Companies submitted nearly 2,000 applications for new top-level domains on the Internet, including Comcast seeking to secure .xfinity and .comcast -- and Dish Network applying not only for Web names like .dish and .sling but also .direct and .dtv.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced the applications on Wednesday. The organization, which coordinates the Internet's domain names and IP address resources globally, developed the new generic top-level domain program "to increase competition and choice" beyond the familiar .com, .net and .org top-level domains, or TLDs.
Dish applied for more than a dozen new TLDs in all, including .blockbuster, .dot, .data, .dvr, .latino, .locker, .mobile, .movie, .ollo, .ott, .phone and .stream.
DirecTV spokesman Darris Gringeri said the operator does not plan to challenge Dish's applications for .direct and .dtv "as we chose not to submit an application for them in the first place." He added, "We can't speak for others companies, but we only spend money on digital assets we intend to market."
ICANN has established a dispute-resolution process for entities objecting to the new generic TLD applications, which is intended to remain open for approximately seven months.
All told, ICANN received 1,930 applications for new generic top-level domains, which it accepted from Jan. 12 to May 30. The applications are posted here.
Among notable applications, ABC filed to secure .abc; CBS applied for .cbs and .showtime; HBO applied for .hbo; Apple applied for .apple; Netflix applied for .netflix; and Microsoft filed for .bing, .hotmail, .docs, .live, .office, .skydrive, .skpe, .windows, .xbox and .microsoft.
Google applied for more than 100 TLDs including .android, .cloud, .google and .youtube -- as well as less expected names, such as .baby, .eat and .love.
Meanwhile, a company called Lifestyle Domain Holdings applied for .cookingchannel, .hgtv and .foodnetwork. HGTV, Food Network and Cooking Channel are owned by Scripps Networks Interactive.
In the first round of applications, no entity bid for .cable or .broadband TLDs. Four firms, including Amazon.com, bid for .video.
In some cases, multiple parties have applied for the same name. For example, in addition to Dish, seven others applied for the .movie TLD, including Amazon.com.
ICANN says that if there are two or more applications for the same string, "Applicants are encouraged to resolve string contention cases among themselves prior to the string contention resolution stage." But if the parties cannot reach a resolution, the disputes are resolved "either through a community priority evaluation (if a community-based applicant elects it) or through an auction," according to ICANN.
ICANN is charging an evaluation fee of $185,000 for each generic top-level domain. Applicants were required to pay a $5,000 deposit fee per requested application slot when registering.
According to ICANN, there are 22 generic top-level domains today, including .com, .net, .org and .edu. In addition, there are 280 country-code TLDs, such as .us and .uk.
