A sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet, alongside[1] country-code top-level domains (ccTLD) and generic top-level domains (gTLD).
A sponsored TLD is a specialized top-level domain that has a sponsor representing a specific community served by the domain. The communities involved are based on ethnic, geographical, professional, technical or other theme concepts proposed by private agencies or organizations that establish and enforce rules restricting the eligibility of registrants to use the TLD.
Generally speaking, a sponsored TLD is a specialized TLD that has a sponsor representing the narrower community that is most affected by the TLD, while an unsponsored TLD operates under policies established by the global Internet community directly through the ICANN process.[2] For example, the .aero TLD is sponsored by SITA, which limits registrations to members of the air transport industry.
| TLD | Eligibility | Sponsors | |
|---|---|---|---|
| .aero | Members of the air-transport industry | SITA | |
| .asia | Companies, organisations and individuals in the Asia-Pacific region | DotAsia Organisation | |
| .bank | Reserved for those in the banking sector; domain names must correspond to the organization’s legal name or branding | Bank Policy Institute American Bankers Association | |
| .cat | Catalan linguistic and cultural community | Fundació puntCat | |
| .coop | Cooperative associations | DotCooperation LLC | |
| .edu | US Institutions of higher education | Educause | |
| .gov | United States government, states and local governments | Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (an independent agency of the US government) | |
| .int | International treaty-based organisations | Internet Assigned Numbers Authority | |
| .jobs | Human resource managers | IANA states that the sponsoring organization is Employ Media LLC[3] (private company), but also presents a delegation report that states Employ Media LLC is a registry, and the sponsoring organization is The Society for Human Resource Management[4] (nonprofit organization) | |
| .mil | US Military entities | Defense Information Systems Agency (US government) | |
| .museum | Museums | Museum Domain Management Association | |
| .post | Postal services | Universal Postal Union | |
| .tel | For businesses and individuals to publish contact data | Since 2008: Telnic Limited[5] Telnames Limited[6] (private company) | |
| .travel | Travel agents, airlines, hoteliers, tourism bureaus, etc. | Since 2005: Registry is Tralliance Corporation,[7] who was in some arrangement with The Travel Partnership Corporation, but no mention in contracts of who is the "sponsor". Since 2015: Registry is Tralliance Registry Management Company, LLC[8] Since 2018: Registry is Dog Beach, LLC[9] Registry is Donuts Inc.[10] (private company) | |
| .xxx | Pornographic sites | ICM Registry |
See main article: article.
As of 2015, IANA distinguishes the following groups of top-level domains:[12]