Welcome to the first goldrush of the 21st century. The battle for ownership of a few letters of the alphabet is about to begin.

It may seem hard to believe, but a decision taken yesterday means technological experts are poised to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the right to own a new generation of internet addresses.

The relaxation of the strict rules on how websites are named was given yesterday by industry regulator Icann at its conference in Paris. It decided that instead of website addresses with endings such as .com or .co.uk, the regulator would allow a mass of alternatives.

Put simply, it means the end of the dotcom world as we know it.

By allowing an infinite number of alternatives to the traditional "top-level" domain names, it is a move which could turn brands into web addresses or individuals having their own name as a web addresses, such as http://david.beckham Scotland could finally get .sco or .scotland that many have been calling for and the porn industry is likely to lay claim to the .xxx tag. Cities are expected to be some of the biggest spenders.

The move has been described as the biggest shake-up of the internet in a decade, one which will launch large corporations into a fierce bidding war for the right to keep their brand names and identities intact.

Pushing the radical changes are people like us - and the other 6.6 billion people who use the internet daily. If pressure on the system remains, it is estimated that web addresses will run out in less than two years' time.

Dr Nic Cappani, of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, specialises in web development and said the changes were a necessary response.

"What has constantly taken the internet societies by surprise is the sheer number of drains on the resources of the web. This goes back to the very early days of computing, when people did not look far enough ahead.

"What has happened with domain names is that there are so many users that we are simply running out of possible names.

"By freeing up what comes after the dot, the number of potential names is massive. It doesn't increase by two or three, it increases by multitudes. The problem is who is going to own them and what they will be used for?"

The development is expected to make a the biggest impact on big business and corporations. If the domain name ending in .supermarket was bought, by say Tesco, where would Asda, Waitrose and Sainsbury's fit in? Tesco, for example, could licence their new property and demand high fees from their rivals for a place in the new domain. Or a company could choose not to share it at all.

Professor Ian Lloyd, specialist in information technology law at the University of Strathclyde, said: "If McDonald's could buy up the top-level domain name .mcdonalds, someone else could buy up the top-level domain name .mcdonaldsburgers and someone else could buy up .mcdonaldsfurniture.

"I am sure companies like McDonald's will be looking very closely to see who else would be buying up names which contained the names McDonald's."

Dr Capanni said that a "money grab" was sure to follow the development announced by Icaan.

"We could have another dot com bubble. Instead of having chunks of valuable territory, you could end up with so many pieces of not very valuable territory."

Howard Gerlis, chair of the internet specialist group at the British Computing Society, said he wouldn't support a deregulation of top -level domain names.

He said: "You have to look at the benefit of users. Having it controlled means that we, as users, find it much easier to remember websites. The other element is that large companies will be fighting to retain all possible rights to all possible variations of their brand name. The most simple names are the most effective, and the most memorable.

"If it were to be opened up it would lead to more confusion and complexity in the market."

The second historic decision taken by Icann yesterday will see an end to the sole use of Roman characters in the part of the website address which comes after the dot. Domain names will be written in scripts such as Chinese, Arabic and Cyrillic, stemming some of the criticisms that the industry is too biased towards western users. Delegates spoke at the conference of the importance of promoting cultural diversity and the need for Internationalised Domain Names (IDN).

The use of IDNs is likely to have an effect on the browsing experience of those using English as their main language, Professor Lloyd claimed.

He said: "It is reflecting the fact that the internet is not just used in the west and that the Asian countries are becoming far more significant."

The fastest growing domain name is .cn for China, which has 10.5million addresses and grew by 31% in the last year alone.

"We are opening up new land' which people will be able to go out an claim. It is a massive increase in the real estate of the internet," said Paul Twomey, chief executive of Icann.

The move to create a more equal playing field should move the world wide web into the hands of the global village.