Proposed top-level domain
Encyclopedia
The Domain Name System
of the Internet
consists of a set of top-level domain
s which constitute the root domain of the hierarchical name space and database. In the growth of the Internet, it became desirable to expand the set of initially six generic top-level domain
s in 1984. As a result new top-level domain names have been proposed for implementation by ICANN
. Such proposals included a variety of models ranging from adoption of policies for unrestricted gTLDs that could be registered by anyone for any purpose, to chartered gTLDs for specialized uses by specialized organizations. In October 2000, ICANN published a list of proposals for top-level domain strings it had received.
domain created for websites in the Catalan language
or about the Catalan culture
.
) exists a second-level domain
kids.us.
Applications for a kids domain have included:
The European Parliament
has also proposed kid for websites designed for children. It would be monitored by an independent authority.
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...
of 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...
consists of a set of 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...
s which constitute the root domain of the hierarchical name space and database. In the growth of the Internet, it became desirable to expand the set of initially six 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....
s in 1984. As a result new top-level domain names have been proposed for implementation by ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
. Such proposals included a variety of models ranging from adoption of policies for unrestricted gTLDs that could be registered by anyone for any purpose, to chartered gTLDs for specialized uses by specialized organizations. In October 2000, ICANN published a list of proposals for top-level domain strings it had received.
Geographic proposals
- .geo.geo.geo was a generic top-level domain proposed by SRI International to be used to associate Internet resources with geographical locations, via a system of "georegistrars" and "georegistries" with hierarchical addresses representing locations in a grid encircling the Earth...
- Generic geographical locations. - .berlin.berlin.berlin is a proposed new top level domain . It is a Sponsored top-level domain intended to be a top level domain for Berliners.According to the dotBERLIN organization .berlin will allow all Berliners to register their domains under .berlin...
- BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. - .wien.wien.wien is a proposed new top level domain . It is a Sponsored top-level domain intended to be a top level domain for individuals, companies and organizations from Vienna, Austria....
- ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. - .london - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - .nyc.nyc.nyc is a proposed city-level top-level domain for New York City.The .nyc top-level domain was proposed in 2000 by J. William Semich in an application to ICANN...
- New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. - .paris.paris.paris is a proposed generic top-level domain for the city of Paris, France. It was introduced in June 2008 by ICANN, but not yet assigned.-External links:* about .paris....
- ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
- .lat.lat.lat is a proposed Internet generic top-level domain for Latin American communities and users wherever they may reside.Recently NIC México along with eCOM-LAC were appointed official sponsors for this campaign...
- General category for Latin AmericaLatin AmericaLatin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
n websites. - .africa.africa.africa is a proposed Internet generic top-level domain for the African and Pan African communities and users wherever they may reside. The .africa TLD will serve as regional domain for individuals and entities based in the Africa region interested in expressing a Pan African identity or outlook...
- General category for AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n websites. - .moscow and .москва - MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Language and community
These proposals are centered on creating an independent Internet identity for linguistic and cultural communities. They are mostly inspired by the success of the .cat.cat
.cat is a sponsored top-level domain intended to be used to highlight the Catalan language and culture. Its policy has been developed by ICANN and Fundació puntCAT...
domain created for websites in the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
or about the Catalan culture
Catalan Countries
The Catalan term Països Catalans refers to the territories where the Catalan language is spoken.The first mentions of the term date back to the late 19th century, but it never surpassed the limits of a small circle of Catalan authors until its strictly cultural dimension became increasingly...
.
