More on Top Level Domains for Websites

A couple weeks ago we told you about CUNA submitting an application for a new .creditunion top level domain name.

Here’s some follow up information. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, that is the governing body of the Internet’s domain name system, announced that they received 1,930 applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).

Currently there are just 22 generic top-level domains right now – .com, .org, .net and so on. In addition there are 280 country-related TLDs, like .us and .uk.

Again, no action is required on your part, yet, unless you want to comment on the proposed domain names or raise objections. The entire process is expected to last nearly another year. But if this all goes through, at some point we’re going to have to decide which top level domains are really worth registering to protect your brand. For some, .xxx domain registration may have been an unnecessary expense. Some institutions may be better served by educating members and consumers rather than spend what will be a significant amount of money on protecting domains on the off-chance a member may accidently go to a different site.

Read more about this at Ars Technica or view the entire list of applications at ICANN.