Top-Level Domains

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A top-level domain (TLD), is the last part of an Internet domain name; that is, the letters which follow the final dot of any domain name. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, the top-level domain is com (or COM, as domain names are not case-sensitive). Management of top-level domains is handled by the ICANN. Top-level domains are classified into three types: country code top-level domains (ccTLD): Used by a country or a dependent territory. It is two letters long, for example .us for the United States. With some historical exceptions, the code for any territory is the same as its two-letter ISO 3166 code. generic top-level domains (gTLD): Used (at least in theory) by a particular class of organizations (for example, .com for commercial organizations). It is three or more letters long. Most gTLDs are available for use worldwide, but for historical reasons .mil (military) and .gov (governmental) are restricted to use by the respective U.S. authorities. gTLDs are subclassified into sponsored top-level domains (sTLD), e.g. .aero, .coop and .museum, and unsponsored top-level domains (uTLD), e.g. .biz, .info, and .name. infrastructure top-level domains (iTLD): The top-level domain .arpa is the only confirmed one. .root has been known to exist without reason. Read the full background at Top-Level Domains Wikipedia

Featured Blogs

ICANN's New gTLD Process: Hype and Reality

At its 32d International Junket Meeting last week, ICANN's Board approved the GNSO Council's recommendations for the eventual addition to the root of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). This means that eventually, when the staff drafts, community comments upon, and Board approves implementation processes, those with deep pockets will have the opportunity to bid for new TLD strings... more»

The SocialDNS Project… and Why DNS is Not the Phone Book of the Internet

In this article I will explain the motivations behind the SocialDNS Project. I will justify why the DNS system is NOT the phone book of the Internet. More concretely, DNS is not a public directory nor enables search mechanisms over meta-information related to domains. In this line, I will present the advantages of SocialDNS, a naming and directory system that aims to become the phone book of the Web. SocialDNS is NOT another alternative DNS root nor aims to replace the current DNS for resolving domain names. It complements the existing DNS to offer advanced services that are beyond the scope of the existing infrastructure for Web settings. more»

ICANN to Add New Top-Level Domains, World to Come to an End

The biggest buzz from the Paris ICANN meeting was that the board accepted last fall's proposal for a streamlined process to add new TLDs. A variety of articles in the mainstream press, many featuring inflammatory but poorly informed quotes (from people who probably got a phone call saying "We go to press in five minutes, what do you think about ICANN's plan to add a million new domains?") didn't help. When can we expect the flood of TLDs? Don't hold your breath... more»

Why New TLDs Don't Change a Thing

I have a heard a lot lately about ICANN unanimously voting in favor or relaxing top level domain rules and had a few people come to me and ask 'how does that affect what you do?' The short answer is, it won't; at least not for a long time and here is why... There might be some huge potential gain if all shoe companies got .shoes and branded it, but someone would have to manage it and each would have to spend money to brand .shoes to consumers. Adidas gets adidas.shoes but spends nothing to brand it and lets Nike pay to brand .shoes and Reebok to brand it as well and leech. So instead of cartel like behavior (which is hard to maintain), we fall back into .com more»

ICANN Takes First Step to Becoming a Global Content Regulator

There has been wide coverage of ICANN's decision this week to adopt a new process for creating new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs). Publishing a clear, transparent and objective process is thought likely to result in a considerable expansion of gTLDs -- although nobody really knows whether this means "quite a lot" or "many thousands"... Less attention has been given to one of the new tests ICANN will use when considering whether to approve a new gTLD, contained in GNSO's sixth recommendation... more»

Launch of .PARIS

Yesterday, hundreds of sweaty ICANN attendees put on their best clothes and braved the crush of the rush hour metro on a very hot day to crush together for the ICANN gala at the overwrought Hotel de Ville (city hall) in Paris. Most of them missed an interesting announcement. I arrived an hour late, but even so food and drink were not yet served (not even water), and everyone was in desperate need of provisioning. The dull roar of heat-induced complaining drowned out the dignitaries making speeches at the far end of the hall. more»

Potential Danger Ahead for Registrants: dot-info Abusive Domain Use Policy

ICANN has posted a request by Afilias for a new registry service in relation to "abusive" domains in dot-info. While in general the proposal is motivated by good intentions, the devil is in the details. While most folks (including myself) probably care very little about the .info TLD, my concern is that any bad implementation in .info might be copied or used as a precedent in other more important TLDs, in particular .com run by VeriSign. more»

Unforeseen Legal Consequences of Implementing Internationalized Top-Level Domains

ICANN is currently analyzing technical and policy implications regarding the introduction of Internationalized Top-Level Domains into the root. This is an important step in the continued evolution of the Internet by enabling language communities of the world that write non-Latin and extended Latin scripts to utilize their languages on the Internet... While the IDNC Working Group (IDNC) has made constructive progress on proposing a framework for the introduction of an initial set of IDN TLDs, the approach taken by the IDNC from a legal perspective is fundamentally flawed. more»

Proposal for .sport, a New Top-Level Domain

OK. Now my lawyer has given me the green light, I can officially announce I am working on a proposal for a .sport TLD, to be submitted to ICANN for consideration as a new TLD next year. There is still a long way to go in terms of getting the proposal ready, but I this this one is a winner... more»

How Many TLD Applications Will ICANN Receive?

