.org
Encyclopedia
The domain name org is a generic top-level domain
(gTLD) of the Domain Name System
(DNS) used in the Internet
. The name is derived from organization.
The org domain was one of the original top-level domains, with com
, edu
, gov
, mil
and net
, established in January 1985. It was originally intended for non-profit organizations or organizations of a non-commercial character that did not meet the requirements for other gTLDs. The MITRE Corporation
was the first group to register an org domain with
Registrations in the org are processed via accredited registrars worldwide. Anyone can register an org second-level domain. Although org was recommended for non-commercial entities, there are no restrictions to registration. There are many instances of org being used by commercial sites. org was also commonly used by individuals, although name
and info
are now alternatives. According to the ICANN Dashboard (Domain Name) report, the composition of org is diverse, including cultural institutions; associations; sports/teams; religious and civic organizations; open-source software
; schools; environmental initiatives; social/fraternal organizations; health organizations; legal services; clubs and community volunteer groups. There are also cases where companies or organizations have created sites under org for crisis management.
The org TLD has been operated since January 1, 2003 by Public Interest Registry
, who assumed the task from VeriSign Global Registry Services, a division of VeriSign
.
Although organizations anywhere in the world may register org domains, many countries, for example, Australia (au
), Japan (jp
), Argentina (ar
), Bolivia (bo
), Uruguay (uy
), Turkey(tr
), Somalia (so
), Sierra Leone (sl
), Russia (ru
), Bangladesh (bd
), and the United Kingdom (uk
), have a second-level domain with a similar purpose under their own country code top-level domain
(ccTLD). Such second-level domains are usually named org or or.
On 17 March 2010, the Public Interest Registry
announced that there are over 8 million domain names registered as .org, making it the third largest generic top-level domain
(gTLD).
s (IDNs) as second-level domains. For German, Danish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Swedish IDNs this has been possible since 2005. Spanish IDN registrations have been possible since 2007.
with Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). This allows the verification of the origin authenticity and integrity of DNS data by conforming DNS clients.
As of June 23, 2010, DNSSEC was enabled for individual second-level domains, starting with 13 registrars.
. Many political parties and support groups use org.
(PIR) charges its accredited registrars US$6.75 for each domain name. Accredited registrars may charge anything they wish to the end customer.
Generic top-level domain
A generic top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....
(gTLD) of the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(DNS) used in 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...
. The name is derived from organization.
The org domain was one of the original top-level domains, with com
.com
The domain name com is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations...
, edu
.edu
The domain name edu is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The "domain is intended for accredited post-secondary educational U.S. institutions" and this intention is strictly enforced....
, gov
.gov
The domain name gov is a sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from government, indicating its restricted use by government entities in the United States. The gov domain is administered by the General Services Administration , an independent...
, mil
.mil
The domain name mil is the sponsored top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet for the United States Department of Defense and its subsidiary or affiliated organizations. The name is derived from military. It was one of the first top-level domains, created in January 1985.The...
and net
.net
The domain name net is a generic top-level domain used in the Domain Name System of the Internet. The name is derived from network, indicating its originally intended purpose for organizations involved in networking technologies, such as Internet service providers and other infrastructure companies...
, established in January 1985. It was originally intended for non-profit organizations or organizations of a non-commercial character that did not meet the requirements for other gTLDs. The MITRE Corporation
MITRE
The Mitre Corporation is a not-for-profit organization based in Bedford, Massachusetts and McLean, Virginia...
was the first group to register an org domain with
mitre.org in July 1985.Registrations in the org are processed via accredited registrars worldwide. Anyone can register an org second-level domain. Although org was recommended for non-commercial entities, there are no restrictions to registration. There are many instances of org being used by commercial sites. org was also commonly used by individuals, although name
.name
The domain name "name" is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for use by individuals for representation of their personal names, nicknames, screen names, pseudonyms, or other types of identification labels....
and info
.info
The domain name info is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet, The name is derived from information indicating that the domain is intended for informative Internet resources, although registration requirements do not prescribe any theme orientation.The info TLD was...
are now alternatives. According to the ICANN Dashboard (Domain Name) report, the composition of org is diverse, including cultural institutions; associations; sports/teams; religious and civic organizations; open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
; schools; environmental initiatives; social/fraternal organizations; health organizations; legal services; clubs and community volunteer groups. There are also cases where companies or organizations have created sites under org for crisis management.
The org TLD has been operated since January 1, 2003 by Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage the .org top-level domain. It took over the operation of the domain from VeriSign on 1 January 2003. Afilias manages the technical operations of the .org registry under a contract with the...
, who assumed the task from VeriSign Global Registry Services, a division of VeriSign
VeriSign
Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
.
