At the House Energy and Commerce Internet Subcommittee hearing today, Verizon Communications urged the panel to stop the expansion of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) — such as dot.eco and dot.movie — until there is clear proof for market demand and that the Internet is secure and stable.

ICANN plans to go ahead with accepting application for new TLDs given all concerns have been addressed. "ICANN financially benefits from this expansion. It will bring in more than $90 million from the initial grant of applications alone," said Sarah Deutsch, Verizon VP and associate general counsel. "As a result, however, businesses and consumers will face higher costs. This isn't very helpful in the current economic climate."

Read full story: Wall Street Journal

Related topics: Domain Names, ICANN, Internet Governance, Top-Level Domains