What is a TLD?

The true designation is gTLD or generic Top Level Domain, such as biz of http://carts.home.ecom.biz/.

A second-level domain is one that is a subdomain of a top-level domain. For example, http://carts.home.ecom.biz/ is understood as

• biz is the top-level domain
• ecom is a true subdomain of biz
• home is the host computer at the ecom.biz domain
• carts is another computer at the ecom.biz domain, configured as if it were a subdomain of home.ecom.biz

New Domain Names Coming

The decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to accredit new top-level domains (TLD) is the first introduction to new TLDs since the mid 1980s, when the current domain name system became operational. This is a major step forward in the continuing evolution of the Internet's domain name system.

The new domain names becoming available are: .info, .pro, .name, .biz, .aero, .coop and .museum. Trademark holders are given the preferred opportunity to choose from the new domains for their marked names. When the new registrar companies met at the International Trademark Association's annual meeting in San Francisco on May 7, 2001, they discussed the regulating terms for the new domains.

To protect trademark and service mark holders from cybersquatters, and others who may unknowingly infringe on someone's intellectual property, almost every company agreed to implement a "sunrise period"—a 30 to 45 day window where trademark owners can claim the new domain name containing their mark. The only company to not offer this "sunrise period" is NeuLevel, the overseer of .biz. Instead, NeuLevel will implement a more elaborate system where companies must submit intellectual property claims to their mark that will be judged for authenticity.

Trademark Check

APPLY FOR YOUR NEW DOMAIN TODAY!

The Domain Names

Following is a list of the companies who will be overseeing the registration of the new domains:

Non-English Language Names

Soon you will no longer be limited to English-language character names when creating your Web identity. Domain names will be available in characters from 350 languages, including Korean, Japanese, traditional and simplified Chinese characters.

Country Code Top Level Domains

In addition to the gTLD names like .com, .net, .biz, .name, etc., there are country code top-level domains (ccTLD) which contain only two letters, such as .tv, .md, .ws, etc. Since Spring 2000, the ccTLDs have become increasingly popular as alternative domain names, as the .com availability of names is becoming exhausted.

Have you ever seen a two-letter TLD and wondered what country it belongs to? For a complete list of ccTLDs, including their registration authorities, go to NetResult Web Marketing's ccTLD page.