Internet address system expands with four suffixes

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an oversight agency for Internet addresses, says it has added four domain name suffixes -- the first of hundreds expected in the coming years in the online addressing system's largest expansion ever.

The first four are all in foreign languages to reflect a growing international population that still has to enter Latin characters for many websites. They represent Chinese for "game," Arabic for "network" and Cyrillic for "online" and "site."

People and businesses should be able to start registering names ending on those suffixes soon. The announcement Wednesday reflects the addition of those suffixes into the master database.

"In the weeks and months ahead, we will see new domain names coming online from all corners of the world, bringing people, communities and businesses together in ways we never imagined. It's this type of innovation that will continue to drive our global society," Akram Atallah, president of ICANN's Generic Domains Division, said in a press release.

There are currently more than 300 suffixes, mostly codes assigned for specific countries. The ICANN has been taking bids for new ones in English and other languages.