Internet domain name

An Internet domain name is a unique name of an organization or person on the Internet. The name is combined with a generic top-level domain (gTLD), such as .com or .org. For example, computerlanguage.com is the domain name for the publisher of this encyclopedia. By 2019, there were more than 300 million registered domain names.

Under ICANN's "New gTLD" program, communities, industries and organizations can create their own top-level domain names (see New gTLD).

Registration Is Required
In order for a domain name to be visible on the Internet, it must first be registered with any one of hundreds of registrars, which will verify that the name is absolutely unique. See registrar.

Dub-Dub-Dub or Whatever
In order to access The Computer Language Company website, www.computerlanguage.com is typed into the browser's address bar (see URL). The WWW, often verbalized as "dub-dub-dub," is a mnemonic commonly used for the hostname of a company's Web server. However, WWW is only a recommendation, and Web servers can be assigned any hostname. In addition, most companies configure their Web servers to not require a hostname. For example, computerlanguage.com without the WWW is sufficient. See hostname and DNS.

Different mnemonics are also widely used to identify sections of a site; for example, support.computerlanguage.com could be a valid address, in which case the word SUPPORT could not be omitted when typing the name.

Generic Top-Level Domains

In 1985, the following generic top-level domains (gTLDs) were created.

Unrestricted gTLDs.com   commercial
 .net   network oriented
 .org   non-profit organization

  Restricted gTLDs.edu   accredited U.S. educational
 .gov   U.S. government agencies
 .mil   U.S. military
 .int   international treaties (1988)

More Domain Names
Starting in 2000, ICANN added more domains. Sponsored domains means that their use is reserved for a particular community, or registration is restricted to a certain type of applicant (see sTLD).

Sponsored Top-Level DomainssTLD    Purpose.aero    global aviation community
 .asia    Pan-Asia/Asia Pacific region
 .cat     Catalan community
 .coop    cooperatives
 .jobs    human resources/employment
 .mobi    mobile products/services
 .museum  museums
 .post    postal sector
 .pro     licensed professionals
 .tel     contacts (see  .tel)
 .travel  travel industry
 .xxx     X-rated


  Unsponsored Top-Level Domains.biz     businesses
 .info    information service
 .name    individuals

Countries Also Have Domain Names
Every country has a top-level domain; for example, .ca for Canada and .fr for France. The U.S. country code is .us, but it is not widely used. See country code, New gTLD, ICANN, IP address and FQDN.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

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References in periodicals archive

An Arbitration and Mediation Centre was set up in 1994 to offer alternative dispute resolution options to parties keen to avoid the cost and inconvenience of a court hearing and the body has ruled on a number of high-profile Internet domain name disputes in recent years.

Elliott is top domain name watchdog

In a recent case involving a disputed internet domain name, the German High Court (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has given priority to the name bearer.

In dispute over internet domain name, German High Court gives priority to name bearer

While recent attacks against the Internet Domain Name Service underscored the continuing threat to American cyberspace as well as the level of risk civilized societies must face, those same cyber attacks also demonstrated the resilience of the Internet structure, EDS said.

EDS responds to draft version of National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

BUSINESSES in Warwickshire are being falsely threatened with losing their internet domain name if they fail to pay pounds 225.

Firms' internet alert

over the Internet domain name "franchiserecruiters.com" has been decided by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation center in favor of Franchise Recruiters.

Franchise Domain Name Dispute Decision Handed Down

What's an Internet domain name worth to a nonprofit these days?

Masters Of Their Domains

An Internet domain name is part of the address of a site on the Internet.

The Name Game

2232) increases the criminal penalties for unlawfully accessing a computer, introducing a computer virus, and knowingly using another person's Internet domain name. The law also expands the definition of injury under the existing computer crimes statute in California to include intentionally causing denial of access to legitimate users of a computer system, network, or program, thus making the definition include distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS).

Identity theft

Last summer the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska had reached an agreement with pornographer Dan Parisi, who wanted to donate the Internet domain name madonna.com to the hospital.

MADONNA OF MY DOMAIN

But the web name davidbeckham.com is already owned by London-based Internet domain name company Catchynames and other names based on Beckham have been reserved by other investors.

Beckham's pounds 1m .com dilemma

Additionally WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization,) which issues recommended policies for the international protection of intellectual property rights, has created the Internet Domain Name Process.

Internet domains names and the protection of intellectual property rights

ACM President Barbara Simons has written to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regarding the rules for the adjudication of disputes of global top-level domains (gTLDs) proposed in the WIPO's Interim Report on the Internet Domain Name Process, RFC-3 (December 23, 1998).

ACM Criticizes Proposed Adjudication Rules for Domain Name Disputes