Four new generic top-level domain names have been announced by The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The new names are part of ICANN’S New Generic Top-Level Domains Program. The program aims to expand opportunities for businesses, communities and internet users across the globe.
The domain names that have been selected are: ‘شبكة’, Arabic for ‘web’; ‘游戏’, Chinese for ‘game’ and ‘онлайн’ and ‘сайт’, Russian for ‘online’ and ‘web site’. The new names are said to be rolled out within weeks.
Until this point, generic top-level domain names have been limited to familar endings, including .com, .net and .org. Following this move, ICANN believes hundreds of new domains will eventually be made.
Christine Willett, vice president of the gTLD program, said in a blog post: ‘You’ll note that all four of these new strings are Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs). IDNs are currently available as Second-Level Domains and country code Top-Level Domains, but this will be the first time non-Latin characters can be used in a generic TLD. Building on the addition of Internationalized country-code TLDs in 2010, the move is an effort to create a more inclusive internet.’
