A coalition has formed to oppose the expansion of the “.jobs” top-level Internet domain name. Members include jobs boards as well as organizations such as the American Staffing Association.

The .jobs domain started as a way for human resource departments at firms to advertise jobs online directly — the .job domain was used only as the company name followed by the .jobs domain, such as att.jobs or verizon.jobs. Employ Media LLC, the operator of .jobs, is expanding the domain to also include geographies and occupations — such as newyork.jobs and marketing.jobs. The expansion includes the Web site, www.universe.jobs.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers initially approved the proposal, but issued a notice in February that Employ Media and the sponsoring organizations for .jobs, the Society of Human Resource Management, were in breach of its .jobs agreement. Employ Media and ICANN were not able to resolve their differences, and Employ Media in May filed a request for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce. The request enables it to continue operations.

Peter Weddle, executive director of the International Association of Employment Web Sites, argued the move to expand the .jobs domain would result in a competitive threat to staffing firms. Opponents have scheduled a webinar at 4 p.m. Eastern time on June 23 to present information on their side. To register for the webinar, click here.