YNOT – The board of directors for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has approved a long-debated plan that will allow an increase in the number and scope of internet address endings, called “generic Top Level Domains.” The decision emerged on Monday during a special meeting of the board in Singapore.

The approval of new gTLDs will expand the selection of URL spaces from the current 22, which include Top Level Domains like dot-com, dot-net and dot-org plus sponsored TLDs like dot-xxx.

“ICANN has opened the internet’s naming system to unleash the global human imagination,” said ICANN President and Chief Executive Officer Rod Beckstrom. “Today’s decision respects the rights of groups to create new Top Level Domains in any language or script. We hope this allows the domain name system to better serve all of mankind.”

New gTLDs will change the way people find information on the internet and how businesses plan and structure their online presence, Beckstrom postulated. Virtually every organization with an online presence could be affected in some way.

Internet address names will be able to end with almost any word in any language, offering organizations around the world the opportunity to market their brand, products, communities or causes in new ways.

“Today’s decision will usher in a new internet age,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of ICANN’s board of directors. “We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”

The decision to proceed with the gTLD program followed many years of discussion, debate and deliberation with the internet community, business groups and governments. Efforts were made to address the concerns of all interested parties and to ensure that the security, stability and resiliency of the internet are not compromised, Dengate Thrush noted. The Applicant Guidebook, a rulebook explaining how to apply for a new gTLD, went through seven significant revisions in order to incorporate more than 1,000 comments from the public.

Any established public or private organization located anywhere in the world may apply to form and operate a new gTLD registry.

More information about the new gTLD process is here. A fact sheet is here (PDF).

ICANN plans to begin accepting applications for new gTLDs on Jan. 12, 2012.