ACA rejects proposed changes to Internet domain name program

TORONTO – The Association of Canadian Advertisers is demanding that proposed changes to the Internet domain program be scrapped, warning it “could become a minefield for criminal activity, aimed at consumers especially, if it remains possible for others to hijack trusted brand names”.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has proposed a new program that would permit applicants to claim virtually any word – generic or branded – as domain suffixes (for example .shaw, .rogers., .bell, .beer, .toys), supplementing the 22 generic top-level domains (TLDs) now in use, such as .com, .edu, .net, .gov, and .org. The changes...