Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released the full list of submissions for new internet address endings.
Requests to the ICANN include .porn, .ninja, and .ferrari.
Several top-level domains have been applied for by more than one party, including .sex, .home and .diy.
Both the US drugmaker Merck & Co and its German rival Merck KGaA appear to have applied for the .merck ending, which may trigger an auction process.
However the .uk manager, Nominet, looks likely to secure .wales and .cymru after no-one filed identical claims.
Likewise the Dot Scot Registry was the only organization to apply for .scot and the League of Arab States the only body to claim .arab.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released the full list of submissions for new internet address endings
Samsung – which had objected to the process – has taken part, applying for both .samsung and its equivalent in the Korean alphabet.
However, Coca-Cola and the cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s, which also signed a petition in protest, have abstained.
By contrast Google has applied for dozens of the generic top-level domain (gTLD) name strings.
Obvious choices included .google and .youtube, but there were also unexpected inclusions such as .and, .boo, .dad and .new.
The search giant has also requested .music, which has been claimed by seven other organizations including the online retailer Amazon.
Other gTLDs attracting multiple requests include .art, .book, .news, .play, .shop and .vip.
The most contested name is .app which received 13 applications.
ICANN said that it had received a total of 1,930 requests for its first round of new net names – 166 of them were in alternatives to the Latin alphabet.
It has now invited anyone with an objection to any of the claims to lodge their complaint within the next seven months.
ICANN then aims to make the new domains live in batches of about 500, with the first set going live some time after March 2013.
“The plan we have delivered is solid and fair,” said ICANN’s chief executive, Rod Beckstrom.
“It is our fundamental obligation to increase innovation and consumer choice.”
However, critics have attacked the plan, noting the costs involved and the fact that bodies in the first batch to be processed may gain an unfair advantage.
Nations including Brazil, China and Russia have also suggested ICANN’s functions be passed to the UN or another body more under governments’ control.
Applicants had to pay a $185,000 fee to take part in the application process. They also face a minimum $25,000 annual renewal charge to keep their suffix once it has been granted.
That may have discouraged some public bodies from participating.
One internet brand consultant noted that the business world appeared to be split over the perceived benefits of having one of the names.
“While Next and Boots are investing in a .brand for their online retail future, all the other big British retailers missed the boat,” said Stuart Durham from Melbourne ITDBS.
“The big names of the internet have either invested massively or not at all. Amazon for example has applied for 76 names, Google for 101 and Microsoft 11. But there’s no applications from Facebook or Twitter.
“There are different strategies in play here and some big gambles.”
According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), US-based organizations accounted for nearly half of all applications for new net address endings.
ICANN said it had received 884 requests for new suffixes from the US, out of a total of 1,930.
By contrast there have been 40 such applications from the UK, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region and 17 from Africa.
Details of who applied for what will be revealed in London later.
ICANN said it had received 884 requests for new suffixes from the US, out of a total of 1,930
Ahead of the press conference, ICANN also revealed that 166 of the claims were for what it termed “internationalized domain names” – generic top-level-domains (gTLDs) that are not in the Latin alphabet.
“That means that if you’re a person living in China or in somewhere in India then you might have the opportunity to use the internet purely in your native script,” said ICANN’s president and chief executive, Rod Beckstrom.
“It’s going to make the internet more approachable for people. Also we’re seeing a trend on mobile devices to people liking short names and there will be opportunities for shorter names here, just because what was previously a second-level name now becomes first-level.”
An example of this would be if the web address www.canon.com/products switched to www.products.canon.
Canon is just one of several organizations to have confirmed it has paid the $185,000 fee to take part in the application process.
The not-for-profit .uk domain name manager Nominet has also revealed it had applied to run .wales and .cymru while Google said it had applied for .google, .youtube and .lol.
Other less well-known bodies are also taking advantage of the move.
The firm Top Level Domain Holdings has spent more than $13.5 million applying for 92 applications on itself and clients. These include claims for .hotel, .cricket, .london and .music.
Dubai-based Directi said it had also applied for 31 “mass market” gTLDs including .law, .bank and .baby.
Organizations face a minimum $25,000 annual renewal charge to keep their suffix, but not all applications will succeed.
“Community-based applications” – those from trade associations or other organizations representing recognized, sizeable groupings – will take precedence over “standard applications” – those from stand-alone businesses and others.
So for instance, if PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and the Grocery Manufacturers of America have all applied for .cola, the GMA should be given priority.
If two or more applicants of equal status have requested the same name a resolution process is triggered.
“We would notify them that they have been approved and who else has been approved and say they have 60 days to go figure out how they are going to resolve this,” said Rod Beckstrom.
“If they don’t resolve this in 60 days then we are going to put it up for auction where each of them can bid for the term. The proceeds of that auction will go to a new charitable or non-profitable entity.”
The process has proved controversial. 87 companies and business associations sent a petition to the US Department of Commerce last year claiming “excessive cost and harm to brand owners” and the “likelihood of predatory cyber harm to consumers”.
But it will take a while to find out if such fears prove true.
Because of the volume of requests ICANN plans to divide and evaluate the applications in batches of about 500.
It says the first is expected to go live some time between April and June 2013.
North America: 911 applications
Europe: 675 applications
Asia-Pacific: 303 applications
Latin American and the Caribbean: 24 applications
Africa: 17 applications
(116 in non-Latin alphabets)
