A private sub-domain registry allocates
domain name
In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...
s in a subset of the
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...
under a domain registered with an
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
-accredited or
ccTLD
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...
registry. Most of the private sub-domain registries operate based on an
ISO 3166-1
ISO 3166-1 (''Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions – Part 1: Country code'') is a standard defining codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest. It i ...
name that is a subdomain of a higher-level domain.
Some of these registries combine the
domain registry
A domain name registry is a database of all Domain name, domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative co ...
and the
domain registrar
A domain name registrar is a company, person, or office that manages the reservation of Internet domain names.
A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) r ...
functions in the administration structure, while others distribute domains via third-party registrars.
Operation
Private registries operate at a technical level identical to official domain registries using the well-known principles of operation of the Domain Name System. In addition, the registries may also operate a
WHOIS
WHOIS (pronounced as the phrase "who is") is a query and response protocol that is used for querying databases that store an Internet resource's registered users or assignees. These resources include domain names, IP address blocks and autonomo ...
service to publish domain name information.
History
The idea for an independent global domain name registry stems from a series of conversations between one of
CentralNic
Team Internet Group PLC (formerly named CentralNic Group PLC) is a British multinational internet services holding company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its subsidiaries provide services categorized in two segments: Online Marketing an ...
's original founders and the late
Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel (; August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to Internet Standard, standards. He is known p ...
, one of the founding fathers of the modern Internet. Postel suggested the use of ''.UK.COM'' to compete with ''.CO.UK'', at a time when the proposed price of the latter was about $300.
After the use of ''UK.COM,'' other ISO Country codes ending in ''.COM'' were also established such as ''AU.COM'' (Australia) and ''HK.COM'' (Hong Kong)
UDR (Hong Kong) – registry website
/ref> and many other countries. In 2011, CentralNic established the country code second-level domain ''.COM.DE''. Even though that domain is very similar to official ccSLDs, like ''COM.AU'' or ''COM.PL'', it has no official status since it is not operated by Denic, the official registry service provider of ''.DE'' domains.
See also
* Domain registrar
A domain name registrar is a company, person, or office that manages the reservation of Internet domain names.
A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) r ...
* Domain registry
A domain name registry is a database of all Domain name, domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative co ...
* ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...
References
{{WebManTools
Domain Name System
Domain name registries