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<b><i>Commentary: </b></i>Keep the Core Neutral: ICANN Policy Proposes to Restrict New Domain Names

By Robin D. Gross
August 28, 2007

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ('ICANN'), the private California corporation set up by the United States Commerce Department in 1998 to manage and control the Internet's root server, is developing a policy to introduce new generic Top-Level Domains.

Unfortunately, the draft policy ignores freedom of expression guarantees, expands the rights of trademark owners on the Internet and sets up an arbitrary and subjective process in which ICANN will decide what ideas may be expressed in Internet domain names ' and by whom.

Examples of generic top-level domains ('gTLDs') include: .com, .edu, .gov, .biz, and .net. gTLDs are signaled by the letters after the final period or 'dot' in a domain name ('generic' domains are not to be confused with specific 'country-code' top-level domains such as .us, .ca, .de, .uk, etc.).

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