.bv is the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 country code

Country code top-level domain

A country code top-level domain is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, a sovereign state, or a dependent territory....

 top-level domain

Top-level domain

A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...

 (ccTLD) reserved for the uninhabited Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 dependent territory

Dependent territory

A dependent territory, dependent area or dependency is a territory that does not possess full political independence or sovereignty as a State, and remains politically outside of the controlling state's integral area....

 of Bouvet Island

Bouvet Island

Bouvet Island is an uninhabited Antarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 2,525 km south-southwest of South Africa. It is a dependent territory of Norway and, lying north of 60°S latitude, is not subject to the Antarctic Treaty. The centre of the island is an ice-filled crater of an...

. The domain name registry

Domain name registry

A domain name registry is a database of all domain names registered in a top-level domain. A registry operator, also called a network information center , is the part of the Domain Name System of the Internet that keeps the database of domain names, and generates the zone files which convert...

 and sponsor is Norid

Norid

Uninett Norid AS, trading as Norid, is the domain name registry for the three Norwegian country code top-level domains .no, .sj and .bv. The non-profit company is based in Trondheim, where it shares offices with its parent company Uninett; both companies being owned by the Norwegian Ministry of...

, but .bv is not open for registration. .bv was designated on 21 August 1997 and was placed under the .no

.no

.no is the Internet country code top-level domain for Norway. Registrations are processed via accredited registrars and internationalized domain names may also be registered ....

registry Norid. Norwegian policy states that .no is sufficient for those institutions connected to Bouvet Island, and therefore the domain is not open to registration. It is Norwegian policy not to commercialize domain resources, so there are no plans to sell .bv. Should the domain later come into use, it will be under the regulation of the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority

Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority

Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority is a Norwegian government agency responsible for controlling and regulating the telecommunication and postal sector of Norway...

 and follow the same policy as .no.

History

Bouvet Island is an uninhabited volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It was claimed by Norway in 1927. The domain was allocated on 21 August 1997, at the same time .sj

.sj

.sj is the Internet country code top-level domain reserved for the designation Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The domain name registry is Norid, but .sj is not open for registration...

was allocated for Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Svalbard and Jan Mayen is a statistical designation defined by ISO 3166-1 of two parts of Norway under separate jurisdictions—Svalbard and Jan Mayen. While the two are combined for the purposes of the International Organization for Standardization category, they are not administratively related...

. The allocation occurred because the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol-related symbols and numbers...

 (IANA) assigns ccTLDs to all entities with a ISO 3166

ISO 3166

ISO 3166 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization . It defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, special areas of geographical interest, and their principal subdivisions . The official name of the standard is Codes for the representation...

 code, for which Bouvet Island is designated BV.

Policy

Management of .bv lies with Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

-based Norid, which is also the domain name registry for .no and the unused .sj. Norid is a limited company owned by Uninett

UNINETT

Uninett is a Norwegian government-owned company responsible for deploying and maintaining a national research based computer network . They also conduct network research and pilot projects related to high speed connectivity...

, which is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

Royal Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research is a Norwegian responsible for education, research and kindergartens. The ministry was established in 1814, and since October 18, 2007 led by Tora Aasland and Kristin Halvorsen in 2009. The department reports to the legislature...

. The legal right to manage the domains is twofold, based both on an agreement with the IANA and regulations via the Telecommunication Act which is supervised by the Lillesand

Lillesand

is a town and municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of Lillesand.-General information:...

-based Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority.

The policy for the use of .bv is regulated by the Regulation Concerning Domain Names Under Norwegian Country Code Top-level Domains, also known as the Domain Regulation. This regulation also regulates Norway's other two ccTLDs, .no and .sj. Should .bv eventually come into use, the same rules and procedures as those currently regarding .no would be used for .bv. The domain remains reserved for potential future use. Sale of the two unused ccTLDs has not been an item to consider for policy-makers, as commercialization of the domain resources is in direct contradiction to Norwegian policy.