Free Expression Comes to Domain Names

Domain names may soon be open for anyone to create, providing companies and individuals with unprecedented freedom to carve out their own corner of the Net, the BBC reports. The Internet's biggest shakeup in decades "will allow groups, communities and business to express their identities online,” sad the head of the independent nonprofit that assigns names.

Under the proposal, anybody who shows a business plan and technical capacity could register a domain name. In cases of disputes, an auction would determine who gets dibs on a name. The plan, which comes up for a vote on Thursday, could also result in ".xxx"—a voluntary choice for sexually explicit sites— being created after years of wrangling. (More domain names stories.)