Group Proposes Expanding System of Net Addresses

An international committee Wednesday announced plans for an expanded system of Internet addresses that would end the virtual monopoly of Network Solutions Inc. to register addresses on the global computer network.

The International Ad Hoc Committee said this week that it will introduce a series of new endings for Internet addresses--such as “.firm” for businesses, “.store” for retailers and “.arts” for cultural organizations--as alternatives to “.com” and other so-called domains offered by Network Solutions.

The committee said as many as 28 organizations worldwide will be selected by lottery to register addresses with the new suffixes. Sharing the responsibility “is a useful market-control mechanism to reduce the risk of monopolistic trading practices,” the committee said in a report elaborating on comments it first issued last year.

Whether the committee can implement its plan remains to be seen, some Internet experts said. In the anarchy of cyberspace, where there are no legislative bodies, the committee is essentially a self-appointed body, and its initiative is an experiment in governance by consensus.

“It’s not at all clear who controls anything here. It is a fait accompli only if the community goes along with it,” said one member of the Internet Society, the organization that spearheaded the work of the International Ad Hoc Committee.

Under an agreement with the National Science Foundation, Network Solutions charges $100 to register new Internet addresses. Critics have argued that competition would result in cheaper and better service and that new domains are needed to ease a shortage of possible addresses.

Network Solutions spokesman Christopher Clough said his company, based in Herndon, Va., will not agree to let other organizations register addresses ending in “.com” before its agreement with the National Science Foundation expires next year.

Domains resemble area codes or telephone numbers for the Internet, enabling computer users to address electronic mail and find sites on the Net’s graphical World Wide Web.

The International Ad Hoc Committee proposed adding the domains “.web” for Web-related organizations, “.rec” for recreational organizations, “.info” for organizations providing information and “.nom” for people who want their own Internet identities.

The International Ad Hoc Committee includes representatives of the International Trademark Assn., the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the National Science Foundation, among others.

The complete proposal is posted on the Web at https://www.iahc.org/draft-iahc-recommend-00.html