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 |
| .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 | Since 2005 [update] : IANA states that the sponsoring organization is Employ Media LLC [4] (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 [5] (nonprofit organization) |
| .mil | US Military entities | Defense Information Systems Agency (US government) |
| .post | Postal services | Universal Postal Union |
ICANN only applied the term sponsored TLD to TLDs in the first two rounds of new gTLDs. It did not use the distinction between sponsored and unsponsored for new gTLDs in the 2012 round. [6] Moreover, some sTLDs migrated to non-sponsored gTLDs on the Registry Agreement renewal. [7] [8]
| TLD | Eligibility | Former Sponsors |
|---|---|---|
| .cat | Catalan linguistic and cultural community | Fundació puntCat |
| .mobi | Providers and consumers of mobile products and services | mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd. [9] |
| .museum | Museums | Museum Domain Management Association |
| .tel | For businesses and individuals to publish contact data | Since 2008: Telnic Limited [10] Since 2017 [update] : Telnames Limited [11] (private company) |
| .travel | Travel agents, airlines, hoteliers, tourism bureaus, etc. | Since 2005: Tralliance Corporation [12] Since 2015: Registry is Tralliance Registry Management Company, LLC [13] |
| .xxx | Pornographic sites | ICM Registry |
As of 2015, IANA distinguishes the following groups of top-level domains: [16]
Effective 28 February 2017, the Registry Agreement was assigned by Telnic Limited to Telnames Limited
ICANN hereby designates Tralliance Corporation as the sponsoring organization