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back to article How many top-level domains are there now? 300? 500? No, it's 1,000

There are now more than 1,000 top-level domains (TLDs) for internet addresses, covering everything from .abb to .zw. This week, seven TLDs were added to the internet's root as part of the "new generic TLD" process being run by DNS overseer ICANN, pushing it over the 1,000 threshold. They were: .airtel, .barcelona, .bcn, .game …

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  1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. CanadianMacFan

    Found out about one today

    The company that I registered a domain with sent me an ad today about .co becoming available for people who in too much of a rush to type a long name.

    WTF?!? A complete money grab going after the .com addresses. They are ruining the internet.

    6 1 Reply
    1. Flocke Kroes Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Found out about one today

      If the price was high, why not buy direct from Columbia?

      Plenty of ccTLDs allow anyone to register, such as cr.yp.to (Tonga). Italy (it) is popular and Tuvalu (tv) has been cashing in for ages.

      1 0 Reply
  3. silent_count

    I've worked it out

    In an effort to reduce confusion about when to use .com, .org or .net, ICANN will issue a new TLD for every web page. Problem solved.

    9 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Facepalm

      Re: I've worked it out

      At $189,000 apeice, I don't doubt it.

      1 0 Reply
      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: I've worked it out

        Most will be grouped under .pwned

        7 0 Reply
  4. gregthecanuck
    Pint

    So tasty!

    What about .bacon? There's a TLD that people will remember.

    My twisted brain saw the ".bcn" reference in the article and immediately translated it to bacon.

    OK, let's have some suggestions for .bacon domain names...

    3 0 Reply
    1. Captain DaFt
      Reply Icon

      Re: So tasty!

      "OK, let's have some suggestions for .bacon domain names..."

      OK, I'll bite. A website dedicated to Georgia, US pork products*:

      macon.bacon

      *yeah, right.

      3 1 Reply
    2. Vincent Ballard
      Reply Icon

      Re: So tasty!

      I saw .bcn and thought "Why does Barcelona need two TLDs?" It's the airport code for Barcelona El Prat, and has become commonly used as an abbreviation for the city.

      1 0 Reply
  5. PleebSmash
    FAIL

    let $185,000 bloom

    "Let a thousand flowers bloom," Postel was keen on reciting, meaning that it was not the job of those running the internet's infrastructure to decide in which direction it should grow, only that it should grow unencumbered and in its own way.

    Sadly, Postel died in October 1998 and the company that took over his role, ICANN, did not adhere to the same philosophy. It has taken ICANN 17 years to reach the point that Postel and many internet originators wanted to reach within one year. But we are finally there.

    Yes, I'm sure Postel wanted to see ICANN grabbing hundreds of millions of dollars in this sudden organic growth of the Internet's infrastructure (totally not a TLD/domain extortion racket).

    6 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: let $185,000 bloom

      I thought it was 4k more...but was beaten by you regardless.

      0 0 Reply
    2. Yes Me Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: let $185,000 bloom

      This stupidity is the last thing Jon wanted and the suggestion that he would have wanted it is a bit of an insult to his memory. Jon was a member of the IAB at the time when the IAB wrote to the White House prior to the creation of ICANN, saying among other things:

      "On the other hand, a very large increase in the total number of gTLDs

      (say to thousands) would lead us into technically unknown territory."

      [Source: http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/ietf/current/msg04154.html]

      1 1 Reply
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    TLDnr

    Only kidding

    2 0 Reply
  7. FlatSpot
    Facepalm

    Shame

    Shame they don't make it illegal to contact your whois records for the purposes of touting for business, a nice automatic fine would make it worthwhile registering so many domains.

    0 0 Reply
  8. VinceH
    WTF?

    Optional

    "And you probably know about six of them"

    You honestly think El Reg readers will have only heard of six TLDs? Or are you just patronising us? Again.

    1 5 Reply
    1. Eddy Ito
      Reply Icon

      Re: Optional

      I think they do it just to give some folks a tweak.

      0 0 Reply
  9. Bob Wheeler
    Trollface

    I've always wondered...

    Why has .com been used(abused) when many shoud be .co.us.

    I can only consider truly global companies should be allowed to use the .com TLD.

    1 0 Reply
    1. DocJames
      Reply Icon

      Re: I've always wondered...

      Because as far as US companies are concerned, they are the world. (TIC, but only slightly: American exceptionalism lives on)

      A more sensible answer is that if you're selling .com, you don't really care who buys as long as they have cash. This would have been particularly prevalent in the early days when trying to expand; perhaps less so now if trying to protect the brand.

      1 0 Reply
  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I may be a luddite, but

    Whenever I see a domain that ends in something non-traditional - a country code from a place I normally associate with reasonable governance or a generic TLD like .net/.com - it's like a giant red flag for me.

    lemonde.fr? No problem.

    lemonde.biz? I'll stay away thankyou.

    1 0 Reply

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