开放顶级域名互联网更将海阔天空

The regulatory body that oversees Internet domain names has agreed to end restrictions on suffixes for site names, a change that will dramatically increase the number of possible site names while opening up new branding opportunities for companies, cities and others.

主管互联网域名分配的机构同意终止对网址名称的限制，这项改变将大幅度地增加可能的网站名称数量，同时也为公司、城市和其他单位开启行销商标的新机会。

Currently, Internet site owners are limited to a handful of suffixes, such as dot.com, dot.org or dot.gov.

互联网的网站网主原来只限定用几个固定的域名，像是 "点com"、"点org"、"点gov"。

But starting in January registrants will be able to invent their own suffixes.

但是，从明年一月开始，网站注册者将能用自己起的域名。

Major companies are expected to create suffixes with their own names. Japanese electronics giant, Canon, has already said it plans to apply for rights to use domain names ending with dot-canon. The German capital city, Berlin, has reportedly expressed interest in a dot.berlin suffix. Other suffixes could help organize the Internet by language, geography or industry.

一般预料，大公司会用自己的公司行号创造域名。日本电子产品巨头佳能公司说，它计划申请以 "点canon" 作结尾的域名。据报导，德国首都柏林也对 "点berlin" 作结尾的域名表达了兴趣。其他域名能以语言、地理或行业来协助互联网的分类。

The change was overwhelmingly approved Monday in Singapore in a vote of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

互联网域名与号码分配机构(ICANN)星期一在新加坡进行投票，压倒性批准了这项改变。

The Los Angeles-based non-profit organization is expected to begin taking applications for the new names on January 12.

这个总部设在洛杉矶的非营利组织，预定在明年1月12日开始接受新域名的申请。

Brad White, ICANN\'s director of global media affairs, says opening the Internet address system will have far-reaching social and commercial impact.

布莱德.怀特是互联网域名与号码分配机构的全球媒体事务主任，他说，开放网址系统将会对社会和商业产生深远的影响。

"It will afford a possibility for innovation, creativity, branding, marketing. We can\'t fully predict the impact that this change will have, but we know it will have tremendous impact, in much the same way that nobody could predict social media. Nobody could predict the popularity of Skype. No one could predict the popularity of Facebook or Twitter. What we have done is removed a barrier to innovation," says White.

怀特说：“它将为革新、创造、建立品牌、行销产生更多的可能性，我们无法完全预测这个改变造成的冲击，但我们知道它将会有巨大的影响，如同当初没人预测得到社交媒体的影响，没人预测得到 Skype 的受欢迎程度，也没人预料到 Facebook (脸谱) 或 Twitter (推特) 的受欢迎程度。我们做的就是给革新除去障碍。”

There are currently 22 generic top-level domains, also known as gTLDs. Dot.com, dot.org and dot.info are a few examples. There are also about 250 country-level domains like dot.uk for Britain or dot.cn for China.

目前有22个通用的顶级域名(gTLD)，例如 "点com"、"点org"、"点info" 这一些，同时还有250个国家级的域名，像是英国的 "点uk"，中国的 "点cn"。

在新系统下，预计有几百个新的通用顶级域名。

In addition to the interest of big corporate brands, organizations such as cities or other communities are expected to apply. However, with an initial price tag of $185,000 for each application, none but the richest individuals can be expected to seek their own personal domains.

除了大型企业有兴趣，例如城市或其他社区等组织应该也会提出申请。然而，18万5千美元的申请费，应该只有最有钱的人才会申请个人域名。

Still, the move is an opportunity for commercial brands to gain more control over their on-line presence and send visitors more directly to parts of their websites.

这项发展给主要品牌更能掌控网上曝光率，将访客更直接带到它们的网站上。

Brad White, of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names, says the new suffixes will have other benefits.

互联网域名与号码分配机构的布莱德.怀特说，新域名还有其他好处。

"One of the biggest changes that this will mean to the Internet is an expansion of the use of non-Latin characters. So, people who speak Cyrillic, or Arabic or Chinese can now use their own generic top-level domains at the end of an Internet address. It will vastly, we believe, increase the number of Internet users," he says.

怀特说：“对互联网其中一个最大的改变是，扩大使用非拉丁语系的字。所以，说斯拉夫语系、阿拉伯语、汉语的人，现在可以在网址最末端使用他们自己的通用顶级域名。我们相信，它会巨幅增加互联网用户人数。”

The new domain system will also change how ICANN works. Until now, it has overseen names and performed some other tasks, but has had little involvement in the Internet\'s thornier issues.

新域名同时也将改变互联网域名与号码分配机构的运作。直到现在，互联网域名与号码分配机构主要在监管名称、和其他一些任务，很少插手互联网比较棘手的问题。

With the new changes, ICANN will have a role in policing how gTLDs are operated, bought and sold.

但随着新的改变，互联网域名与号码分配机构将管理一般顶级域名的运作、购买和销售。