Top-level Internet domain names (TLDs)
a guide to basic webpage extensions, including .com, .edu, .org, and .net July 2002
Original top-level domains
The original Internet top-level domains (TLDs) and their intended use
are as follows. Note that the domain registrars place no
restrictions on who applies for one of the worldwide TLDs (.com, .net, .org). For
example, a non-profit corporation is free to use a ".com" domain
while a for-profit entity can purchase and use a ".org" domain. In
general, though, people tend to follow the guidelines pretty well.
- .com
- Originally intended for "commercial" entities, but any person
or organization, commercial or otherwise, may register a
domain name with this TLD. This is one of the worldwide top-level domains.
- .edu
- United States educational institutions. Originally for four-year, degree-granting colleges and
universities, but it has recently been opened up to two-year
institutions as well. Community colleges used to be
restricted to the ".us" top-level domain for the United States
but can now get a ".edu" domain, such as www.jccc.edu for
Johnson County Community College. Institutions can only have one ".edu"
domain. (They can get a second one if they intend to transition
to the new one -- such as ksu.edu transitioning to k-state.edu,
and ukans.edu transitioning to ku.edu.)
- .gov
- United States Federal Government agencies and branches.
State and local governments in the United States
should use the ".us" top-level country code domain, such as
www.ci.manhattan.ks.us for the City of Manhattan.
- .mil
- United States military entities.
- .net
- Entities and computers that represent part of the Internet's
infrastructure. Originally network operations centers (NOCs),
administrative computers (such as a name server), and network
node computers. This is one of the worldwide top-level domains.
- .org
- Designated for miscellaneous entities that do not fit under
any of the other top-level domains. Typically used for
non-profit organizations, but the registrars do not restrict
who is granted this TLD. This is one of the worldwide top-level domains.
"Country code" top-level domains
Top-level domains also exist for every country in the world. Examples include
- .us -- United States
- .uk -- United Kingdom
- .jp -- Japan
- .cn -- China
- .ch -- Switzerland
- .fr -- France
- .br -- Brazil
- .au -- Australia
A complete list may be found at
www.iana.org/cctld/cctld-whois.htm.
New top-level domains
In 2000, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) decided to allow seven new top-level domains in two
categories -- unsponsored and sponsored. Most went live in 2001 or 2002.
Unsponsored domains are intended to be relatively large, generally
available domains operating under policies established by the global
Internet community directly through the ICANN process.
New unsponsored TLDs are
- .biz
- Businesses -- see www.nic.biz
- .info
- Unrestricted use, but designed to have information about your
company and/or products. For example, k-state.info, which K-State
owns, would be a good domain to use for general purpose
information about the university. Right now, it takes
you to K-State's main homepage. Like the .com TLD, people can
use .info for anything they want -- it's unrestricted.
See www.nic.info for more information.
- .name
- For registration by individuals, such as harvard.townsend.name.
See www.nic.name for more information.
- .pro
- Restricted to accountants, lawyers, physicians, and other professionals.
See www.nic.pro for more information.
Sponsored domains are more specialized, with restrictions on the type
of organization that can obtain them, and with policy-formulation
responsibilities delegated to a sponsor representing the narrower
community that is most affected by the TLD.
New sponsored TLDs are
- .aero
- Sponsored by the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications
Aeronautiques SC (SITA) exclusively for the aviation industry.
Some of the entities entitled to register a .aero domain are
- Aerospace
- Airlines and commercial operators
- Airports
- Aviation education and research
- Aviation media
- Aviation professionals
- Civil aviation authorities
- Government organizations linked to aviation
- Pilots
- Recreational aviation
See www.nic.aero for more information.
- .coop
- Registration is restricted to "cooperatives, cooperative
service organizations, and wholly owned subsidiaries of
cooperatives". Sponsored by DotCooperation LLC.
See www.nic.coop for more information.
- .museum
- Registration is restricted to "museums, museum organizations,
and individual members of the museum profession". Sponsored by
the Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma). K-State
could, for example, get k-state.museum and support
beach.k-state.museum for the Beach Museum of Art.
See www.nic.museum for more information.