A complete overhaul of the way people navigate the internet could begin following a crucial vote in Paris.
The net's regulator Icann will vote to decide if the strict rules on so-called top level domain names, such as .com or .uk, can be relaxed.
If approved, firms could turn brands into web addresses while individuals could also grab a unique domain based on their name, for example.
The plan would also allow names written in Asian and Arabic languages.
Dr Paul Twomey, chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), which acts as 'Shake up' for internet proposed ... a sort of regulator for the net, told BBC News that the proposals would result in the biggest change to the way the internet worked in decades.
"The impact of this will be different in different parts of the world. But it will allow groups, communities and business to express their identities online, " he said.
"Like the United States in the 19th Century, we are in the process of opening up new real estate, new land, and people will go out and claim parts of that land and use it for various reasons they have.
"It's a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the internet."
Adult web
Icann has been working towards opening up net addresses for the past three years.
At the moment top level domains are currently limited to individual countries, such as .uk (UK) or .it (Italy), as well as to commerce, .com, and to institutional organisations, such as .net, or .org.
To get around the restrictions, some companies have used the current system to their own ends.
For example, the Polynesia island nation Tuvalu, has leased the use of the .tv address to many television firms.
Under the new plans hundreds of new domain names could be created by the end of the year, rising to thousands in the future.
Icann says any string of letters can be registered as a domain, but there will be an independent arbitration process for people with grounds for objection.
The openness of the new system could pave the way for a .xxx domain name for adult sites, after more than half a decade of wrangling between its backers and Icann.
The latest attempt to launch .xxx was rejected by Icann last year on the grounds that approval would put the agency into the position of a content regulator.
When asked about the possibility of a .xxx domain name, Dr Twomey repeated only that the new system would be "open to anyone".
The move could yet be blocked as the independent arbitration panel can reject domains based on "morality or public order" grounds.
Dr Twomey said Icann was still working through how much the application fee to register a domain name will be, but it is expected to be at least several thousand dollars.
"We are doing this on a cost recovery basis. We've already spent $10m on this," he said.
Individuals will be able to register a domain based on their own name, or any other string of letters, as long as they can show a "business plan and technical capacity".
While companies will be able to secure domain names easily based on their intellectual property, some domain names could become subject to contention and a bidding war.
Dr Twomey said: "If there is a dispute, we will try and get the parties together to work it out. But if that fails there will be an auction and the domain will go to the highest bidder."
Should domain name rules be relaxed? What sort of result would you expect from a change like this? How can domain names be used in smarter ways to make the net easier to navigate? If you could choose one, what would it be? Tell us what you think about the vote by filling in the form below.
(BBC)
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