Internet "keywords" and other devices that simplify Web navigation will come under the scrutiny of online naming authorities when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) convenes this March in Africa.

ICANN, which manages the Internet's worldwide addressing system, will - for the first time - address the issue of "higher-layer" naming at its meeting in Ghana, ICANN spokeswoman Mary Hewitt said today.

Higher-layer naming refers to Internet navigation tools that are superimposed on the existing addressing structure. Companies like RealNames Corp. that link "keywords" to traditional ".com" addresses are offering higher-layer naming services.

When RealNames links an Internet keyword to an existing Internet address, Internet surfers using Microsoft's Internet Explorer can visit the address by simply typing in the keyword (e.g. ACME) rather than the entire name (e.g. ACME.com).

While such offerings don't come directly under ICANN's scope, Hewitt said that the ICANN Board will address potential concerns about how higher-layer naming systems interact with the underlying addressing architecture.

The board, which makes all final ICANN decisions, will look to determine how and whether ICANN should craft addressing policies to account for the growing extent of higher-layer naming activities.

Questions about whether some higher-layer names should be counted as separate Internet addresses and about the interactivity of higher-layer names that use non-Roman characters will be addressed at the meeting, Hewitt said.