Success for new domain names. - Icann, the US body responsible for managing website names (dot.com, dot,net, dot.org etc) received 1,930 suggestions for a new domain name, which it called for in January 2012 (twice as many as expected). Half the suggestions came from North America, 675 from Europe and 17 from Africa. In the United States, big names like Google and Amazon each registered several dozen requests for suffixes like dot.cloud, dot.buy and dot.book. The registration of a domain name costs USD 185,000, and there is a further USD 25,000 to pay in annual fees. Current calls for tender are expected to generate USD 352 million for Icann. The leading domain name registrations will be unveiled at the end of 2012 and be operational in the first quarter of 2013. (IL/transl.fl)