| Domain name | intended use | sponsor | year of proposal | comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .bzh .bzh .bzh is a proposed Internet top level domain. It is a sponsored top-level domain intended to be a top level domain for the Breton culture and languages.-History:... |
Breton language Breton language Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as... and Brittany Brittany Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain... |
dot bzh | 2006 | A campaign has been organized in Brittany to support the request of creation of the .bzh domain. The campaign's website gives little information about the status of the proposal and the organization behind and mostly holds a petition for the creation of the domain. As of August 2008 there are over 17,000 signatories. |
| .cymru | Welsh language Welsh language Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa... and Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
dotCYM Cyf | 2006 | Following a decision by ICANN in 2010 .cym .cym .cym is a top-level domain that might be eventually be assigned to the Cayman Islands. The primary top-level domain used by the Cayman Islands is .ky. The Islands already have the international three letter code, CYM... the dotCYM Cyf bid organisers made an appeal for supporters of the former dotCYM bid to suggest a new domain name for the Welsh linguistic and cultural community[. The overwhelming choice of the community was for dotCYMRU. Since November 2010 dotCYMRU is the new domain name for the Welsh linguistic and cultural domain. |
| .eng | England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental... |
dot eng.org | 2008 | The dotENG.org website was set up by John Sewell of Maidenhead in Berkshire. Mentioned in PC Pro PC Pro PC Pro is one of several computer magazines published monthly in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing. PC Pro also licenses individual articles for republication in various countries around the world - and some articles are translated into local languages... Online: Campaign begins for .eng domain, Stuart Turton, 23 April 2008 |
| .eus .eus .eus is a proposed top-level domain for Basque language. In 2008 dotCYMRU, dotEUS, dotSCOT and dotBZH formed ECLID.... |
Basque language Basque language Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories... |
PuntuEus association | 2009 | University professors, scientifics, several companies and institutions are involved in this campaign, including the autonomous government, Eusko Jaurlaritza and the Basque Language Academy, Euskaltzaindia. |
| .gal | Galician language Galician language Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and... and Galicia |
PuntoGal | 2006 | Several companies and institutions are involved in this campaign, including the autonomous government, Xunta de Galicia Xunta de Galicia The Xunta de Galicia is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President and the specialized ministers .... . |
| .ker | Cornish language Cornish language Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate... and Cornwall Cornwall Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of... (Kernow) in general |
Cornish World Magazine | 2008 | |
| .lli | Leonese language Leonese language The Leonese language is the endonym term used to refer to all vernacular Romance dialects of the Astur-Leonese linguistic group in the Spanish provinces of León and Zamora; Astur-Leonese also includes the dialects... and Leonese culture Leonese people The Leoneses are an ethnic group whose homeland is the former Kingdom of León, now region of Leon which was a country in Southwestern Europe, embracing a territory situated in the north-west of Spain and northeast of Portugal. The languages of León are the Leonese language and Spanish in Spain and... |
puntuLLI | 2007 | Several companies, associations, organisations and institutions are involved in this campaign. |
| .quebec | Quebec Quebec Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.... |
Pointquebec | 2008 | .quebec came to life following .cat success. As an incorporated NPO, PointQuebec's mission is to promote, broadcast and manage a new identity on the Internet, affirming the specificity and Quebec Culture. |
| .scot | Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... , The Scots Community of Interest online, Scottish culture and Scotland's languages |
dotSCO.org | 2005 | dotSCO began in late 2005 and has been campaigning to build support for a new TLD from among the Scots community around the world. The campaign was publicly launched at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament... 's cross-party group on the Scots language Scots language Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted... by Davie Hutchison and Euan McCreath |
| ECLID | ECLID | ECLID | 2008 | The dotCYMRU, dotEUS, dotSCOT and dotBZH have formed the ECLIDhttp://www.eclid.eu/, the European Cultural and Linguistic Internet Domains umbrella group to lobby for the successful and speedy application for the bids. |
| .sic .sic The name sic is a proposed top-level domain for the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is as an abbreviation of Siculitas , a historic region in Romania, and was requested in 2009 by an initiative of the Szekler National Council for presenting Szeklerland on the Internet.The application was... |
Székely Land Székely Land The Székely Land or Szekler Land refers to the territories inhabited mainly by the Székely, a Hungarian-speaking ethnic group from eastern Transylvania... |
Pontsic Foundation | 2009 | pontSIC began in late 2008 and has been campaigning to build support for a new TLD from among the Székely community around the world. The campaign was started by the Szekler National Council Szekler National Council The Szekler National Council is the main political organization representing the Székely of Romania.-History:The Council was founded on October 16, 2003. Its first president was József Csapó, who served until autumn 2006, when he resigned... , and now are involved several companies and institutions. As of September 2009 there are over 33,200 signatories. |
| .nai .nai .nai is a proposed generic top-level domain for Native, Aboriginal & Indigenous communities of the Americas. It is the successor to the 1999 .naa proposal to ICANN for "a gTLD jurisdictionally scoped to North America and the territories, trusts and treaty dependencies of the United States and... |
nai Nai Nai may refer to:*Nai , a Barber caste in India* Nai language, a language of Papua New Guinea* Nai , an album by singer Anna Vissi*Nai , a wind instrument, also known as the Moldavian pan flute... |
nai | 1999 | The original proposal for a native managed TLD predates ICANN, and its form was adopted by ICANN as the "sponsored" type of application and eventual contract in the 2001 new gTLD round. The application of a "sponsored" type of application and registry resulted in the .cat .cat .cat is a sponsored top-level domain intended to be used to highlight the Catalan language and culture. Its policy has been developed by ICANN and Fundació puntCAT... success. .nai .nai .nai is a proposed generic top-level domain for Native, Aboriginal & Indigenous communities of the Americas. It is the successor to the 1999 .naa proposal to ICANN for "a gTLD jurisdictionally scoped to North America and the territories, trusts and treaty dependencies of the United States and... 's mission is to implement a top-level name space with an indigenous policy, provide an alternative to the several thousand indigenous public administrations, and the larger numbers of indigenous non-governmental, linguistic and cultural institutional, public and private economic enterprises, bands and individuals in the Western Hemisphere currently using name spaces operated under for-profit or colonial policies, and promote the economic development of Indian Country. |
Domains for children
A top-level domain named kids has been proposed by several entities. As of 2009, none of these proposals have been implemented. Under the United States country code TLD (us.us
.us is the Internet country code top-level domain for the United States and was established in 1985. Registrants of .us domains must be United States citizens, residents, or organizations, or a foreign entity with a presence in the United States...
