Domain Names What are they and what are they used for?

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1 DOCS What are they and what are they used for? 01 Introduction What are domain names? What types of domain names are there? Who approves and regulates their use? Barcelona Activa SAU SPM,

2 01. Introduction Recently, the passing of the domain name.cat by the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) agency of the United States government took place, as well as the publication of several news items by various mediums regarding the opening of registration of the domain.es by companies and brands, within the framework of the Spanish Plan Nacional de Dominios (National Plan of ). As a result of these events, we received many requests for information about domain names, their nature and uses. We prepared this report based on the enquiries we received, which is presented here in its edited and updated version. 2 / 8

3 02. What are domain names? Internet is a network of communications which enables communication between millions of computer systems all over the world. The method used to identify all these computers on the Internet is through a numeric code. This code is assigned according to a protocol called Internet Protocol (IP). The Internet Protocol When we visit a website or send an , we are sending or receiving information from one computer to another one. When we do this, we must ensure that the information is sent and received correctly. The method used to ensure that this information transfer is correct and that it arrives safely at its destination, is Internet Protocol. The protocol assigns a number to each computer. This number is known as an IP number. The IP number, which is assigned to every computer connected to the Internet, is composed of four digits from 0 to 255 (e.g ). When we connect to a website, what we are doing is connecting to a computer, and asking it to send us the information which is stored inside it, so that we can display it on our computer. However, since people have an easier time memorizing words than number sequences, the System, or DNS, was created. DNS DNS is the acronym for Domain Name System. It is a system created to translate the IP number of a computer found on the Internet into a text that is easy to memorize for anyone, for example, google.com. This easy to memorize text is technically called Domain Name, and is found on the URL, the element that appears in the address bar of Internet navigators and which usually looks like this: in which: - refers to the way in which the data is sent, in this case, through the hypertext transfer protocol, - www. refers to the network where the resource is hosted (in this case, the network of global reach or world wide web), - google is the name given to the resource being accessed, and -.com is the domain chosen to display this resource. 3 / 8

4 03. What types of domain names are there? The typology of domain names is similar to the distribution of floors in a building there is a first floor, a second floor, etc. - First level domains are the acronyms defined by the ICANN, the agency in charge of the regulation and organisation of the System. - Second level and subsequent domains, also known as sub-domains, are created and regulated by the entities in charge of management of each of the established first level domains. So, for example, ESNIC, which is the entity in charge of management of the domain.es, can create different sub-domains, as it did in the National Plan of mentioned in the introduction to this report. First level domain names or Top Level Domains (TLD) of public and common1 use are divided, in turn, into two different groups: cctld Acronym for Country-Code Top Level Domains, which is used to refer to the territorial codes of first level domains. These domains are composed of two letters and correspond to countries, areas or regions. This would be the case of.es for Spain,.tv for Tuvalu,.ca for Canada,.ad for Andorra or.gi for Gibraltar. The assignment of these domains correspond to that which is stipulated in regulation ISO-3166 ( which is the internationally recognised regulation or system to officially approve territorial acronyms. The list of territories and acronyms of regulation ISO-3166 depends on the publication by the United Nations of the name of the affected territory in the Terminology Bulletin of Country Names or in the Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use ( which are both managed by the Statistics Division of said institution. This makes it a decision that goes beyond the strict reach of the Internet 1 There is another group of domain names, called.arpa. These are exclusively used for Internet infrastructure purposes. They are managed directly by the IANA, the authority that assigns IP numbers to computers on the Internet. 4 / 8

5 The assignment of these domains correspond to what is established by the regulation ISO-3166 ( which is the system or regulation accepted internationally to officially approve the territorial acronyms. The list of territories and acronyms of the regulation ISO-3166 depends on the publication by the United Nations of the name of the affected territory in the Terminology Bulletin of Country Names or in the Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use ( which are both maintained by the Statistics Division of the cited institution. This is then a decision that goes beyond the strict field of the Internet. 5 / 8

6 gtld Acronym for Generic Top Level Domains, which is used to refer to the generic domain names not subject to regulation ISO-13166, but to the mentioned ICANN. The domains are composed of three or more letters and can be classified as follows: Historical gtld These are the first seven domains which were created in January 1985 on the Internet. They are: -.com: Acronym for commerce, originally designed for companies and e-commerce, but has since widened and can be now considered an free use domain. -.net: Acronym for network, which is a domain designed for everything that cannot be included in any of the other existing gtlds. -.org: Acronym for organisation, which was designed for non-profit making organizations, but which, as in the case of.com, now has a generic use. -.edu: Acronym for education and which has kept its essence as a name which refers to universities and the education field. -.gov: Acronym for government, which is exclusively reserved for institutions and organisations of the US government. -.mil: Acronym for military, exclusively reserved for the US army. -.int: Acronym for International, reserved for any organisation established through an international treaty between sovereign governments, such as the former European Union website (europa.eu.int) or the NATO website ( for example. Sponsored gtld These are restricted domains or domains that have a management community which determines whether an individual or a legal entity can register a domain, depending on whether they belong to the community in question or not. These have been created since 2000 and include the following: -.aero: Acronym for aeronautique, sponsored by the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautique S.C. (SITA SC), and which is exclusively reserved for the aviation industry. -.cat: Acronym for Catalan. This is a domain sponsored by the association puntcat for the exclusive use of websites of the Catalan-speaking linguistic and cultural community. -.coop: Acronym for cooperative, this domain is sponsored by DotCooperation LLC and is exclusively used by cooperatives world-wide. 6 / 8

7 -.museum is a domain sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association and is exclusively reserved for museums, museum associations or professionals from the sector. -.mobi: Acronym for mobile web, sponsored by a consortium of companies made up of Google, Microsoft, Vodafone, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia and reserved for sectoral mobile applications and web spaces. -.jobs is a domain sponsored by Employ Media LLC which is designed to enable Human Resources Management companies to publish their job offer pages. -.travel is a domain sponsored by Tralliance Corporation, designed for organisations whose main activity is related to the travel industry. Non-sponsored gtld These have been created, like the previous ones, since 2000, and can be defined as generic domains with no community to support them or to determine or control their use. In this group, the following domain names can be found: -.biz: Acronym for business which is reserved exclusively for companies, even though there is no kind of control of the authenticity of the registration data and which, therefore, can be considered a free use domain. -.info: Acronym for information. This is a domain created with a generic nature and is of free use. -.name is a domain designed for individuals who want to register their name and last names in order to use them on the Net. -.pro: Acronym for professional, which is designed for freelance professionals who wish to accredit their status (lawyers, doctors, etc.). 7 / 8

8 04. Who approves and regulates their use? First level domains are approved, recognised and controlled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). From this point, each first level domain has an organisation or entity which regulates its use and which is free to create as many sub-domains as it considers appropriate. For example, the domain.es is regulated and managed by the public business entity RED.ES, which is the relevant authority for the management of the registration of Internet domain names under the territorial code.es. Another example, is the generic domain.cat, which is regulated and managed by the foundation puntcat, which is in charge of registering Internet domain names under the cultural code.cat. Written by the Barcelonanetactiva team from the following sources of information: - Website of the association.cat - Website of the ESNIC - Website of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - Website of the Maintenance Agency for ISO 3166 country codes - Website of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Barcelona Activa SAU SPM, Last Update: 15/09/2009 Barcelona Activa SAU SPM will ensure that this information and the data contained in the reports are accurate and faithful. These reports are published to provide general information. Barcelona Activa SAU SPM will not accept under any circumstance any responsibility for losses, damages or theft, or for any other business decisions based on data or pieces of information that can be extracted from this report. 8 / 8