On June 13 Rod Beckstrom, president and CEO of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) non-profit multi-national body that controls the registration of names and numbers for the internet, made following statement at a press conference in London, “This is a very historic day for the Internet and for more than two billion people around the world who depend upon it, because the Internet is about to change forever.”
He was referring to the introduction of new domain names set to change how consumers access specific information they are looking for through new domain name suffixes that are about to be launched. For example we currently have options of .com or .com.au or .org. However this is about to change as industries will now have a choice of a generic suffix that relates specifically to them. What this will mean is that these new industry-specific domain names will direct traffic to their website with substantial optimization. This will have a huge impact on businesses as it will make it substantially easier for people to access them.
APAN (Aesthetics Practitioners Advisory Network) with the support of credible industry professional and other individuals has applied for the global ownership of .salon as an industry-specific suffix. Over 1930 applications were submitted including some of the world’s largest companies who applied for the new domains, including Apple for .apple, Amazon for .author and Microsoft for .office.
Sixty countries are represented among the applications received, with 675 from Europe, 303 from the Asia-Pacific region, 24 from Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 from Africa.
Why APAN has applied for a doman suffix
APAN say they have applied to become ICANN accredited Top Level Domain (TLD) registry for ownership of the suffix .salon. “We are competing with cosmetic giant L’Oreal Paris for the rights to the name as well as two other companies who are also applying for the name.
“While we understand that we are up against some huge companies APAN is confident that its applications meets with the operational, technical and financial capability requirements to win and securely operate the TLD registry. With the assistance and technical expertise of Melbourne IT, and ARI Registry Services who will be undertaking the technical services, we believe that we have engaged global leaders and specialists in the field to ensure that our application meets the necessary requirements. Furthermore, we believe that our submission reflects the goals and objectives of our mission and purpose.
“All applicants will now go through a rigorous evaluation by two independent ICANN boards that will assess each application against the stringent ICANN criteria to determine their merits.
“So why did APAN apply for such an ambitious project? As part of its Mission Statement, APAN is committed to supporting the industry’s recognition, survival and growth. As such, we recognise the need for salons to gain optimised exposure on the internet space.
“We also recognise that salons have had it touch competing with internet sales and what our industry needs is a stronger identity that will allow consumers to find them easily and quickly as qualified and credible service and product providers. A top level domain name .salon would substantially optimise salon business’s exposure and improve their position through the internet space and ultimately in the marketplace.
“We therefore decided to bite the bullet and go for the name. As a non-commercial organisation we felt we had no conflicts of interest in favouring any particular brand and through providing the industry with the new domain name .salon we would be able to support and empower the professional community of salons by enhancing and strengthening their exposure and ultimately supporting their position on the domain space.
“This is going to mark a new era on the internet and we are excited to be part of history in the making. While all applications will still need to be assessed, we are confident that whether we will stand alone on the finishing line or with other companies we will choose to act collaboratively in the best possible way to benefit of the industry we represent.”
Visit www.apanetwork.com or call 07 55930360.