Earlier this month, ICANN - the internet's global governing body - decided on an unprecedented expansion of top level domains (TLDs). This means the 21 variations of domain extensions currently available (EG: .com, .com.au, .org) are about to be monstered by what is essentially a free-for-all policy where one can select their own domain extension!

When this policy is brought into play in an estimated two years' time, McDonalds can have a domain like www.mcdonalds.mcdonalds or BBC Radio can potentially be found at www.radio.bbc. No .com, no ANYTHING standard is necessary.

Most who heard this news after the ICANN heads met in Paris for their 32nd conference replied 'Coooool', imagining all the possibilities...

But I am doubtful at how 'Coooool' this policy really is!

A domain extension gives a website a sense of belonging. .com.au stands for an Australian domain, .ca is Canadian, .cn is Chinese, and so on. The same crew at ICANN recently released .asia for Asian domain seekers and .eu for European domain seekers - with purchasers of these given a continental belonging, larger than their nation but a belonging nonetheless.

ICANN has now decided that this belonging no longer holds any value. Instead, they will allow any Tom, Dick or Harry to select their desired domain extension. In fact .tomdickorharry can be your next domain extension!

The internet is globalised enough and some things need to remain standard to give surfers an idea of who is where, and doing what. ICANN has got this policy wrong.