Group Shelves Idea to Expand Net Addresses; Study Planned Instead

An influential Internet organization has backed away from a proposal to dramatically expand the number of addresses available on the global computer network.

The Internet Society, which helps develop and coordinate Internet standards, announced this week that instead of moving ahead with the proposal, it will form a committee to study the issue.

The proposal, unveiled in August, was an attempt to quell the growing number of disputes over desirable address names.

“There just seems to be no consensus at all,” said Don Heath, president of the society. A variety of objections and questions has been raised about the proposal, from technical networking issues to concerns about protection for trademarks and intellectual property.

The new committee should finish its work by early next year and new names could be doled out four to six months later, Heath said. The committee could decide not to go forward with any address expansion, but Heath said that outcome is unlikely.

Disputes over Internet names are occurring with increasing frequency as more companies seek to publicize and market their products over the Net.

“The facts of life are that people want descriptive names and vanity plates,” Heath said.