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| Introduced | 1987 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | NZ Registry Services |
| Sponsor | Internet Society of New Zealand |
| Intended use | Entities connected with  New Zealand |
| Actual use | Popular in New Zealand |
| Registration restrictions | No restrictions under most second-level names; a few are "moderated" meaning that eligibility is checked before registration is granted |
| Structure | Names are registered at third level within generic second-level categories |
| Documents | |
| Dispute policies | Dispute and Complaint Process |
| Website | NZ Registry Services Domain Name Commission |
.nz is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for New Zealand. It is administered by InternetNZ through its subsidiary, NZ Registry Services, with oversight and dispute resolution handled by the Domain Name Commission Ltd. Registrations are processed via authorised registrars. As of March 2008 there were 324,722 registered .nz domains.1
Contents |
History
As with many long-standing domain registries the registry was maintained informally for some time. The first formally recognised administrative organisation was the University of Waikato until the responsibility was delegated to InternetNZ when it was formed in 1995.2
Prior to the current structure, the registry operator of .nz was Domainz. Historically, Domainz was a subsidiary of InternetNZ which also operated as a registrar and vendor of other add-on services such as DNS. This combination of a natural monopoly (the registry activities) and vertical integration (the registrar and other services) was seen by some as restricting competition2 so InternetNZ moved to separate the provision of registry services into a separate organisation with strong oversight. The final part of this transition process was the sale of Domainz to Melbourne IT3 in August 2003.
From 2008-04-01 the "Office of the Domain Name Commissioner" (several employees of InternetNZ, including the Domain Name Commissioner herself) became the "Domain Name Commission Limited", a subsidiary company of InternetNZ. 4
Second-level domains
As is the case with most other English-speaking countries apart from the USA and Canada, there are a number of second-level domains that identify whether the user is a company, a non-commercial organisation, government body or other classification.
Unlike many other English-speaking countries, New Zealand uses 'govt' instead of 'gov' for government bodies, hence 'govt.nz'. There are also sub-level domains unique to New Zealand, such as 'iwi.nz' iwi for traditional Māori tribal groups (as well as 'maori.nz') and 'geek.nz' for 'geeks' .
The following Second level domains are in use with their official descriptions.
Unmoderated
- .ac.nz — Tertiary educational institutions and related organisations
- .co.nz — Organisations pursuing commercial aims and purposes
- .geek.nz — For people who are concentrative, technically skilled and imaginative who are generally adept with computers
- .gen.nz — Individuals and other organisations not covered elsewhere
- .maori.nz — Māori people, groups, and organisations
- .net.nz — Organisations and service providers directly related to the NZ Internet
- .org.nz — Not-for-profit organisations
- .school.nz — Primary, secondary and pre-schools and related organisations
Moderated
- .cri.nz — Crown Research Institutes.
- .govt.nz — National, regional and local government organisations operating with statutory powers. Registration is only available through the government registrar, DNS.govt.nz, and there is a government portal at www.govt.nz
- .iwi.nz — A traditional Māori tribe, hapu, or Taurahere group. Available from register.iwi.nz.
- .parliament.nz - Reserved for parliamentary agencies, Offices of Parliament, and parliamentary political parties and their elected members.
- .mil.nz — the military organisation of the NZ Government - the New Zealand Defence Force.
Previously used
The Domain archie.nz also existed for an Archie search engine Server operated by the University of Waikato until the mid 1990s.
Since only some of the domains are moderated, it is possible to register outside of the area intended.
Registry Software and Protocol
The .nz registry uses open source software, which is periodically published on SourceForge. The protocol used by this software has non-repudiation built in to it using PGP, and unlike ".com" there is no concept of "locking" domains - transferring a domain requires only knowledge of a secret which business rules dictate is sent to registrants during registration (and must be re-issued on demand at no cost). This prevents Domain Hijacking. The protocol was contemporary with EPP, and due to these extra design features is now being ratified as an internet RFC5.
References
- ^ "Monthly .nz Statistics March 2008". Domain Name Commission (2008-04-30). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ a b "Review of the Registry/Registrar Structure for the .nz ccTLD (The Hine Report)" (2000-10-20). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ "Melbourne IT buys NZ domain incumbent" (2003-08-21). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ "April 2008 .nz Newsletter" (2008-04-24). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
- ^ "System for Managing a Shared Domain Registry" (2008-05-18). Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
External links
- IANA .nz whois information
- NZ Registry Services
- .nz Domain Name Commission
- List of .nz authorised registrars
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 17 November 2008, at 13:01.
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