.web
Encyclopedia
.web is a generic top-level domain
Generic top-level domain
A generic top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....

 operated as a prospective registry, not in the official root, by Image Online Design since 1995. It originated when Jon Postel
Jon Postel
Jonathan Bruce Postel was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards...

, then running the top level of the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...

 basically single-handedly, proposed the addition of new top-level domains to be run by different registries. Since Internet tradition at the time emphasized "rough consensus and running code", Christopher Ambler, who ran Image Online Design, saw this as meaning that his company could get a new TLD into the root by starting up a functional registry for it. After asking and receiving permission from IANA to do so, IOD launched .web, a new unrestricted top level domain.

Since then, IOD has tried to get their domain into the official root, through several plans to admit new top-level domains. Several new-TLD plans in the late 1990s, including Postel's original proposal, failed to reach sufficient consensus among the increasingly contentious factions of the Internet to admit any new TLDs, including .web. When ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...

 accepted applications for new TLDs in 2000 which resulted in the seven new domains added soon afterward, IOD's application was not approved; neither was it officially rejected, however, since all unapproved applications remain in play for possible future acceptance. A second round of new TLDs, however, was done entirely with new applications, and only for sponsored domains (generally intended for use by limited communities and run by nonprofit entities). The .web registry remains hopeful, however, that their application will eventually be approved. On May 10th, 2007, ICANN announced the opening of public comments towards a new, third round of new gTLDs, a round in which IOD has indicated that it intends to participate.

At times IOD has claimed priority rights to the TLD string .web, although any legal basis for such a claim is questionable given that the United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...

 has stated that top-level domains are not trademarkable in themselves. IOD does, however, have a registered trademark in the term "web." When, at various times, proposals were made to add a .web domain not operated by IOD, they have objected, and to date, no such plans have been approved; an application by Afilias
Afilias
Afilias Limited is the registry operator of the .info and .mobi Top-level domain, and the service provider of the .org generic top-level domain , .asia TLD catering to the Asia, Australia, and Pacific regions, .aero Airline and Aviation Industry TLD, and a provider of domain name registry services...

 to operate a .web domain was turned down in favor of their running .info
.info
The domain name info is a generic top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet, The name is derived from information indicating that the domain is intended for informative Internet resources, although registration requirements do not prescribe any theme orientation.The info TLD was...

 instead. Vint Cerf
Vint Cerf
Vinton Gray "Vint" Cerf is an American computer scientist, who is recognized as one of "the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with American computer scientist Bob Kahn...

, then chair of ICANN, noted that he recognized IOD's pioneering work in .web, and felt that .web should be held in reserve for IOD's application in the next round rather than be awarded to Afilias, preferring that they receive .info instead.

The IOD .web registry has in the past accepted registrations, and intends to allow them to continue in force after entering the root, although some commentators feel that ICANN ought to require them to discard existing registrations and proceed with a startup procedure as with other new TLDs, so as not to grant any legitimacy to unofficial registrations.

In the meantime, some movies have taken to using .web domains for their fictional companies. For example, Next Day Air
Next Day Air
Next Day Air is a 2009 action comedy film that was released by Summit Entertainment on May 8, 2009. The film starring Mike Epps and Donald Faison was produced on an estimated budget of $3 million...

has advertised on one of their trucks, www.nda.web.

External links

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