.name
 | |
| Industry: | Internet |
| Founded: | 2001 |
| Headquarters: | 21345 Ridgetop Circle Dulles Virginia 20166 |
| Website: | www.verisigninc.com |
| Key People | |
| D. James Bidzos,Executive Chairman Mark D. McLaughlin, Pres. & CEO | |
.name is a generic top level domain name in the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the internet. It is designed to provide a name space for individuals who uses their names, nicknames, or screen names to promote their blogs, websites, profession or business using their personal and unique identity as a brand. Verisign is the registry operator of .name.[1]
Background
In 1985, Dr. Jon Postel and Joyce Reynolds issued RFC 920 [2] which described the deployment the original top level domains (TLDs) which include .com (commercial0, .gov (governement), .edu (education), .mil. (military), .org (organization) and the .arpa intended for the transition of the ARPA-internet. The two-letter (alpha-2) country codes were also delegated under the ISO-3166-1 list. [3] In 1988, the .net and .int were added to the root zone of the DNS.
The over-all structure and delegation of the DNS was described by Dr. Postel in 1994 through RFC 1591[4] wherein the seven original TLDs ( .com, .edu. .mil, .gov, .org, .net and .int) are called generic top level domain names (gTLDs) and the alpha-2 country codes. The .mil was restricted for the use of United States military and the .org was also originally restricted to be used by U.S. government agencies. The management and coordination of the entire DNS of the internet is handled by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. In addition, under RFC 1591 the creation of new gTLDs is unlikely to happen.
The use of internet has increased rapidly and the internet community expressed their concern of the limited choice in the registration of gTLDs. In 1998, President Bill Clinton instructed the Department of Commerce (DoC) to look into the concerns of the internet community. In response to the President's directive the DoC, issued the Green Paper which tackling the different issues related to the DNS, aspects that needs improvement and enumerated the reasons behind the widespread dissatisfaction of the internet community particularly the lack of competition in domain name registration. The Green Paper suggested improvement in the technical management of the DNS as well as introduction o new TLDs.[5]
After receiving comments from the internet community regarding the Green Paper, the Department of Commerce issued the White Paper, which contained solutions to the issues raised by the internet community particularly the creation of a new, non-profit organization responsible to handle the technical management of internet. As a result, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was formed. The White Paper also enumerated the primary functions of ICANN which include determine the circumstances necessary to develop policies for the implementation of new TLDs under a deliberate and controlled pace to allow evaluation of its impact and a reasonable transition of the domain space.[6]
During the early years of ICANN's establishment, one of the main activities of the organization is the development of new TLDs. The Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) was delegated to conduct a development process for the introduction of new TLDs and protection of popular trademarks. On July 16, 2000, the ICANN Board adopted a policy for the introduction of new TLDs. [7] By August ICANN issued the new TLD application process wherein proposals to sponsor or operate new TLD were open from September 5 to October 2, 2000.<rf>New TLD Application Process Overview</ref> Eventually, on November 16, 2000, .name was selected as one of the seven new TLDs selected by the ICANN Board along with .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, and .pro.