ICANN meeting begins in Singapore

The ICANN meeting begins in Singapore on Monday, June 20. One of the main topics of the meeting will be the registration of new top-level domains (TLDs). The event is expected to discuss and formalize the rules for delegating these domains.

If new domains are introduced, in addition to the existing top-level domains, domains like .apple, .bank, .ibm, or .russia will appear on the Internet.

As a reminder, discussions about new domains have been ongoing for several years. While experts and analysts have yet to reach a consensus, they nonetheless assert that the introduction of new domains represents the largest change in the global domain hierarchy in the last 25 years.

Today, there are 22 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) in use worldwide, such as .COM, .NET, and .BIZ. Additionally, there are nearly 250 geographic top-level domains (GTLDs) on the Internet, including .RU, .UA, and .DE.

If new top-level domains appear on the Internet, another 100-200 other domain zones may appear annually.

The introduction of new domains will, on the one hand, allow registered trademark owners to protect their trademarks and reduce the likelihood of domain hijacking by scammers. At the same time, the introduction of such domains will require search engines to adjust their search ranking priorities.

The cost of filing a top-level domain application will be $185,000. ICANN is preparing to hire consultants who will determine whether the domain can be allocated to applicants.