The brave new world of ICANN's "new gTLDs" : an overview

Since October 2013, the global body which regulates the internet—the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN)—has introduced, or“delegated”, into the internet 1,230 new generic top-level domain names or“new gTLDs”.This relatively new development has effectively heralded a new phase for the internet, whereby previously locked-up domain name territory is now being made available for corporations and organisations. With the maturing of the internet, domain names—and indeed, domain names as a new legal field—have attracted significant academic commentary. However, there has been comparatively less academic analysis of the new gTLDs to date. The purpose of this article is to redress that deficiency by providing a thorough insight into ICANN’s new gTLD programme, including its distinctive features, the benefits and challenges of acquiring new gTLDs, and the dispute settlement procedures in place for this newest entry into the domain name space.