This post could be subtitled: "The Wisdom of Elites." I polled some people I know in the domain field (plus Andrew Goodman, who wondered what the hell I was going on about). I asked them a simple question: "For the record, how many new TLD applications do you think there'll be?" Most of these people know the domain name world very well, but from different perspectives. Journalists, registrars, intellectual property attorneys, domainers, registry operators, TLD aspirants, entrepreneurs, domain aftermarket auctioneers, civil society activists... more»

News Briefs

ICANN Board Approves Sweeping Overhaul of Top-level Domains

Brand Owners Express Concern Over Introduction of New Top-Level Domains

Bulgaria Applies for Top-Level Domain .bg in Cyrillic Script

ICANN to Decide Approval of Thousands More TLDs, eBay Already a Contender for dot eBay

New .tel Domain Uses DNS to Store Personal and Business Data

ICM Registry, Applicant of the Proposed .XXX Domain, Files Independent Review Petition Against ICANN

14 Million Domain Names Registered in First Quarter of 2008, Total Reaching 162 Million Worldwide

Security Research Names Hong Kong and China Most Dangerous Country Domains, Finland Safest

Canadian Domain Whois Policy Changes Face Opposition from Law Enforcement

ICANN Preparing for Mass Introduction of Top-Level Domains?

Fees for .org Top-Level Domain to Increase by 10%

Top-Level Domains .arpa, .org, and .uk Adopting DNSSEC

Soviet's .su Domain Resists Death

Canada's Top-Level Domain .ca Hits One Million Mark

Separatist Petitions to Create Quebec's Own Top-Level Domain

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Industry Updates

Premium Geographic Domain Names Available at Moniker Live Auction at GeoDomain Expo

Moniker.com today announced an initial list of premium contenders for a live and online domain name auction at the GeoDomain Expo, the world's largest geo domain conference and auction, July 10-12 in Chicago. ›››

CIRA Selects NeuStar's UltraDNS Service to Manage Canada's Top-Level Domain

NeuStar, Inc. today announced that the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a not-for-profit Canadian corporation that is responsible for operating the .ca country code top-level domain (TLD), has chosen NeuStar's UltraDNS Managed DNS Service to bolster the scalability and reliability of Canada's DNS infrastructure. ›››

NeuStar Announces Registration of Two Millionth .BIZ Domain Name

NeuStar, the operator and administrator of the .BIZ top-level domain (TLD) registry, today announced that two million domain names have been officially registered within the .BIZ Internet domain. ›››

Premium Eurocentric Domain Names Available at SnapNames Live Auction at Domainer Meeting Paris

Domain name aftermarket expert SnapNames.com, an Oversee.net company, made available today the initial list of premium names in a live and extended online auction at the EuroDNS Domainer Meeting in Paris, France. ›››

RegistryPro Announces "Third Level Transition" Initiative

RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet, announced today it will begin accepting pre-orders for second-level domains from current .Pro registrants who use any of the registry's 11 profession-specific third-level designations. ›››

Register.com and SnapNames.com Renew Exclusive Agreement for Domain Name Auction Services

Under the terms of the deal, domain names registered with Register.com but surrendered by their previous registrants are made available exclusively on the SnapNames auction platform at www.snapnames.com. ›››

ICANN Unanimously Approves RegistryPro Proposal to Expand the .Pro TLD

RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro top level domain (TLD), has received approval from ICANN to greatly expand the scope and availability of the .Pro TLD. The newly ratified terms of service increases the number of professionals who are eligible for the TLD, extends the availability globally, and streamlines the registration process. ›››

Oversee.net's DomainSponsor Presents 3rd Annual DOMAINfest Global

The third annual DOMAINfest Global, the premier conference and networking event for the domain name industry, will be held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California from January 28-30, 2009. Event registration will open later this year. ›››

.NL Auction Sneak Peak!

Join Sedo for our much anticipated .NL auction, being held from May 2nd 4pm (EST) until May 9th at approximately 4pm (EST). As the worth of the .NL continues to increase, so does the demand. ›››

dotMobi Requests Proposals for find.mobi

dotMobi today announced that is accepting proposals for find.mobi, a consumer-facing mobile search tool; find.mobi was created by dotMobi's research and development team to demonstrate an operational mobile search engine that made the most of the mobile web and needs of on-the-go users. ›››