Earlier in the year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was banding about ideas regarding expanding the current system of top level domains (.com, .net, .org and so on), which would allow for a potentially huge range of new generic top level domains to be registered. It had planned to offer 200-800 new addresses for sale at $185,000 a pop (with a yearly cost of $60,000), but is now being questioned by the US government (who also happen to nominally control ICANN). Department of Commerce officials have asked for a clear rationale for the pay structure as well as assurances that the security of the Domain Name System (DNS) would not be comprimised.