Dot What?

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the official organization charged with creating, assigning, and regulating Web addresses, recently introduced a bundle of new domains and made changes in existing domains. Here's an explanation of what the official domain names denote:

* dot-corn (designed for businesses but open to all)

* dot-org (designed for nonprofits but open to all)

* dot-net (designed for companies with big networks but open to all)

* dot-coop (restricted to cooperatives such as credit unions and utilities)

* dot-gov (restricted to government agencies)

* dot-biz (restricted to businesses)

* dot-info (designed for information sites but open to all)

* dot-name (restricted to individual names)

* dot-pro (restricted to professionals, initially physicians, lawyers, and accountants)

* dot-us (designed for any U.S. resident, business, or government agency)

Till recently, ICANN was the only entity introducing names. But an Internet startup called New.net Inc. broke ranks and added unofficial domain names, including dot-inc, dot-lip, dot-med, dot-agent, dot-law, and dotfamily.