New Top Level Domains

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New Top Level Domains

To alleviate the domain name shortage, ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers announced on August 16, 2000 that new global top level domains would be released. These new names allow for unimpeded growth of the Internet.

The New Top Level Domains
Seven new top level domains were released: .biz, .coop, .museum, .aero, .info, .name, and .pro. These top level domains work just like .com, .net, and .org and are recognized by all search engines. Released in the summer of 2001 were .biz and .info, and the others were released soon thereafter.

Who Can Use the New Names
Some of the new domain extensions are reserved for specific services while others are open to public registration. Here is the breakdown of who is eligible for each extension:

.aero for the air-transport industry
.biz for businesses
.coop for cooperatives
.info for unrestricted use
.museum for museums
.name for registration by individuals
.pro for accountants, lawyers, and physicians

Where to Get New Top Level Domain Names
As new top level domain names are released by ICANN, and assigned a sponsoring organization, there are basically two ways that you can get a new top level domain name. There is the usual domain name registration method for names that have already been released, or else you can sign with a pre-registration service for names that are yet to be released. The rush for registration and pre-registration begins early to get the new extensions.

Pre-Registration Services
Registrars offering pre-registration services basically offer to "stand in line" for you to reserve your domain for a small fee. Software developers have been working hard to create programs to make their pre-registration service beat the others to the punch. When pre-registering your domain be aware of these offers and choose your registrar accordingly. Beware of offers that promise to get you your desired domain name and offer no money-back guarantee. With the great amounts of registrars and technical issues involved in the rush for names, it will be hard for pre-registration services to make any guarantees.

Related Article: Buying Expired Domains >>