[TWIAR] Could a .ham domain name be in the near future?

[Greg Williams]

Global TLD for Amateur Radio
from James Johnson VE7HJ on October 6, 2005 

What about a worldwide TLD standard for Amateur Radio web sites? Such as:
"www.VE7HJ.ham" 

I recently inquired with the registrars of TLD's to see how and if the
Amateur Radio community could apply for a Generic TLD (Top Level Domain)
called "ham". I was pleased to get a quick response with a positive
feedback. I understand that it is not a quick or simple process however
there were offers of assistance to help the world Amateur community with the
application. Below is a more detailed explanation of TLD's. I intend to
carry on with this idea and will post further details on eHam. Anyone
interested in this idea can contact me by email: James Johnson VE7HJ at rac.ca 

Introduction to Web Domain TLD's: 

The Internet's domain-name system (DNS) allows users to refer to web sites
and other resources using easier-to-remember domain names (such as
"www.icann.org") rather than the all-numeric IP addresses (such as
"192.0.34.65") assigned to each computer on the Internet. Each domain name
is made up of a series of character strings (called "labels") separated by
dots. The right-most label in a domain name is referred to as its "top-level
domain" (TLD). 

The DNS forms a tree-like hierarchy. Each TLD includes many second-level
domains (such as "icann" in "www.icann.org"); each second-level domain can
include a number of third-level domains ("www" in "www.icann.org"), and so
on. 

The responsibility for operating each TLD (including maintaining a registry
of the second-level domains within the TLD) is delegated to a particular
organization. These organizations are referred to as "registry operators",
"sponsors", or simply "delegees." 

There are several types of TLDs within the DNS: 

TLDs with two letters (such as .de, .mx, and .jp) have been established for
over 240 countries and external territories and are referred to as
"country-code" TLDs or "ccTLDs". They are delegated to designated managers,
who operate the ccTLDs according to local policies that are adapted to best
meet the economic, cultural, linguistic, and legal circumstances of the
country or territory involved. For more details, see the ccTLD web page on
the IANA web site. Most TLDs with three or more characters are referred to
as "generic" TLDs, or "gTLDs". They can be subdivided into two types,
"sponsored" TLDs (sTLDs) and "unsponsored TLDs (uTLDs), as described in more
detail below. 

In addition to gTLDs and ccTLDs, there is one special TLD, .arpa, which is
used for technical infrastructure purposes. ICANN administers the .arpa TLD
in cooperation with the Internet technical community under the guidance of
the Internet Architecture Board. Generic TLDs 

In the 1980s, seven gTLDs (.com, .edu, .gov, .int, .mil, .net, and .org)
were created. Domain names may be registered in three of these (.com, .net,
and .org) without restriction; the other four have limited purposes. 

Over the next twelve years, various discussions occurred concerning
additional gTLDs, leading to the selection in November 2000 of seven new
TLDs for introduction. These were introduced in 2001 and 2002. Four of the
new TLDs (.biz, .info, .name, and .pro) are unsponsored. The other three new
TLDs (.aero, .coop, and .museum) are sponsored. 

Generally speaking, an unsponsored TLD operates under policies established
by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process, while a
sponsored TLD is a specialized TLD that has a sponsor representing the
narrower community that is most affected by the TLD. The sponsor thus
carries out delegated policy-formulation responsibilities over many matters
concerning the TLD. 

A Sponsor is an organization to which is delegated some defined ongoing
policy-formulation authority regarding the manner in which a particular
sponsored TLD is operated. The sponsored TLD has a Charter, which defines
the purpose for which the sponsored TLD has been created and will be
operated. The Sponsor is responsible for developing policies on the
delegated topics so that the TLD is operated for the benefit of a defined
group of stakeholders, known as the Sponsored TLD Community, that are most
directly interested in the operation of the TLD. The Sponsor also is
responsible for selecting the registry operator and to varying degrees for
establishing the roles played by registrars and their relationship with the
registry operator. The Sponsor must exercise its delegated authority
according to fairness standards and in a manner that is representative of
the Sponsored TLD Community. 

The extent to which policy-formulation responsibilities are appropriately
delegated to a Sponsor depends upon the characteristics of the organization
that may make such delegation appropriate. These characteristics may include
the mechanisms the organization uses to formulate policies, its mission, its
guarantees of independence from the registry operator and registrars, who
will be permitted to participate in the Sponsor's policy-development efforts
and in what way, and the Sponsor's degree and type of accountability to the
Sponsored TLD Community.

Gregory S. Williams
k4hsm at lock-net.com