STLD

Sponsored Top level Domain (sTLD) is a special category of the top level domains (TLD)s in the Domain Name System (DNS) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). sTLDs has a sponsor for specific purposes. Top level domain sponsors may belong to a specific ethnic community, professional group, or geographical location.The sponsor of the TLD is responsible to develop of policies, ensure transparency and accountability in its operations, and maintain the best interest of the sponsored internet community.

Background

Between 1984 and 1985, the Domain Name System of the internet was deployed under the guidance of Jon Postel to replace the host.txt system. The DNS contains resource records that maps easy to remember domain names to unique numeric addresses assigned to every computer. It also serve as a distributed database for information about resources on the Internet.

The initial top level domain names was introduced through the Internet Working Group Domain Requirements (RFC 920) authored by Jon Postel and .Joyce Reynolds in 1984. The original top level domain names include: .arpa (intended to be transitional for the ARPA-Internet), .com (commercial), .edu (education), .gov (government), .mil (military), and .org (organization) as well as two-letter (alpha-2) names identifying countries based on the ISO 3166-1 (ISO Standard for Codes for the Representation of Names of Countries. In 1985, when the TLDs were implemented .net was added and subsequently in 1988 the .int was added for international organizations.

In 2000, during the ICANN meeting in Yokohama the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO) proposed the introduction of new TLDs under a new policy. Seven new TLDs were implemented between 2001 to 2002.Four new unsponsored TLDs .biz, .info, .name, and .pro and the three other new TLDs, .aero, .coop, and .museum were sponsored.

Types of TLD

• Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLD) is composed of two-letters such as .us, .ca, .de, .jp and many others. There are 250 established ccTLDs, which represent countries and territories around the world and they are operated by designated managers based on the country policies adopted to meet the economic, cultural, linguistic, and legal circumstances of the country or territory involved.
• Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD)is composed of three or more characters such as .com, .jobs, .info, .aero etc. The gLTD has two categories:

1. Sponsored Top Level Domain (sTLD)
2. Unsponsored Top Level Domains (uTLD),

• The .arpa TLD is a special domain used for technical infrastructure purposes which is administered by ICANN in collaboration with the internet technical community under the Internet Architecture Board's supervision.

List of Sponsored Top Level Domains

• .aero - sponsored by SITA
• .asia - sponsored by DotAsia Organisation
• .cat - sponsored by Fundació puntCAT
• .coop - sponsored by DotCooperation LLC
• .edu - sponsored by US EDUCAUSE
• .gov - sponsored by US General Services Administration
• .int - sponsored by IANA
• .jobs - sponsored by Society of Human Resource Management
• .mil - sponsored by US Department of Defense Network Information Center
• .mobi - sponsored by dotMobi
• .museum - sponsored by Museum Domain Management Association
• .post - sponsored by Universal Postal Union
• .tel - sponsored by TelNic Ltd.
• .travel - sponsored by Tralliance Corporation
• .xxx - sponsored by International Foundation for Online Responsibility

Chinese version of this page/本页中文版

赞助类顶级域

赞助类顶级域（sTLD）是域名系统 (DNS)中特殊的一类顶级域 (TLD)，由互联网号码分配机构(IANA)管理。sTLD拥有一个具有特定目的的赞助商。顶级域的赞助商可能从属于一个特定的种族社区、专业人士团体或地理位置。顶级域的赞助商负责建立政策，确保其运作的透明性和问责制，并且维护所赞助互联网社区的最大利益。

背景

在1984年至1985年间，互联网域名系统在Jon Postel 的指导下进行部署，用以取代host.txt系统。域名系统中包含的资源记录可以将易于记忆的域名与分配给每台计算机唯一的数字地址进行映射，它还是互联网资源信息的分布式数据库。

最初的顶级域名是通过由Jon Postel 和Joyce Reynolds在1984年创建的互联网工作组域名要求（RFC 920）引入的。最初的顶级域名包括：.arpa（计划作为ARPA-Internet的过渡）、.com （商业）、.edu （教育）、 .gov（政府）、.mil （军事）和 .org（组织），以及根据ISO 3166-1（ISO国家名称代码标准）标准用以识别国家的由两个字母（2个希腊字母）组成的域名。 1985年，在执行顶级域时，.net被加入其中，之后.int于1988年被加入其中用以代表国际化组织。

2000年，在ICANN会议于横滨举行期间，域名支持组织（DNSO）提议在新的政策下引入新顶级域。 在2001年至2002年间，共引入了七个新顶级域。四个非赞助类新顶级域.biz、 .info、 .name和 .pro，以及三个赞助类新顶级域.aero、.coop和.museum。

顶级域的类别

• ‘’’国家代码顶级域（ccTLD）’’’由两个字母组成，比如.us、 .ca、 .de、.jp 等。已创建的国家代码顶级域有250个，它们分别代表世界各地的国家和地区，它们由指定的管理者根据能够满足相关国家和地区的经济、文化、语言和法律环境的国家政策进行运作。

• ‘’’通用顶级域（gTLD）’’’由三个或三个以上字符组成，比如.com、.jobs、.info、 .aero等。通用顶级域有两类：

1. 赞助类顶级域（STLD）
2. 非赞助类顶级域（UTLD）,

• 顶级域 .arpa是一个专门用于技术基础设施目的的特殊域名，由ICANN联合互联网技术社区在互联网架构委员会（Internet Architecture Board）的监督下共同管理。

赞助类顶级域列表

• .aero -由 SITA赞助
• .asia -由DotAsia Organisation赞助
• .cat -由Fundació puntCAT赞助
• .coop -由DotCooperation 有限责任公司赞助
• .edu -由美国EDUCAUSE赞助
• .gov - 由美国General Services Administration赞助
• .int -由 互联网号码分配机构赞助
• .jobs - 由Society of Human Resource Management赞助
• .mil -由美国国防部网络信息中心赞助
• .mobi -由dotMobi赞助
• .museum - 由Museum Domain Management Association赞助
• .post -由Universal Postal Union赞助
• .tel -由TelNic股份有限公司赞助
• .travel -由Tralliance公司赞助
• .xxx - 由International Foundation for Online Responsibility赞助

Chinese translation of this page provided thanks to TLD Registry Ltd.