Just as predicted, problems are already coming to light with the rollout of the new generic top-level domains being offered by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which runs the web’s domain-name system.
At $185,000 a pop, companies will have to register for several domain names again to protect them from cyber-squatters buying up the domain names and abusing them. For example, buying up any .xxx domain names that might sully their company's name.
In December, Jon Leibowitz, FTC chairman testified before Congress that the new domain system as proposed would be “a potential disaster.” In a letter to ICANN, Leibowitz elaborated:
"A rapid, exponential expansion of gTLDs has the potential to magnify both the abuse of the domain name system and the corresponding challenges we encounter in tracking down Internet fraudsters. In particular, the proliferation of existing scams, such as phishing, is likely to become a serious challenge given the infinite opportunities that scam artists will now have at their fingertips. Fraudsters will be able to register misspellings of businesses, including financial institutions, in each of the new gTLDs, create copycat websites, and obtain sensitive consumer data with relative ease before shutting down the site and launching a new one. The potential for consumer confusion in other variations of these types of scams is significant. As an example, “ABC bank” could be registered in .com, but another entity could register “ABC” in a new .bank gTLD, and a different entity could register “ABC” in a new .finance gTLD. Scam artists could easily take advantage of this potential for confusion to defraud consumers."
Many other agencies and organizations have called on ICANN to slow down the process and make changes. ICANN promises to take these concerns under consideration. Stay tuned...
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