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The Domain Name System of the Internet consists of a set of top-level domains which constitute the root domain of the hierarchical name space and database. In the growth of the Internet, it became desirable to expand the set of initially six generic top-level domains in 1984. As a result, new top-level domain names have been proposed for implementation by ICANN. Such proposals included a variety of models ranging from adoption of policies for unrestricted gTLDs that could be registered by anyone for any purpose, to chartered gTLDs for specialized uses by specialized organizations.^[1] In October 2000, ICANN published a list of proposals for top-level domain strings it had received.^[2]

Geographic proposals[edit]

• 
  .geo - Generic geographical locations.


• 
  .africa - General category for African websites.


• 
  .ln and .le - Currently being sold by Dennis Hope's "Lunar Embassy Commission" alongside .lunar, .moon, .venus, .mars, .jupiter, .saturn, .uranus, .neptune, .pluto. People who purchase novelty deeds for outer space property from him are also given free domains.^[3] None of these TLDs are supported at present by root servers.


• 
  .toronto - was proposed by City of Toronto staff.

Internationalized country code top-level domains[edit]

The following ccTLDs (Country code top-level domains) have been requested using a procedure known as Internationalized domain name (or IDN) ccTLD Fast Track Process. It is possible that some requests have been withdrawn.

DNS name	IDN ccTLD	Country	Transliteration	Script	ccTLD	Year of application
xn--qxa6a	.ευ [4]	European Union	ey	Greek	.eu	2010
xn--4dbrk0ce	ישראל.[5]	Israel	Israel	Hebrew	.il	2008
xn--wgv71a	.日本[6][7]	Japan	Nippon or Nihon	Kanji (both Kyūjitai and Shinjitai)	.jp	2008
xn--vcst06ab2a	.日本国[6]		Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku	Kanji (Shinjitai)		2012
xn--q7ce6a	.ລາວ [8]	Laos	Lao or Laao	Lao	.la	2008
xn--mgbb7fyab	ليبيا.	Libya	Lībyā	Arabic	.ly

The following countries have national languages which use other script than Latin, but have no internationalized country code top-level domain, and none proposed in the above list:

• Afghanistan


• Bahrain


• Bhutan


• Cambodia


• Chad


• Cyprus


• Djibouti


• Eritrea


• Ethiopia


• North Korea


• Kuwait


• Kyrgyzstan


• Lebanon


• Maldives


• Myanmar


• Nepal


• Tajikistan

Language and community[edit]

These proposals are centered on creating an independent Internet identity for linguistic and cultural communities. They are mostly inspired by the success of the .cat domain created for websites in the Catalan language or about the Catalan culture.

• Note: The dotCYMRU, dotEUS, dotSCOT and dotBZH have formed the ECLID [1], the European Cultural and Linguistic Internet Domains umbrella group to lobby for the successful and speedy application for the bids.

Domains for children[edit]

Several entities have proposed a top-level domain named kids. As of 2009^[update], none of these proposals have been implemented.

This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2018)

Applications for a kids domain have included:

• Blueberry Hill Communications, Inc., a domain name registration and hosting company in California, submitted a proposal^[12] Registry services would be subcontracted to Neustar and Melbourne IT. Registrars are selected under same criteria and process currently imposed by ICANN. This proposal would not rely on objective criteria for categorizing content.


• DotKids, established in 2000 in Rosemont, Illinois intends to utilize SARAF Software Solutions Inc. for software development of a kids registry. DotKids would deal only with ICANN accredited registrars; content rating information is to be retained in the registry and is to describe ratings for an entire site.^[13]


• ICM Registry, Inc. request the kids TLD^[14] as an integrated solution for improving child safety on the Internet by implicitly attempting to restrict content across both TLDs and targeting a narrow registrant group.


• .KIDS Domains, Inc.^[15] is a California for-profit corporation; the proposed registry operator is Toronto-based domain name registrar Tucows Inc. Kids would be a restricted TLD. .KIDS Domains therefore does not intend to allow other registrars to register domain names.

Current projects also aimed at creating a TLD for children include:

• The DotJunior Project,^[16] an organisation established in late 2014 trying to launch a .Junior TLD for child safety purposes.

The European Parliament has also proposed kid for websites designed for children.^{[citation needed]} It would be monitored by an independent authority.

In US a sub-domain for children had established since 2003 based on "Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002, PL 107-317".(us) exists a second-level domain kids.us. However, on 27 July 2012 NTIA decided to suspend it.^[17][18]

Technical domain name themes[edit]

• 
  .mail – A domain for e-mail networks, proposed to facilitate fighting e-mail spam.


• 
  .web – A domain for general use on the world wide web.

Specialized and professional topics[edit]

• 
  .eco – environmental causes^[19][20] – Limited existence in 2016 and full launch in 2017.^[21]


• 
  .med – medical practitioners and organizations^[22] – exists from 2016.^[23]


• 
  .shop – electronic commerce sites^[24] – exists from 2016.^[25]


• 
  .sport – sport sites^[26]

Donuts Inc. has invested $57 million in more than 300 applications,^[27][28] while Famous Four Media has applied for 61 applications.^[29]

See also[edit]

• List of Internet top-level domains


• Generic top-level domain – New top-level domains

References[edit]

External links[edit]