TLD – what is a Top Level Domain?
Recently I’ve seen a few people refer to their domain name, like “myname.com” as a “top level domain” or TLD. The short answer is that it is NOT a TLD. The term Top Level Domain has a very specific meaning, and anything you can register does not fit the definition… Per RFC 920,
The domain system is a tree-structured global name space that has a few top level domains. The top level domains are subdivided into second level domains. The second level domains may be subdivided into third level domains, and so on.
…While the initial domain name “ARPA” arises from the history of the development of this system and environment, in the future most of the top level names will be very general categories like “government”, “education”, or “commercial”. The motivation is to provide an organization name that is free of undesirable semantics.
Notice their words: “top level names will be very general categories…” Recognize the categories listed, it’s .gov, .edu and .com TLDs. There are also ccTLDs with are country specific such as .us and .ca for the USA and Canada respectively. As of this moment right now, here are ALL OF the top level domains per IANA:
AC, AD, AE, AERO, AF, AG, AI, AL, AM, AN, AO, AQ, AR, ARPA, AS, ASIA, AT, AU, AW, AX, AZ, BA, BB, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, BI, BIZ, BJ, BM, BN, BO, BR, BS, BT, BV, BW, BY, BZ, CA, CAT, CC, CD, CF, CG, CH, CI, CK, CL, CM, CN, CO, COM, COOP, CR, CU, CV, CX, CY, CZ, DE, DJ, DK, DM, DO, DZ, EC, EDU, EE, EG, ER, ES, ET, EU, FI, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FR, GA, GB, GD, GE, GF, GG, GH, GI, GL, GM, GN, GOV, GP, GQ, GR, GS, GT, GU, GW, GY, HK, HM, HN, HR, HT, HU, ID, IE, IL, IM, IN, INFO, INT, IO, IQ, IR, IS, IT, JE, JM, JO, JOBS, JP, KE, KG, KH, KI, KM, KN, KP, KR, KW, KY, KZ, LA, LB, LC, LI, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, LY, MA, MC, MD, ME, MG, MH, MIL, MK, ML, MM, MN, MO, MOBI, MP, MQ, MR, MS, MT, MU, MUSEUM, MV, MW, MX, MY, MZ, NA, NAME, NC, NE, NET, NF, NG, NI, NL, NO, NP, NR, NU, NZ, OM, ORG, PA, PE, PF, PG, PH, PK, PL, PM, PN, PR, PRO, PS, PT, PW, PY, QA, RE, RO, RS, RU, RW, SA, SB, SC, SD, SE, SG, SH, SI, SJ, SK, SL, SM, SN, SO, SR, ST, SU, SV, SY, SZ, TC, TD, TEL, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TM, TN, TO, TP, TR, TRAVEL, TT, TV, TW, TZ, UA, UG, UK, US, UY, UZ, VA, VC, VE, VG, VI, VN, VU, WF, WS, XN–0ZWM56D, XN–11B5BS3A9AJ6G, XN–80AKHBYKNJ4F, XN–9T4B11YI5A, XN–DEBA0AD, XN–G6W251D, XN–HGBK6AJ7F53BBA, XN–HLCJ6AYA9ESC7A, XN–JXALPDLP, XN–KGBECHTV, XN–ZCKZAH, YE, YT, YU, ZA, ZM, ZW
So unless you somehow managed to register one of those (not a domain WITHIN one of those but one of those actual TLDs), you don’t have a TLD… It’s not open for discussion, you don’t. You have a “second level domain” according to the people who designed the dns system. Please stop telling people you do, or trying to sell a TLD. You just sound stupid to people who know better.
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About: Robert: Robert Porter holds MCSE, A+, Net+, Security+, and multiple CIW certifications. He has been in the hosting industry for more than a decade and is founder of Lagniappe Internet L.L.C., a privately owned, completely debt free, hosting company based out of New Orleans. Robert's background includes 25+ years in programming, databases, networking and systems administration. |
