Marina Del Rey - The landscape of the Internet changed radically yesterday after ICANN, the body which authorises website names, created seven new domains, providing web surfers with an even more vast playing-field.
The US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced on Thursday it had chosen .biz, .info, .pro as new domains for business websites as well as .museum, .aero, .name, and .coop from a list of proposed new domains. Forty-seven organisations paid $50,000 (€58,000) each for the chance to submit a new name.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation said yesterday it was extremely disappointed by the decision by ICANN not to approve a special Internet address for healthcare sites and might appeal.
The WHO had proposed the Internet domain name .health for healthcare sites whose quality and ethical standards it would approve with the help of public health organisations, consumer groups and academic institutions.