Microsoft funded lobbyists under names such as FairSearch.org.

WSJ: Crovitz: Silicon Valley's 'Suicide Impulse'

They included .bet, .islam, .gay and .news as alternatives to existing generic top-level domain (gTLD) names such as .com and .org.

BBC: Icann net address endings to face government objections

After finding the number of my state's securities department, at www.nasaa.org, I called and requested a check of names through the Central Registration Depository.

FORBES: Investigate, then invest

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers can be reached at www.icann.org.

CNN: Groups protest ICANN plans

Under the test bed, the new registrars will hook into Network Solutions' database in order to sell a pool of names in the .com, .net and .org domains.

CNN: New domain name system creates confusion over ownership

The formal inquiry was prompted by the filing of several complaints with the Commission against the registrar, which for years had a lock on the business of assigning the domain names ending in .com, .net and .org, thanks to a contract with the U.S. government.

CNN: European Commission probes NSI

Overall, about 24 million domain names have been registered in .com, .net and .org.

CNN: New service back-orders domain names

It follows a decision to expand the number of top-level names available, such as '.com', '.net' and '.org'.

BBC: Welsh flag with .wales and .cymru

This is the warning being broadcast by KnowTheNet.org.uk, a project of Nominet, the not-for-profit registry service for British domain names.

FORBES: When You Break The Law Online - And Don't Know It