If you really hate someone and have $25,000 to burn, you could soon register a .sucks domain name.
Because a federal contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is expiring next year, the domain name system will become the responsibility of the "global community," allowing many new website names, Forbes reported.
After the agreement ends, hundreds of web domain names are expected to crop up across the Internet. Some that went live this year are .bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, and .ventures, according to PCMag.com.
Opening the field for top-level domains allows for such scenarios as a .sucks website. People like Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller believe ICANN's approval of a .sucks domain would result in chaos.
"A gTLD like 'sucks' has little or no socially redeeming value," Rockefeller wrote in a letter to the nonprofit agency, as reported by The Washington Post, "and it reinforces many people's fears that the purpose of gTLD expansion is to enrich the domain name industry rather than benefit the broader community of Internet users."
ICANN hasn't yet approved the proposed .sucks domain, which is one that three companies are fighting to control. One company, Vox Populi Registry, would charge $25,000 a year for the top-level domain, PCMag reported.
"As a number of commenters asked during the public review period of these applications, will your organization allow a third party to purchase and operate 'ICANN.sucks'?" Rockefeller wrote in the letter.
Whether or not the .sucks domain makes it onto the web, many more generic top-level domains should roll out each month as ICANN seeks to expand Internet domains.
"The timing is right to start the transition process," assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information Lawrence E Strickling told Forbes. "We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan."
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