.post is a

sponsored top-level domain A sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet, alongside country-code top-level domains (ccTLD ...

(STLD), available exclusively for the postal sector, and is secured by

DNSSEC The Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) is a suite of extension specifications by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for securing data exchanged in the Domain Name System ( DNS) in Internet Protocol ( IP) networks. The protoco ...

. The domain aims to integrate the physical, financial, and electronic dimensions of postal services to enable and facilitate e-post, e-finance, e-commerce, and

e-government E-government (known for electronic government) involves utilizing technology devices, such as computers and the Internet, for faster means of delivering public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offer ...

services.

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 ...

approved the domain on April 8, 2005, as a sponsored

TLD A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...

in the second group of new TLD applications evaluated in 2004. In 2004, the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...

(UPU), based in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, was the first United Nations agency to secure a top-level domain (TLD) from ICANN. In 2009, ICANN and the UPU signed a historic agreement, giving the UPU managing authority over .post as a top-level domain. The agreement came about after negotiations and public review through ICANN's public comment process, reviews within the UPU governing councils, and consideration by ICANN's Board of Directors. Having been delegated authority for .post, the UPU develops, implements, and monitors government rules for it. It is also responsible for attributing domain names to postal-sector stakeholders who meet the eligibility criteria. The STLD was added to the

IANA The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet P ...

TLD registry on August 8, 2012.

Purpose

.post was designed to serve the needs of the global postal community in cyberspace. The idea behind .post was to identify legitimate postal services and avoid confusion for individuals, businesses, and stakeholders. As of October 2014, out of 192 UPU member countries, 38 are full members of the Dot Post Group (DPG), which is appointed to oversee the development of this platform. A few of those have already launched their .post web site. Most of them offer a web interface to traditional post office services such as printed letters and parcels delivery. One of them also features Postal Registered Electronic Mail (PREM) among its services.

Authentication

To register a .post domain, the UPU asks entities to submit a Community ID request. Registrants must be approved as being members of the .post Sponsored Community before registering domains. Prior to registering a .post domain, the UPU verifies the registrant's eligibility to register a domain name and issues a .post Community ID. Each applicant is required to provide legal proof of ownership of the string, as well as falling into 1 of 11 Registrant Groups set out in paragraph 3.3 of the .post Domain Management Policy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:POST Postal services Universal Postal Union Sponsored top-level domains Top-level domains Internet properties established in 2009 de:Top-Level-Domain#Gesponserte Domains (sTLD) sv:Toppdomän#Generiska toppdomäner