Dot.anything to take over internet: Expert

So long dot.com. The easy way to consult the internet will soon be via "dot.anything".

In a worldwide internet revolution to be announced next month, web addresses will expand beyond dot.com, with governments, businesses and entrepreneurs expected to rush to apply for signature domain names.

The move will reduce confusion and cut reliance on search engines like Google, Australian expert Adrian Kinderis says.

"Ultimately, this will be a new way we use the internet," said Kinderis, CEO of the domain name registry services provider AusRegistry International.

"Rather than a dot.com boom, it's now a dot.anything boom."

The so-called Top-Level Domain program will be ratified by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) in Singapore on 20 June, followed by a four-month global communication campaign.

After that will come a 60-day window to apply for a Top-Level Domain name, which will come at a cost of $US185,000 ($A174,388) to discourage frivolous applications.

The first Top-Level Domain names will most likely come into effect by the middle of next year.

Trademark holders will be protected when applying for a domain name, while no one will be allowed to apply for a city name, such as .Melbourne, without written approval from the relevant government.

A problem will occur when there is more than one city with the same name.

The government of Melbourne, Florida, in the United States, could potentially be pitted against the Australian federal government for ownership of the domain name.

If this occurs, the domain name will most likely be auctioned to the highest bidder, Kinderis told AAP.

Entrepreneurs are also jumping on the bandwagon with the hope of registering generic domain names such as music.

"You're cutting the internet into finer and finer slithers of more targeted and relevant content, which is really what end users are screaming out for," said Mr Kinderis, who sits on one of ICANN's advisory panels.

While Kinderis has not sounded the death knell for search engines like Google - "It would take a very brave man to do that" - he believes there will be serious implications.

"Search engines have come around to sort out this clutter of everything that's in this big bucket called dot.com," he said, adding that dot.com would still be relevant.

Under the new system, users will be brought straight to their destination without having to use a search engine.

"Imagine bypassing Google because you knew you could go to 'restaurants.sydney' or 'bars.sydney' and find every restaurant and bar listed on those sites.

"You would imagine our reliance upon Google to walk through this labyrinth is diminished."

A Google Australia spokeswoman declined to comment on the impact Top-Level Domain names may have on the search engine.

Hundreds of international organisations have publicly signalled their intent to apply for their own brand, including Deloitte, Canon and Motorola, but Mr Kinderis fears Australia is lagging behind.

"My fear in Australia is some of our brands who are multinational, the bigger brands who have the financial wherewithal and interest to want to participate, don't know about it," Kinderis said.

The new domain names are "not a matter of if, but when, and we need to be prepared," he added.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

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