THE naming system you use to navigate the net will be given a complete overhaul next April – but who will be the winners in this, one of the biggest changes in the history of the web?

In Paris last month, the folks at ICANN, the body which governs the internet’s web address system, approved plans to dramatically relax the rules on top-level domain names.

For years, ICANN has strictly limited the number of top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .info and .biz, that were available. Now that’s all going to change.

Under the new rules, the domain name system will be liberalised so that any word (including those using non-Roman characters) can be bought as a top-level domain, meaning billions of new web addresses will become available over time. What’s really interesting is that anyone will be able to buy a word of their choosing, providing they have a spare US$100,000: the proposed cost of getting hold of one.

The move means that literally .anything and .everything will be up for grabs.

One thing you can expect to see is a mix of multi-national brands, entre- preneurs and other large groups buying what are likely to be the most popular generic names, the reason being that once they’ve purchased one, they’ll be able to sell an almost infinite array of web addresses under it, and the money will roll in.

With that in mind, I’d be very surprised if the likes of .shopping, .clothes, .hotels and .supermarket remained available for more than a few seconds once the application process opens in April.

It will be interesting to see, also, whether wars will break out over certain words, and how ICANN will handle that scenario. After all, can you imagine either Coke or Pepsi allowing the other to purchase .cola without a fight?

Companies considering buying a top-level domain had better get thinking now. There are only eight months until the application process opens, and there will be plenty of competition, meaning sought-after words won’t be straightforward to purchase.

Even if you’re not in the position to buy one, it’s still important to plan for those who will. What will you do, for instance, if the owner of your target domain refused to allow you to buy an address on it? Or if a competitor moves to buy a key top-level domain? And will you maintain websites across several domains?

Businesses had better start figuring out some answers soon.