The .edu TLD will get a new owner in the next month, in the form of Educause, a nonprofit group representing college technology departments.
Educause will expand the domain to allow the nation"s 1,600 community colleges to register for .edu addresses, the group said in a release. The domain has been reserved until now for four-year colleges and universities. Educause will not charge a registration fee for its services, the Commerce Department said.
Community colleges will be able to sign up for .edu names starting Nov. 12, the day of the handover, the U.S. Department of Commerce said in a release.
To avoid conflicts between schools that have chosen the same Internet address, the nonprofit group has set up a preregistration period lasting until Jan. 7. Groups that apply for the same name during the preregistration period will be encouraged to work out a compromise on their own, Educause said.
And the US Department of Commerce has awarded control of the ".us" Internet address to privately held telecommunications firm NeuStar Inc.
The move sets the stage for greater commercialization of a domain that has until now been reserved for local governments, schools and libraries.
The company will administer the domain for four years, with options to extend the contract for an additional two years, the Department of Commerce said in a release.