Amazon enters domain-name game
Published: 03 Mar 2003 14:58 GMT
The Seattle-based retailer has won approval from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). That means it will be able to sell specific Internet addresses such as example.com, to individuals and businesses.
The news was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon is not currently offering domains, and the site listed in ICANN's directory for Amazon's registrar is not working. An Amazon representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
The registration business, up until 1999, had been a government-approved monopoly.
Since the market became nonexclusive, more than 100 companies have won approval to register domain names.
Amazon has greatly widened its retail business in the past year, expanding its virtual storefront to include third-party retailers such as Toys "R" Us and Circuit City.
Recently, the e-tailer opened an apparel shop that features stores such as Gap, Eddie Bauer, Foot Locker and Nordstrom.
The company also operates marketplace features where small businesses can run their own shops through Amazon.
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