WHAT’S HAPPENING: Some 2,000 proposals for new Internet suffixes have been submitted as part of the largest expansion of the address system since its creation in the 1980s.

HOW IT WORKS: These suffixes would rival “.com” and about 300 others now in use. Companies would be able to create separate websites and separate addresses for each of their products and brands, for instance, even as they keep their existing “.com” name.