This gives an (unofficial) estimate :
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080626-confusion-icann-opens-up-pandoras-box-of-new-tlds.html
>
.confusion: ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: June 26, 2008 - 12:11PM CT
<snip>
Not every zany TLD will be immediately available to anyone who want
to register a domain, however. Businesses must apply to register the
TLD first, then go through a review process to ensure that it isn't
offensive and doesn't infringe on anyone's intellectual property. If
approved, registering the TLD will cost anywhere from $100,000 to
$500,000, ICANN says, and the business or organization must prove
that they are either capable of managing the TLD or can reach a deal
with a company that will. This is no small beans—unless you're
planning to fork over up to half a million dollars and put in the
labor to manage everything that appears under the TLD, this task is
probably best left to large organizations and governmental entities.
The organization registering the TLD will also be responsible for
determining whether it will be restricted to certain types of sites
or open to the public.
<snip>
Thanks for the info. Okay, well that kind of pricing will prevent most
of the fraudsters from obtaining TLDs. But of course it doesn't
prevent shady operators from setting up a TLD with lenient abuse
controls - such as .info or .to. Imagine 40 .infos spamming away...