If the proposed move of opening up the address system is authenticated, the net could undergo one of the most major transformations seen since its inception. The net’s regulators are set to vote on Thursday (June 26) for deciding if the current strict rules on the so-called top level domain names like .com or .uk can be relaxed.

If approved, this change could allow firms to convert their brands into peculiar domain names. Even individuals would be able to carve out their own niche of the net. The plan, if cleared, would also let the new domain names to get internationalised, so could be available in scripts for Arabic and Asian languages.

The Chief executive of Icann (the Internet Corporation dealing with Assigned Names and Numbers), Dr Paul Twomey, spoke to BBC News on the issue. He said:

We are in the process of opening up new real estate, new land (like the United States in the 19th Century), and people will go out and claim parts of that land and then use it for various reasons they have.