BIG^(TM) : The Basic Internet Guide
A Sourcebook for Learning Web Essentials
in the School, the Home and the Office
by Andis Kaulins, J.D. Stanford University
Lecturer a.D. University of Trier, Author Langenscheidt Fachverlag
(in collaboration with Chris Loehr, Erlangen)
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004 by Andis Kaulins. All rights reserved.

PART 1
Essential Internet Knowledge

Chapter 2
The Administration of the Internet

Page 18 - New Domain TLDs Adopted in 2001-2002

(continued from page 17) Top Level Domain Delegation Practices
[Quoted ICANN material is copyright of ICANN and is reprinted here by permission.]

(i) Uses of ISO 3166-1 Table. The IANA is not in the business of deciding what is and what is not a country. The selection of the ISO-3166-1 list as a basis for country code top-level domain names was made with the knowledge that ISO has a procedure for determining which entities should be and should not be on that list...." [See http://www.din.de/gremien/nas/nabd/iso3166ma/].

(j) Maintenance Procedure for Root Zone File. The primary root zone file is currently located on the A root server, which is operated by Network Solutions, Inc.(NSI), under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Government...."

New generic Domain TLDs adopted in 2001 and 2002²⁰

ICANN writes: In the 1980s, seven gTLDs [generic TLDs] (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org) were created. Domain names may be registered in three of these (.com, .net, and .org) without restriction; the other four have limited purposes.

Over the next twelve years, various discussions occurred concerning additional gTLDs, leading to the selection in November 2000 of seven new TLDs for introduction. These were introduced in 2001 and 2002. Four of the new TLDs (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro) are unsponsored. The other three new TLDs (.aero, .coop, and .museum) are sponsored.

Generally speaking, an unsponsored TLD operates under policies established by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process, while a sponsored TLD is a specialized TLD that has a sponsor representing the narrower community that is most affected by the TLD. The sponsor thus carries out delegated policy-formulation responsibilities over many matters concerning the TLD."

Unsponsored TLDs are:

.biz - (for businesses only) see http://www.nic.biz/ and here

.info - (information, unrestricted use) see http://www.afilias.info/

.name - (for names of individuals only) - Global Name Registry
see http://www.nic.name/

.pro - (for professionals only - accountants, lawyers, physicians, dentists, architects, engineers) see http://www.registrypro.com/

Sponsored TLDs are:

.aero - (air-transport industry only) - Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA) see also http://www.nic.aero/

.coop - (cooperatives only) - National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) see also http://www.cooperative.org)

.museum - (museums only) - Museum Domain Management Association (MuseDoma) see also http://www.musedoma.org/

For a Continuation of the Book GO TO
Page 19