Radical web address shakeup window closes Applications will be vetted by Icann, a United States quango that controls the domain name system, a global system of computers that ensure the addresses that users type into their browsers connect them to the right websites. The process, which opened in January, is the most radical shake-up of the system since it was created. The changes have been several years in the making, and have proved controversial, with some claiming it will make the web more complicated and lead to more "cyber squatting," whereby web addresses related to brands are speculatively acquired to parasitise traffic, or in the hope the brand owner will pay to regain control. On the other hand, the new system could improve the security of online banking, for example. If a bank only provides its services via its own suffix then users are less likely to be duped by fake websites, it's argued. "We certainly expect to see applications from companies in industries plagued by counterfeiting and cybersquatting, as new [suffixes] offer important enhancements to security," said Roland LaPlante of Afilias, a firm aiming to run suffixes on behalf of organisations. Nominet, the not-for-profit organisation that runs the database of more than 10 million ."uk" web addresses, has applied to create new ."wales" and ."cymru" suffixes. It is expected that it will take at least 18 months for the first of the new web address suffixes to work.