Mediaboss Marketing

By SANDRA GUY sguy@suntimes.com March 23, 2012 8:34PM

Jeff Schmidt, CEO of JAS Global Advisors, poses for a photograph at his company's office on N. Michigan Ave. Wednesday, March 14, 2012, in Chicago. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times

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Updated: March 24, 2012 2:16AM

A Chicago company, JAS Global Advisors, is playing a key behind-the-scenes role in an unprecedented expansion of Internet domain names the webs equivalent of real-estate addresses dominated by .com, .gov, .org and .edu.

The expansion will open the way for new domain names ending in just about any word imaginable from .chicago for people looking to identify themselves as Chicagoans, to .jeans to .security to .YourNameGoesHere.

The process is highly charged: Critics say the expansion will offer new opportunities for cybersquatters, Anonymous-style hackers and trademark and patent trolls, and give pornographers their own .xxx suffix.

Supporters say the new names will give businesses new marketing opportunities and, if run correctly, tighten up online security.

A controversy also surrounds the nonprofit group that runs the Internet-naming process. The board of ICANN, the California-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is battling U.S. Commerce Department concerns that its members may have too-close ties to companies that will bid on the new domain names. A board spokesman said the members operate under strict ethics rules. Separately, a national retailers advocacy group has complained that ICANN hasnt given clear direction on how businesses should apply for, appeal or otherwise respond to the new domain names.

As a March 29 deadline nears for applications for the new domain names, JAS Global Advisors, headed by international online security expert Jeff Schmidt, will be one of three companies nationwide that will evaluate applicants for their technical and financial qualifications.

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Local company playing key role in adding Internet domains