Three New Web-Address Suffixes Move Closer to Activation

Sep 10 2001

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- The organization that oversees Internet addresses cleared the way for domain names ending in ".museum," ".coop" and ".aero," but postponed action on ".pro."

Contracts for ".biz," ".info" and ".name" have already been approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit organization selected by the U.S. government to handle address policies.

As ICANN concluded four days of quarterly meetings here, its board authorized staff to finalize contracts to run suffixes for museums, business cooperatives and the aviation industry.

But with ".pro," the suffix for professionals, ICANN officials said a fina agreement was delayed by disagreements between companies in the joint venture that plans to run ".pro." ICANN general counsel Louis Touton wouldn't give details, other than to say the dispute has been resolved. On its Web site, ICANN said the proposed ".pro" operator wanted to reduce its level of financial commitments.

The ICANN board set a mid-November deadline, when ICANN next meets, for staff to complete an agreement with RegistryPro Ltd. Board approval could come then. The delay likely means ".pro" names won't be usable until next year.

The ".pro" suffix was one of seven approved by ICANN in November as the first major addressing expansion since the 1980s. At the time, ICANN had hoped the names would become operational by mid-2001.

The first of the new names, ".info," will be activated Sept. 19, followed by ".biz" on Oct. 1 and ".name" on Dec. 13.