Identity Theft News

Businesses unaware of ICANN domain liberalization

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Although it is less than a year from the culmination of a process that
will open up top-level domain names on the internet, two-thirds of
businesses do not realize that they will be able to register their brand
names, according to a new survey.

Gandi.net found that a majority of businesses - 66 percent - did not
realize that the Internet Corporation for Assigned names and Numbers
(ICANN) will be accepting applications beginning in January 2010 for new
internet extensions that can include cities and brands.

According to ICANN, the process could take the current number of 21
internet extensions, such as .com, .org and .net, up to more than 500
over the next two years.

Gandi.net said in a briefing of its new report that domain
liberalization should help companies to protect their brands from
cybercriminals who have used cybersquatting to hijack brands and launch
phishing and other kinds of web attacks.

New domain extensions could help companies to protect their brands and
better integrate website names with online marketing efforts.

But the company also warned of the potential for exploitation by
cybercriminals, calling for all players in the domain space, including
domain registrars, to "take a longer term, mature view of how they
behave."