.wtf 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 (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of ev ...

(gTLD) run by

Identity Digital Identity Digital Inc. is a company with affiliated entities that operate in the domain name industry, including a domain name registrar and registry services provider. It is owned by the private equity firm Ethos Capital. The company acquired t ...

, a gTLD registry. It is derived from the slang acronym "

WTF WTF most often refers to: * WTF (Internet slang), an expression of disbelief WTF may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Books and online publications *''The Daily WTF'', a blog about information technology "perversions" *''WTF? What's the ...

". In June 2012,

Ryan Singel Ryan Singel is a San Francisco-based blogger and journalist covering tech business, tech policy, civil liberty and privacy issues. His work has appeared extensively in '' Wired.com'', and Singel co-founded the Threat Level blog with journalist and ...

of ''Wired'' predicted no one would ever set up the .wtf domain, but later that month an application for the domain was submitted to

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is a global multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several dat ...

(ICANN), and although in August 2012 the

Saudi Arabian government The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy, along traditional Islamist lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consulta ...

objected to .wtf and 30 other newly proposed

top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...

s such as .gay, .bible and .islam, ICANN approved .wtf on 23 April 2014. Google indexed about 4,350,000 webpages with the .wtf domain.

References

External links

''Whois'' information for .wtf
at

IANA The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Internet P ...

.org
.wtf
at ICANNWiki.org {{Generic top-level domains Generic top-level domains