) exists a second-level domain
Second-level domain
In the Domain Name System hierarchy, a second-level domain is a domain that is directly below a top-level domain . For example, in example.com, example is the second-level domain of the .com TLD....
kids.us.
Applications for a kids domain have included:
- Blueberry Hill Communications, Inc., a domain name registration and hosting company in California, submitted a proposal Registry services would be subcontracted to NeustarNeuStarNeustar, Inc. is a provider of clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industries.-History:Neustar was incorporated in Delaware in 1998. It started as a business unit within Lockheed Martin Corporation...
and Melbourne ITMelbourne ITMelbourne IT is an Australian Internet company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange . Formed in 1996, its primary business is domain name registration in most of the major national and global top-level domains...
. Registrars are selected under same criteria and process currently imposed by ICANN. This proposal would not rely on objective criteria for categorizing content. - DotKids, established in 2000 in Rosemont, IllinoisRosemont, IllinoisRosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States located immediately northwest of Chicago. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that...
intends to utilize SARAF Software Solutions Inc. for software development of a kids registry. DotKids would deal only with ICANN accredited registrars; content rating information is to be retained in the registry and is to describe ratings for an entire site. - ICM Registry, Inc. request the kids TLD as an integrated solution for improving child safety on the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
by implicitly attempting to restrict content across both TLDs and targeting a narrow registrant group. - .KIDS Domains, Inc. is a California for-profit corporation; the proposed registry operator is TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-based domain name registrar TucowsTucowsTucows was formed in Flint, Michigan, USA in 1993. It incorporated in Pennsylvania and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
Inc. Kids would be a restricted TLD. .KIDS Domains therefore does not intend to allow other registrars to register domain names.
The European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
has also proposed kid for websites designed for children. It would be monitored by an independent authority.
Technical domain name themes
- .mail.mail.mail is a generic top-level domain proposed by The Spamhaus Project in 2004, but unapproved by ICANN. Its purpose is to enable responsible message recipients to reliably and efficiently identify and accept spam-free mailstreams.-Core Functionality:...
- A domain for e-mailE-mailElectronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
networks, proposed to facilitate fighting e-mail spamE-mail spamEmail spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
. - .web.web.web is a generic top-level domain operated as a prospective registry, not in the official root, by Image Online Design since 1995. It originated when Jon Postel, then running the top level of the Domain Name System basically single-handedly, proposed the addition of new top-level domains to be...
- A domain for general use on the world wide webWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
.
Specialized and professional topics
- .med – medical facilities and organizations
- .eco.ecoThe name eco is a proposed top-level domain for the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its intended purpose is for Internet resources that address environmental or sustainability policy and related issues.-Prospective applicants:...
– environmental causesEnvironmentalismEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements... - .fc - football clubs
- .post.postThe name post is a sponsored top-level domain name for the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended to be restricted to the use of national and regional postal services and private businesses that provide similar services. It is sponsored by the Universal Postal Union, an international...
– postalMailMail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
organizations - .shop.shop.shop is a proposed top-level domain for the Internet, submitted to ICANN for approval as a sponsored TLD. It would be restricted to the use of e-commerce on the Internet. It is sponsored by Commercial Connect Inc, an international organization based in the United States, with partners worldwide.-...
– electronic commerceElectronic commerceElectronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...
sites - .sport – sportSportA Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
sites - .wine – wineWineWine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
sites - .gay - LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
organizations
See also
- List of Internet top-level domains
- Generic top-level domain#New top-level domains