registration fee in the range of $100,000 to $500,000 per new TLD. And finally, there will be a lot of specific requirements and documentation -- for example, a business plan.

However, once all those details are cleared, the registrant becomes the registrar, and, with ICANN's blessing, will be able to sell URLs under the new domain to third parties. Fortunes will be made, at a time when everyone thought the domain name gold rush was a thing of the past. If ICANN decides to auction some of the more obviously lucrative words for TLDs, the sums involved may reach impressive heights.