Bangalore: A fuming war is going out there in cyberspace for the acquisition of vast internet space- the domain names. With ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) disclosing the names of the applicants, it’s clear that the major tech companies including Google, Apple and Amazon had their big bets placed on the domain names including .amazon, .apple, .google and .youtube.

Other domain name applications include .porn, .home, .sex, .music and so on. ICANN received a total of 1930 applications among which the most requested were .app followed by .home and .inc. Google’s application include names .google , .youtube, .and, .boo, .dad, .new and .music. Interestingly Facebook and Twitter had no applications.

The new Top Level Domains are expected to be functional by 2013, which will be added to the pack of existing domain names lead by .com .net and .org. The liberalization is said to fuel competition and innovation.

"At the highest level, this is all about creating competition to .com," said Jonathan Robinson, non-executive director of internet registry services company Afilias, which has applied for more than 100 new domains on behalf of clients. "That's where short, memorable, distinctive three-letter type terms become very interesting," he continued.

Meanwhile some critics, including senior figures at Google, have warned that the liberalization risks effectively privatizing the Internet by giving already powerful Web players more scope to control portions of it.

"Our concern is that this could lead to more Facebook-style walled gardens as big brands seek to keep you in their own areas of the Internet," said Stephen Ewart, marketing manager for Names.co.uk, a British domain-name registrar.

"Make no mistake, this change to the domain name world will lead to more competition and consumer choice, but it could also be viewed as a silent privatization of the Web - for better or worse," he said.

ICANN will now review the applications and will conduct an auction for multiple bets placed on same name.