By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN
The deadline to apply for a top-level Internet domain has been extended due a technological glitch, according to the organization that oversees the Internet.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, said Thursday morning that it had recently received a report of "unusual behavior" with its domain-application system. It then identified a "technical issue" with the system's software.
According to Brad White, a spokesman for the nonprofit, neither a cyber attack, nor a massive influx of last-minute applications was to blame. He added that previously submitted applications were not harmed and that their data are intact.
The original deadline was set for Thursday evening. The application system is currently down but will reopen on April 18 at 12 a.m. GMT. ICANN said will close the system again on April 20 at 11:59 p.m. GMT.
ICANN began accepting applications in January for new "top-level" domains. Top level refers to the top of the Internet's naming system and includes ".com" and ".net." The identities of all applicants—plus the domain names they're seeking—are slated to be revealed the week beginning April 30. Mr. White said the reveal date has not been postponed.
The four-month application period marked the first time in more than a decade that anyone could apply for the rights to oversee a generic top-level domain. Only a few options, such as dot-jobs for sites catering specifically to job seekers, have been available more recently.
It's unclear just how many applications for new top-level domains have been submitted so far. Industry experts speculate the number could be in the low thousands, even though the cost just to apply to become a registry holder involves a hefty application fee of $185,000. Aspiring registry holders can apply for up to 50 top-level domain names per application.
Only applicants who can prove they possess the financial and technical expertise needed to effectively manage a top-level domain will have a shot at getting approved, according to Kevin Wilson, who served as ICANN's chief financial officer from 2007 to 2011 and is now co-founder of a South Pasadena, Calif., consulting practice. "It won't be a beauty contest," he says.
Alex Mashinsky of New York is hoping his five-employee firm is the only applicant seeking the rights to oversee the domain name "dot-inc." "We're definitely anxious," says the 49-year-old. "There's a high chance that there will be duplication."
Becoming a registry holder offers the potential to make money by selling domain names to registrars like GoDaddy.com LLC. The registrars specialize in reselling so-called secondary names—the words to the left of the dot—to entities known as registrants that want to own Web addresses.
Bill Doshier of Conway, Ark., is confident that his application for two domain names will get approved. "I feel like I have a pretty good chance of being the only one who chooses them," he says. "My names are under the radar." He declined to identify the names he's seeking for fear of enticing any last-minute competitors.
Mr. Doshier, 50 years old, says he quit a job as a sales manager for an aerospace distributor in January to focus on becoming a registry holder. "This is purely an entrepreneurial effort on my part," he said. "I just see it as one of the last great opportunities in my lifetime to try to start a wonderful little business around the top-level domains."
Daniel Schindler and three friends have also been building a business around the possibility of become a domain registry holder. They, too, won't disclose what domain name or names they're seeking.
Their Bellevue, Wash., business, Donuts Inc., was formed in the beginning of 2011. Mr. Schindler, 47, says he and his friends/business partners all come from registry and registrar backgrounds. "We're definitely very excited," he says. "It's been difficult to sleep while we've been on this roller coaster journey."
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com
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