ICANN Negotiates .Mobi
Two new top-level domain names moved closer to approval this week, as the body charged with overseeing the Internet’s technical matters moved into negotiations with the companies applying to set up and run the “.mobi” and “.jobs” domains. .Mobi is sponsored by Microsoft, Nokia, and Vodafone Group, who hope to target the domain specifically at mobile content and service providers as well as mobile device manufacturers, vendors and individual companies.
In a domain proposal submitted to ICANN, the sponsors predicted a boom in mobile devices by 2006, requiring a host of new Internet services and content tailored to their use. ICANN did not say this week when it expects to wrap up evaluations of the second-stage applicants, saying only that progress reports would follow. Ten applicants answered the group’s call last year for new sponsored top level domains, and no limit was placed on the number that would be accepted. Via: IT World.