Before 1983, visiting a host on a network required typing in a unique identifier, namely its IP adress (like 172.16.254.1). The early Internet was much, much smaller than it is today, and to reach a particular site you had to know where to look.
Luckily for us, the Internet Engineering Task Force (an Internet standards working group) has introduced a small revolution in the form of the Domain Name System (DNS), which made it possible to map numeric IP addresses to specific domain names. Rather than having to remember a long string of numbers, you now only need to remember a URL (Byothe.fr for example).
With the DNS system came domain name extensions. The extension is the first level of the domain name (TLD: Top Level Domains), such as .com or .fr. A majority of sites use .com, which tends to make us forget that initially, each domain extension had a specific purpose.
Let’s take a little tour through the history of domain extensions…
A brief history of domain extensions
In 1984, theInternet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) defined the first 6 extensions: .com, .edu, .gov, .mil, .org and .net. Shortly after, two-letter extensions specific to countries (.fr or .us, etc.) appeared. Then in 1988, .int was created.
It was around this point that the Internet started to take off. Not because of extensions, but let's just say that extensions made it easier to navigate. But it wasn't until the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in 1998, that all new domain extensions (besides country code extensions) began to be used.
At the time, ICANN had an agreement with the US Department of Commerce to operate the IANA. However, a number of countries then claimed that the dominance of these organizations established the US as the de facto “leader” of the Internet (in addition to being the leader of the world… remember Les Guignols and the World Company). The US eventually recognized this and agreed in 2016 to transfer control of ICANN to an international organization.
Types of domain extensions
For a long time, there were only the generic top-level domains (gTLDs) mentioned above. A gTLD is now considered to be any top-level domain unsponsored, that is, all those who are not restricted by specific communities based on ethnic, geographic, professional or other criteria…
In 2000, a selection of 7 new top-level domains were made available: .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name and .pro.
ICANN added several more series of extensions between 2005 and 2007 including .cat, .jobs, .mobi, .tel, .travel and .asia. This time these were sTLDs, i.e. sponsored top level domains. These sponsored top-level domains are intended for specific communities: geographic, ethnic, professional, technical…
In 2008, membership in the existing TLD system began to change. ICANN launched a new naming process for TLD which aimed to “ take an important step in the introduction of new generic top-level domains"
While previously a gTLD was almost exclusively defined by an organization, companies can now create an arbitrary gTLD that fits their needs (e.g. brand). ICANN's statutory registration fee for a gTLD is currently $185 (+ annual fees).
Of course, Big companies rushed to the opportunity in order to protect their trademarks. For example, Microsoft has requested the following extensions:
- azure
- bing
- docs
- hotmail
- live,
- Microsoft
- office
- SkyDrive
- skype
- windows
- xbox
Apple settled for .apple, but Amazon asked for 76 and Google for 101.
While the cost of acquiring a gTLD is $185, if there is interest from multiple companies, we move to an auction system. Amazon finally paid $000 million for .buy and Google had to drop $4.5 million for .app.
Restricted or unrestricted extensions
Domain extensions are either restricted or unrestricted. A sponsored TLD is almost always restricted.
For example, only accredited educational institutions are eligible to register a domain with a .edu extension. Many country code domain extensions are also restricted and can only be registered by citizens or residents of the country the extension is in.
Conversely, unrestricted domain extensions, such as .com, .org, and .net, can be registered by anyone. There are also unrestricted country-code domain extensions. This has allowed some clever people to hijack these extensions by creating a word using them. Del.icio.us, for example, uses the United States country code .us to form the word " delicious " (delicious).
Finally, you can consult Wikipedia the list of all internet top-level domains and you'll see that there are a whole bunch of them! Among my favorites, I have selected for you: .bzh (for Bretons), .ceo (for bosses), .kim (for people with the first name Kim), .pink (for fans of the color pink)...
But in the end, do you really pay attention to the extensions of the sites you visit?
