The rigorous process requires applicants to spend $185,000 to complete a lengthy form that will prevent cybersquatters and can take 18 months for approval.

While some critics say switching to or adding on a corporate domain, such as .ibm or .mcdonalds, is unnecessary and probably unlikely for big-name brands, municipalities could reap marquee display and extra cash.

New generic top-level domains, as they're known, may be right for some organizations but not all, says Brad White, spokesman for the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN.

"I have a hard time seeing it right now," says Christopher Glancy, an intellectual-property attorney at White & Case. "You have to wonder whether or not owning the domain .company is really going to end up increasing your bottom line when you already own company.com."

But a city could register its name as a top-level domain — for example, .tulsa — then dole out second-level domains to an array of businesses, such as pizzeria.tulsa.

New York Councilwoman Christine Quinn said such cyberbranding could be an instant revenue booster. "This is a fantastic opportunity for New York City establishments … and for the city of New York, which will benefit from the millions of dollars in revenue .nyc will generate."

The uses for generic top-level domain names are many: One company has found it can be used to shield children from inappropriate content.

Adult-entertainment sites that serve up pornography will be able to register shortly with ICM Registry as a .xxx. With this domain name, a consumer will have the ability to set a computer's parental controls to block .xxx sites.

"The consumer, the adult provider and the avoiders all win at the same time," says Stuart Lawley, chief executive of ICM Registry, the company that's handling all the new .xxx extensions.

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