Growing internet sprouts a whole new set of .names

How is a .com different from a .biz, and what's in a .name? Such questions will become important from next July when the internet sprouts a whole new group of suffixes to add to .com, .org and .net.

The internet's governing body, Icann, will introduce .pro, .museum, .biz, .aero and .coop next year. But campaigners have queried the lack of a new domain exclusively for porn sites, the biggest single business sector on the Net, or for children only.

Such ".xxx" and ".kids" domains, they argued, would have made it easy to ensure that people did not view pornography at work, and that children did not stray into unsuitably adult areas. It would also release a number of .com names, presently used by sex sites, for general use.

Instead, Icann – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a committee of people which decides what new "top-level domains" should be created – announced late on Thursday that only seven of the 44 applications would be approved. "This is a first giant step for domain-kind." said Esther Dyson, the chairwoman of Icann.

However, the choices do not tackle a looming problem: the internet is running out of numbers. Every internet "name" is translated by computers into a string of four "triples" – each with a value between 0 and 255. That means there are potentially 4.3 billion internet addresses – but combinations are fast running out, and there will be another upheaval when a new version of the "internet protocol" is brought in.

The new domain names, meanwhile, will produce an instant "land-rush" as companies and individuals race to stake out the new virtual territory.

Many outsiders were critical of Icann's decision. "The man in the street just about understands .com and .co.uk," said David Peacock, a technology services manager at NetInfo, a consultancy in Maidenhead, England.

"But even then it's confusing – people wonder why it isn't .co.US rather than .com. When you have .biz as well, who is going to decide what that means? And should a company register on .biz and .com and .co.uk? What if three companies with the same name register with different suffixes? And if .pro is for professionals, but .name is for individuals, where should an individual professional go?"

- INDEPENDENT