ICANN LogoThis week, the governing body for all the internet assigned names and numbers (ICANN) met to discuss a huge problem that faces the internet in the next decade - the provisioning of IP Addresses and Domain Names.

Whether it’s your mobile phone, internet gateway or website, all of these use an IP address. Plus, they have to be unique. Domain Names like www.ebay.com, which resolve to an IP address, also have to be unique. As you may imagine, companies have been buying up domain names constantly and with more and more consumer devices like MP3 players and phones connecting directly to the internet, the scope for unique IP addresses and domain names is now very small. The world is running out!

In order to combat this issue, ICANN is pushing for the complete implementation of IPv6 (providing approximately 3.403 × 1038 unique host addresses) and also custom TLDs (*.ebay, *.ibm etc.) The custom TLDs are especially interesting as not only will this allow companies to express their brand in a more creative way, but it will also free up a large amount of unique names and combinations which are currently not on the radar.

For more information visit the ICANN website.