Although organizations anywhere in the world may register org domains, many countries, for example, Australia (au
.au
.au is the Internet country code top-level domain for Australia.-History:The domain name was originally allocated by Jon Postel, operator of IANA to Kevin Robert Elz of Melbourne University in 1986. After an approximately five year process in the 1990s, the Internet industry created a self...
), Japan (jp
.jp
.jp is the Internet country code top-level domain for Japan. It is administered by the Japan Registry Service.At the establishment of the .jp domain the domain was administered by the JPNIC, as part of their role as an overseeing technical body for the Internet in Japan...
), Argentina (ar
.ar
.ar is the Internet country code top-level domain for Argentina. It is administered by NIC Argentina.-Second Level Domains:*.com.ar *.edu.ar...
), Bolivia (bo
.bo
.bo is the Internet country code top-level domain for Bolivia. It is administered by ADSIB, As of February 2011, the NIC was offering a registration fee of about $40 USD per year or 280 $Bs for third-level domain and $140 USD per year or 980 $Bs for second level domain.Registration is at the...
), Uruguay (uy
.uy
.uy is the Internet country code top-level domain for Uruguay. Domain names must be registered at third-level.-Second-level domains:* .com.uy: for commercial companies...
), Turkey(tr
.tr
.tr is the Internet country code top-level domain for Turkey. It is administered by Middle East Technical University ..nc.tr is used as a second-level domain for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, as it has no country code assigned....
), Somalia (so
.so
.so is the Internet country code top-level domain for Somalia. After a long absence, the .so domain was officially relaunched on November 1, 2010 by .SO Registry, which is regulated by the nation's Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.-Overview:...
), Sierra Leone (sl
.sl
.sl is the Internet country code top-level domain for Sierra Leone..sl is also commonly used for any web site dealing with the virtual world of Second Life.- Second-level Domains :* .sl - General...
), Russia (ru
.ru
.ru is the Latin alphabet Internet country code top-level domain for the Russian Federation introduced on April 7, 1994. The Russian alphabet internationalized country code is .рф....
), Bangladesh (bd
.bd
.bd is the Internet country code top-level domain for Bangladesh. It is administered by the Ministry of Post & Telecommunications of Bangladesh...
), and the United Kingdom (uk
.uk
.uk is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United Kingdom. , it is the fourth most popular top-level domain worldwide , with over 9.5 million registrations....
), have a second-level domain with a similar purpose under their own country code top-level domain
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....
(ccTLD). Such second-level domains are usually named org or or.
On 17 March 2010, the Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage the .org top-level domain. It took over the operation of the domain from VeriSign on 1 January 2003. Afilias manages the technical operations of the .org registry under a contract with the...
announced that there are over 8 million domain names registered as .org, making it the third largest generic top-level domain
Generic top-level domain
A generic top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....
(gTLD).
Internationalized domain names
The org domain registry allows the registration of selected internationalized domain nameInternationalized domain name
An internationalized domain name is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label that is displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in a language-specific script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi or the Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics,...
s (IDNs) as second-level domains. For German, Danish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Swedish IDNs this has been possible since 2005. Spanish IDN registrations have been possible since 2007.
Domain name security
On June 2, 2009, The Public Interest Registry announced that the org domain is the first generic top-level domain and the largest registry overall that has signed its DNS zoneDNS zone
A DNS zone is a portion of the global Domain Name System namespace for which administrative responsibility has been delegated.-Definition:...
with Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). This allows the verification of the origin authenticity and integrity of DNS data by conforming DNS clients.
As of June 23, 2010, DNSSEC was enabled for individual second-level domains, starting with 13 registrars.
Example use
In addition to its wide use in charitable fields, the org domain is often preferred by projects in the free software movementFree software movement
The free software movement is a social and political movement with the goal of ensuring software users' four basic freedoms: the freedom to run their software, to study and change their software, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. The alternative terms "software libre", "open...
. Many political parties and support groups use org.
Cost of registration
The Public Interest RegistryPublic Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society in 2002 to manage the .org top-level domain. It took over the operation of the domain from VeriSign on 1 January 2003. Afilias manages the technical operations of the .org registry under a contract with the...
(PIR) charges its accredited registrars US$6.75 for each domain name. Accredited registrars may charge anything they wish to the end customer.
External links
- PIR Public Interest Registry .org whoisWHOISWHOIS is a query and response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the registered users or assignees of an Internet resource, such as a domain name, an IP address block, or an autonomous system, but is also used for a wider range of other information. The protocol stores...
information - InterNIC FAQs on the .org Transition
- Whois.net - Domain Based Research
- http://www.pir.org/why/stability/issues - .org Registration Information