.to
 | |
| Introduced | 18 December 1995 |
|---|---|
| TLDtype | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | Tonga Network Information Center (Tonic) |
| Sponsor | Government of Tonga |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Tonga |
| Actual use | Used for a varied assortment of sites, few related to Tonga. Often used for torrent websites, technology startups inToronto,domain hacks,and unlicensed movie streaming websites. |
| Registration restrictions | Open to everyone, but use forspamor and some vulgar words are prohibited. |
| Structure | Registrations permitted at second level; some Tonga-related entities have domains at third level under labels like.gov.to |
| Documents | FAQ |
| Dispute policies | Some trademarked names reserved; no other dispute policy |
| Registry website | Tonic |
.tois theInternetcountry codetop-level domain(ccTLD) of the Kingdom ofTonga.
The government of Tonga sells domains in its ccTLD to any interested party. The.to ccTLD is administered by the Tonga Network Information Center (Tonic).[1]
Background[edit]
The.to top-level domain was widely commercialized in 1997 by the San Francisco company Tonic Corp. (founded by Eric Gullichsen and Eric Lyons) which would sell domains at $100 per unit. They operated with the approval ofPrince Siaosi,then-Crown Prince of Tonga.Network Solutions was already selling.to domains, but in a very chaotic fashion. Domain requests were processed by the Tongan consulate in San Francisco.[2]
The top-level domaintoitself had an A record and an HTTP server since at least 1998.[3]
Description[edit]
Becausetois a common English preposition, it became popular to craft memorable URLs calleddomain hacksthat take advantage of this;URL shortening/redirectionservices (e.g. go.to) andtorrentaggregators (e.g.isohunt.to) are popular uses. Other domain hacks do not use thetoas a preposition but rather as a syllable inside of a word, includingDaniel J. Bernstein's website cr.yp.to, London web development company Potato p.ota.to.
"T.O." (tee-oh) is also a common nickname forToronto,Ontario, Canada, and is used as a city domain. This domain is also used for the city ofTorino (Turin), Italy,and also as adomain hackinSlavic languages(tomeaningitorthat) – such as the uploading service uloz.to ( "ulož to" means "save it" inCzechandSlovak).
As the.to domains are purchased, all normal DNS operations are possible and registered sites are not required to display ads on behalf of the registrar. Some domains are free, like.edu.to, but only to real Tongan educational institutions. At this moment businesses registered in Tonga can also get free domains. People who sell on.to domains can claim a commission.
.to is one of the few ccTLDs that (officially) do not maintain a (public)WHOISdatabase providing registrant information. It is possible to contact domain registrants via tonic.to by typing the domain in the domain search field under "New Domain Name".[4]This has resulted in limited popularity for the use of.to for websites involved incopyright infringement.
The.to registry allows the creation of emoji domain names. A former.to registrar, Register.TO, did support the search and registration of.toemoji domain names.[5][6]Register.TO is no longer an authorized registrar for.to domain names, following the death of its owner in early 2023 as stated by the NIC of Tonga.[7]
References[edit]
- ^Tonga Network Information Center
- ^Corcoran, Elizabeth (1 July 1997)."Tiny Tonga expands its domain".The Washington Post.Retrieved11 March2021.
- ^to.at theWayback Machine(archive index)
- ^"Tonic Corporation Frequently Asked Questions: Does Tonic offer a whois service?".Tonic.
- ^Hughes, Matthew (15 August 2017)."This site helps you find the perfect Emoji domain name (with one caveat)".The Next Web.Retrieved4 September2017.
- ^"Register.TO".
- ^".To registry assures Register.to customers that their domains are safe".Domain Name Wire. 2 March 2023.
External links[edit]
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