Web domain expansion 'could be a disaster'

A plan to expand the number of internet domain names came under fire in the US Congress, a day after the head of the Federal Trade Commission said it could potentially be a "disaster."

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global body which manages the Domain Name System that forms the technical backbone of the web, will begin taking applications in January for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), the suffixes such as .com, .net or .org.

ICANN's plan would allow for the creation of hundreds of new gTLDs, letting companies such as Apple, Toyota and BMW, for example, apply for domain names ending in .apple, .toyota or .bmw.

Esther Dyson, a former ICANN chairman, told a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee the expansion of gTLDs was unnecessary and would lead to a "profusion of domain names" that would only serve to confuse internet users.     Read More