May 25, 2004

Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, condemned the introduction of sponsored top-level domains (STLD) this week at the 13th annual international World Wide Web conference, according to reports.

Berners-Lee was critical of nine STLDs that are currently under review by ICANN (ICANN.org), the organization responsible for overseeing the domain name system.

The domains under consideration include asia, .cat, .jobs, .mobi, .mail, .travel, .post and .tel. The most notable is .xxx, a STLD that would create a specific domain for adult entertainment companies. Berners-Lee says the creation of STLDs to promote specific industries is tantamount to carving up the Web into pieces of commercial real estate.

Applications to sponsor the proposed STLDs were submitted in March. Applications will be reviewed by an independent evaluation panel beginning in May 2004 with final decisions being announced in the summer.

Source: The WHIR