Businesses bid on Internet suffixes

Businesses bid on Internet suffixes

NEW YORK

Amazon.com wants “.joy,” Google wants “.love” and L’Oreal wants “.beauty.”

Big brands are behind hundreds of proposals for new Internet addresses, including scores for generic terms such as “cruise,” “.kids” and “.tires.”

If approved, Amazon could use “.author” in an attempt to dominate online book-selling, while Google could use “.love” to collect registration fees from its rivals.

Amazon and Google also are vying for “.app” and “.music,” while the wine company Gallo Vineyards Inc. wants “.barefoot.”

It’s all part of the largest expansion of the Internet-address system since its creation in the 1980s, a process likely to cause headaches for some companies while creating vast opportunities for others.

The organization in charge of Internet addresses, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, announced the proposals for Internet suffixes Wednesday. A suffix is the “.com” part in a domain name.

The bids now go through a review that could take months or years. Up to 1,000 suffixes could be added each year.

JPMorgan may take back execs’ pay

WASHINGTON

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told Congress on Wednesday that senior bank executives responsible for a $2 billion trading loss probably will have some of their pay taken back by the company.

Under bank policy, stock grants and bonuses can be recovered from executives, even for exercising bad judgment, Dimon told the Senate Banking Commitee. The policy never has been invoked, he said, but he strongly suggested that it will be.

Dimon, under close questioning from lawmakers about his own role in setting up the investment division responsible for the mess, declared: “We made a mistake. I’m absolutely responsible. The buck stops with me.”

Union vote halted

FORT WORTH, Texas

A federal judge temporarily has stopped a union- organizing election at American Airlines that was to begin next week.

U.S. District Court Judge Terry R. Means said Wednesday that American was likely to win a lawsuit seeking to stop the election among passenger-service agents, so he granted a temporary restraining order.

The judge scheduled a hearing in the case for next Thursday. The National Mediation Board had scheduled voting to begin that day and to run through Aug. 2.

From wire reports