Internet Future: complete overhaul of the way people navigate

For years now the Internet has remained the same, but things could face a complete overall of how we navigate our way on the Internet after a crucial vote in Paris. The regulators of the Internet will vote to decide if the strict rules on top level domains can be relaxed, these include .com or .uk. If the vote is approved, then firms will be able to turn brands into web addresses, also individuals will be able to grab a unique domain which is based on their name.

Dr Paul Twomey, chief executive of Icann, has said to BBC News “We are making it open for anyone to apply in any character set, not just Roman characters.” This mean that under the new plan names written in Asian and Arabic languages would also be allowed. If this proposal was to go ahead then Twomey believes that this would be the biggest change in how the Internet works in decades.

Twomey went on to say “The impact of this will be different in different parts of the world. But it will allow groups, communities and business to express their identities online.” he also added Like the United States in the 19th Century, we are in the process of opening up new real estate, new land, and people will go out and claim parts of that land and use it for various reasons they have.”

Over the past few years Icann has been working hard to try and open up net addresses. Right now top level domains are only limited to individual countries, so if you live in the UK it will be an .uk, and if you live in Italy it will be an .it. Some companies do try and get around theses restriction, which means that they have to use the currant system to their own ends.

An example of this is from the Polynesia island nation Tuvalu; they have leased their .tv address to a number of television companies. So if these new plans do come of, then we could see a huge increase in the number of domains being registered. This means that any sting of letters could be registered as a domain under the new plans; however an independent arbitration process will be in place if people wish to object.

For a full video report on this just head over to BBC News