Country code top-level domain
The Country-code Top-level Domains (ccTLDs) represent two-letter Internet top-level domains(TLD) specifically designed for a particular country, sovereign state or autonomous territory for use to service their community. Country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are two-letter top-level domains which are derived from the ISO 3166 standard. [1]
Implementation[edit | edit source]
The implementation of ccTLD began in 2010 by IANA. The delegation and creation of ccTLD is presented within RFC 1951. However, in order to determine whether new ccTLDs should be added or not, the IANA follows the provisions of ISO 3166 - Maintenance Agency. More information related to the development of new ccTLDs in comprised within IANA's Procedures for Establishing ccTLDs. [2]
IANA's Procedures for ccTLDs[edit | edit source]
Within its database, IANA contains authoritative information related to ccTLDs referring to sponsoring organizations,technical and administrative contact, name server,registration URL and other such information. This type of information provides extra details regarding the IANA's procedures for maintaining the database of ccTLD intact and updated.
Delegation and Redelegation[edit | edit source]
This process through which the designated manager or managers are being changed is know as redelegation.The process follows the provisions of ICP-1 and RFC 1591. IANA received all requests of a sponsoring organization related to delegation and redelegation for the country-code top-level domanins (ccTLDs).The requests are then analyzed by IANA based on various technical and public criterion, and finally send to ICANN Board of Directors upon approval or refusal. If approved, IANA is also responsible for the implementation of the requests.[3]
Conceptually speaking, the delegation and redelegation processes are simple, but can easily become complex if there are many organizations and individuals involved in the process. There is a set of steps which must be followed before sending the request for delegation and redelegation. An initial request should be developed based on The Change Request Template and supplementary information to prove that the eligibility criteria has been met by the initial request. All the information supplied is used by the IANA to fortify the request received.
ccTLDs and ICANN[edit | edit source]
The policies developed by ICANN are implemented by gTLD registry operators, ccTLD managers, root-nameserver operators and regional Internet registries. One of the main activities of ICANN is to work and cooperate with other organizations involved in the technical coordination of the Internet with the purpose of formally documenting their participatory role within the ICANN process. These organizations are committed the ICANN policies that result from their work. [4]
Starting with 2000, ICANN started cooperating with ccTLD managers to document their relationship. Due to various circumstances such as: the type of organization, cultural issues, economics, legal environment - the relationships between ICANN and ccTLD mangers are complex ones. Another important aspect is related to the role of the national government in "managing or establishing policy for their own ccTLDs" (role recognized in the June 1998 U.S. Government White Paper).