Brief Explanation of Top-Level Domain Names

If someone were to start talking about “domain names” used on the Internet, no doubt you would have a basic concept in your mind of what they were talking about.  But, in reality very few people totally understand what is involved with a domain name commonly found online.

In simplest terms a domain name should be thought of as a web page address. For example, let’s use the Washington Post. Its website address is “washingtonpost.com.” That is also its domain name. The entire web address includes http://www at the beginning like this: “http://www.washingtonpost.com”  and this is its official Uniform Resource Locater or URL.

Within this domain name are actually three different levels. The first part that needs to be recognized is the “extension” level; in this case it is the part at the end: “.com”

This top level part of the domain name, the “extension” is also referred to as “Top Level Domain” or (TLD). There are three types of TLD commonly used.  They are the “Generic Top Level Domains” or (gTLD); the “country code top level domains” or (ccTLD) and finally the “infrastructure top level domains.”

The generic TLDs are the most common and are codes you’ve probably seen, such as:

  1. “.com” originally intended for commercial use but widely used by anyone
  2. “.net” originally intended for internet related use, but also used by anyone
  3. “.org” originally intended for non-profit organizations, but no also used by everyone.
  4. “.edu” is used by educational organizations and no one else.
  5. “.gov” is used by organizations of the U.S. government and no one else.

There are others as well. The two letter country codes make up the next top level and designate a territory or country. For example such sites as the London Telegraph Online uses the following web domain name: “http://www.telegraph.co.uk.” In this case the UK refers to the United Kingdom.

The final top level domain is that of “infrastructure” and for now is limited simply to “.arpa” which is used exclusively by the United States Department of Defense “Advanced Research Projects Agency” which is the group from which the Internet originally sprang.

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Keep Your Domain Safe


Do you own or manage a website? If so, are you the owner of the site’s
domain name? It sounds like a simple question, but in many cases the
owner of the site is not actually listed in the domain registrar’s
records. Why is this important? Because the person or organization
listed in the domain registrar’s records has complete control over the
domain name, and hence, the website.

When a new domain name is registered with a domain registrar, certain
details are filled out to provide a profile of the website owner for the
registrar’s records. All too often, the actual owner of the website and
the individual or business purchasing the domain name are not the same.
Here is an example: Joe Smith elects to create a website for his
business, Widgets inc. Mr. Smith hires a web designer to create the
website, and this web designers purchases the domain from a registrar.
Because the web designer made the purchase, she elects to make herself
the contact for the domain registrar. Now, she has complete control over
the domain name.

All too often, situations like this end in the rightful owner of the domain
name losing control over their own site. Since they are not listed on
the actual domain name record, they may not be able to stop their domain
name from being hijacked, stolen, sold or simply allowed to expire.

However, this scenario is quite easy to avoid: if you own a website, checking
the domain registrar’s records to ensure that you (or your organization)
are listed as the primary contact or owner of the domain. Sometimes
avoiding potential disaster can be a matter of a few simple steps!

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Understanding Warehoused Domain Names

When you first hear the phrase “warehoused domain names,” a physical
warehouse may come to mind. It is an apt metaphor– in the world of the
Internet, domain name registrars are quite similar to warehouse owners.
In their warehouses sit stacks of unused domain names, ready for the
public to purchase.

But what happens once someone in the public purchases a domain name for a
year, then lets the domain expire, meaning that they choose not to renew
it? In cases like this, many domain registrars opt to either warehouse
the domain or auction it off to the highest-paying party. This is where
the ethics get tricky. Some domain registrars warehouse these expired
domains in under-handed ways.

For example, some accuse registrars of making high value domain names
difficult to renew, or “forgetting” to send registration reminders. When
these domains expire, the registrars are quick to use them to test out a
potential market. They may place relevant ad space on the website or
use it to direct traffic to another site which they own.

In 2008 this issue came to the forefront of the web hosting
community with a controversial court case involving a major domain
registrar. However, other registrars use domain warehousing in more
conventional ways– “warehoused” domains can provide supplemental
traffic, advertising for the registrar, or serve as a way to redirect
traffic to the registrar’s main site.

Anti-warehousing advocates claim that this practice may make new domain registrations
more unlikely. Indeed, it would seem that if domain registrars are
earning income from warehoused sites, they may be more likely to
artificially inflate the prices on these valuable sites.

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Recovering Stolen or Hijacked Domain Names

Many of us take our security on the Internet for granted. We all know that
identity theft is a problem, so we take appropriate steps to guard
against it. But do we take the same steps when using the Internet? Many
times, web users have one easy to guess password used for all of their
Internet log-ins. Because of this (and other vulnerabilities), it is
possible for web ne’er do wells to hijack or steal domain names.

What can you do if your domain name has been stolen or hijacked? It depends
on how the domain ownership was changed. In many cases, hijackers have
simply acquired personal information about the owner (such as a password
or even a social security number) and used it to contact the domain
registrar and take ownership of the domain by impersonating the rightful
owner. If this is the case, immediately contact your domain registrar.
Verify your identity and ask for any recent changes to be reversed. This
will sometimes involve completing paperwork and signing documents
proving your identity.

In other cases, hijackers exploit vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the
systems of domain registrars. These vulnerabilities are typically
short-term security issues that are able to be resolved. Once weaknesses
are repaired, the steps outlined above can be taken to restore the
domain name in most cases.

However, these steps may not be enough to recover all domains. Unfortunately,
the legal status of domain hijacking is unclear. While it is considered
theft by many, in the eyes of the law it may not be seen as such. In
fact, court cases regarding allegedly stolen or hijacked domain names
have been known to drag on for months or in some cases, even years.
Until the crime becomes more completely understood by the legal system,
recovering hijacked domains may continue to be a difficult and
time-consuming process.

Because of this, it is very important to ensure domain names are secure by
using reputable domain registrars and taking necessary precautions
regarding passwords and other information vulnerable to theft.

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Protecting Your Domain Name

Domain names are such a well-ingrained part of the web, it is easy to take
them for granted. Many of us never consider that when we surf to our
favorite website, we are actually entering in a specific and 100% unique
web address. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the
security of any domain name.

Are domain names really vulnerable to security threats? The short answer is
yes! Domain theft or hijacking is not common, but can wreak a great
deal of havoc. Just like identity theft will not strike most of us in
our lifetimes, domain hijacking may not happen, but we must take steps
to avoid both.

How can we secure our domain names? First, let’s understand the
vulnerabilities. For many would-be domain hijackers, the preferred
method is password cracking. This could mean that the hijacker will
hardware or software to determine or crack a password. Alternatively, in
some cases a business or personal associate will steal this important
information. Another common method of obtaining this information is by
viewing the web history, cookies, or stored web cache of a public or
shared computer.

So how do we avoid having our own domain names hijacked? The answer is
simple. First, use difficult to decipher passwords that are unique. Use
only passwords which contain both letters, numbers and symbols (such as
the “@” or “&” symbol), are not easy to guess, and are used only for
one website or log-in. Note that this means a different password should
be used for each domain registration. Failure to do this could result
in a “domino effect” of hijacked domain names. Second, keep all log-in
information information a secret. Third, avoid accessing information of
this nature on public or shared computers, or if you must use them, take
clear to clear all web surfing activity from the computer after your
session.

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