http://slatest.slate.com/id/2284157/ Scramble for New Domain Names Begins For years, most internet addresses have relied on a standard set of Web addresses ending in .com, .net, and .edu. Now, an impending mass expansion of domain names is set to add subject-specific (and potentially controversial) suffixes into the mix. The //Washington Post/ <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/06/AR2011020603940.html?hpid=topnews>/ reports that .god, .gay, and .islam are just some of the infinite number of names to be introduced in a move that may make the Internet more intuitive, or just more irritating. Naturally this will throw up the usual set of controversies: Who, for example, gets to control .abortion, .muhammad, and .nazi? The new suffixes will be dolled out by an obscure nonprofit based in California that OKed the expansion in 2008 but still hasn't figured out exactly how it will work. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will come to a decision this spring and then begin considering proposals from companies and government. ICANN has encouraged applicants to "Join the Internet land rush!" on its Web site, although the new suffixes will come at a price. *It costs $185,000 just to apply, plus an annual $25,000 fee to operate the new domain name. *Critics say the "landrush" is simply a moneymaking scheme for the group and corporations that own the domains. The chairman of ICANN says the high fees are necessary because the nonprofit anticipates a lot of suffix-related lawsuits. --