Lax Policies
Lax policies in some managing organizations breed shady neighborhoods.
The dramatic rise in new TLDs can be attributed to a new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) initiative launched by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2012. ICANN's frequently asked questions document for gTLDs outlines the original goal for the initiative:
One of ICANN's key commitments is to promote competition in the domain name market while ensuring Internet security and stability. New generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) help achieve that commitment by paving the way for increased consumer choice by facilitating competition among registry service providers. Soon entrepreneurs, businesses, governments and communities around the world will be able to apply to operate a Top-Level Domain registry of their own choosing.
Each new TLD is under the control of an organization that has to pay a $185,000 evaluation fee to ICANN and also has to prove that it has the infrastructure and expertise to run a new TLD registry.
Ideally, all of these new registries (and all of the country code registries) would exercise the same level of caution in who they allow to purchase domains in their new space – but many do not, and the bad guys know where to shop.