Companies that have applied for new domain names from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will soon find out if their names pose potential security threats, reports Reuters. It will inform companies on May 8 if their applications were viewed by others, but will not reveal who viewed them.
Interested parties can now apply to own run their own web domains such as .nyc or .gay versus having to use the .com or .org domains. In February, ICANN said that 100 website holders have registered for a new program to expand net domains.
However, ICANN found what it calls a "software glitch" that could enable some of the applicants to see the user or file names of other would-be holders of the new domains.
Ever since ICANN opened up the new domain name application process, companies have not revealed the names for which they were applying out of concern that others could increase the price of a generic domain such as .food, for example.
"Clearly, we're going to take every step that we can to make sure that no one takes advantage of any information they may have obtained," Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's CEO, told Reuters.
The software bug is not the only issue ICANN has faced with the new domain expansion program.
Various trademark owners argue they will have spend a lot of capital to protect their online brands, while other critics believe that a number of current and former ICANN board members could make a lot of money from the program.
For more:
- Reuters has this article
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