The domain name info is a

generic top-level domain Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees globa ...

(gTLD) in the

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use ...

(DNS) of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

. The name is derived from ''information'', although registration requirements do not prescribe any particular purpose. The TLD ''info'' was a response to

ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespac ...

's highly publicized announcement, in late 2000, of a phased release of seven new generic

top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the ...

s. The event was the first addition of major gTLDs since the Domain Name System was developed in the 1980s. The seven new gTLDs, selected from over 180 proposals, were meant in part to take the pressure off the domain.

History

Domain ''info'' has been operated by Afilias since its creation. In 2003, it was the first gTLD domain to support IETF standards-based internationalized domain names. In 2001, Afilias CTO (Ram Mohan) discovered problems with the Universal Acceptance of the domain due to it being the first tld whose length was greater than two or three characters. The launching of ''info'' involved a " Sunrise Period" for trademark owners, followed by a "landrush" open to all, the first time such a process had ever been conducted for a new gTLD. This process received criticism for giving trademarks precedence over words that are generic in other contexts; for instance, the Caterpillar construction equipment company was able to register before more generic users, such as feline enthusiasts, were allowed to register. Although a large number of fraudulent registrations were initially made by registrants who did not actually own a valid trademark, a challenge procedure later weeded out most of these. Prior to launch, the names of countries were reserved from registration at the request of

, to the consternation of those who had paid pre-registration fees to attempt to register these names in the landrush.

's Governmental Advisory Committee, composed of country representatives from around the world applauded the move, the first by any major domain to protect the national interests of sovereign nations.

Usage

Domain ''info'' has been the most successful of the seven new domain names, with over 5.2 million domain names in the registry as of April 2008. After the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Suicide attack, suicide List of terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, ...

in the United States, the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in ...

of New York switched to the easier to remember mta.info website to lead users to latest information on schedules and route changes on the area's transportation services. ICANN and Afilias have also sealed an agreement for country names to be reserved by ICANN under resolution 01.92.FAQ: What country names are reserved in .INFO?
Afilias Limited ''Info'' is an unrestricted domain, meaning that anyone can obtain a second-level domain for any purpose, similar to the domains ''com'', '' net'' and '' org''. This is in contrast to TLDs such as '' edu'', or '' coop''. ''Info'' is the only top-level domain that was explicitly created and chartered for unrestricted use, although various other TLDs resulted in this situation ''de facto''. ''Info'' stands for ''information'' in about 37 languages, and is a neutral name. Afilias, the registry operator of both the ''info'' and '' aero'' top-level domains, has been aggressive in its marketing of the domain, with significant registrar incentives and outreach events.

References

External links

.info Registry Agreement with ICANN

Domebase
a site with commentary and studies regarding the .info launch {{DEFAULTSORT:Info Generic top-level domains Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members Computer-related introductions in 2001 sv:Toppdomän#Generiska toppdomäner