Internet Provider Security (IPS) tags are used by

domain registrar A domain name registrar is a company, person, or office that manages the reservation of Internet domain names. A domain name registrar must be accredited by a generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry or a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) r ...

to administer a

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

registration service and related

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

(DNS) services. An IPS tag is the label that applies to each registrar that registers domains in the country-code top-level domain ''uk'' and is required to transfer domain names from one registrar to another. The original meaning of ''IPS tag'' was thought to be lost after it was created with

Nominet UK Nominet UK is currently delegated by IANA to be the manager of the .uk domain name. Nominet directly manages registrations directly under .uk, and some of the second level domains .co.uk, .org.uk, .sch.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .ltd.uk and .plc.uk. ...

's predecessor, the Naming Committee; it is widely speculated that it stands for ''Internet Provider Security tag''. The term ''IPS tag'' itself is considered obsolete by

, and is now referred to simply as ''tag''. However, there are also records of those involved in the early internet industry who believe it was a typo of the initialism for

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

made by an unnamed junior systems administrator, ISPs being the main bodies responsible for registering domains in the early years of the commercial internet. The identity of the engineer making the typo is known but the identity is not currently referenced on the web. Transferring a domain name from one registrar to another requires the original registrar to change the IPS tag to that of the new registrar. Domain name owners can often, but not always, change this tag themselves in the respective domain management control panels. It is possible to change the IPS tag via the Nominet website. The cost for this feature is £10+ VAT.

References

External links

Powernet GlossaryList of Registrars and their Tags at Nominet
Domain Name System {{Internet-stub