Single-letter second-level domain

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Short description: Specific short Internet domain names

Single-letter second-level domains are domains in which the second-level domain of the domain name consists of only one letter, such as x.com. In 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved all single-letter and single-digit second-level domains under the top-level domains com, net, and org, and grandfathered those that had already been assigned. In December 2005, ICANN considered auctioning these domain names.

Active single-letter domains

On December 1, 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved the remaining single-letter and single-digit domain names. The few domains that were already assigned were grandfathered in and continued to exist.[1][better source needed]

The six single-letter domains in existence at that time under .com, .net and .org were the following:[1]

Domain name 1993 owner Current owner
i.net INet Solutions Ltd Saw.com[2]
q.com JG Lumen Technologies (dba Quantum Fiber)[3]
q.net Privately owned Privately owned[4]
x.com Marcel DePaolis & Dave Weinstein X Corp.
x.org – X.Org Foundation
z.com HomePage.com GMO Internet, Inc.

The .org TLD was subsequently reopened for single-letter domain registrations. These and selected other gTLD and ccTLD single-letter domain names currently in use, typically as shortcuts, are listed below.

Domain name Current user Usage
a.co Amazon.com URL shortcut for Amazon, generally used by Amazon in SMS messages for informing purchasers of activity on an order
a.org
c.ai character.ai
c.cc Brian Cartmell Homepage
c.im C.IM is a general, mainly English-speaking Mastodon instance.
c.org Change.org URL shortcut for change.org
d.gs Dragonsayen URL shortcut for dragonsayen.com (DraGonSayen)
d.tube DTube Crypto-based and decentralized video-sharing platform
e.gg Meta Platforms
e.im MailTime URL shortcut for MailTime Email Messenger
e.srl E-Group Official URL Of E-Group.
e.sv eMedia Holdings IT services have been provided by eMedia since 2005, operating from Bangladesh, Germany, USA, Australia, France, Italy, Libya, Norway, UK, and Ireland.
f.org FinTech Labs
g.cn Google Google's official URL shortcut to help Chinese users locate Google
g.co Google's official URL shortcut
g.gg Global Grid Gallery
g.gl
g.network G.Network London based ISP
g.vu g.vu An URL Shortener
h.plus Unstable Reality Homepage for the H+ research project, owned by Alessandro Perilli
k.tt Citynews SpA URL shortcut for Citinews
k.vu afraid.org
l.ink Top Level Design
m.co Volvo Cars Volvo Cars' car sharing service, M
m.me Meta Platforms URL shortcut for Messenger
m.page mmm.page URL shortcut for mmm.page website builder
n.pr NPR URL shortcut for public radio network NPR
n.school The New School Website of The New School in Moscow
o.co Overstock.com URL shortcut for Overstock.com
q.digital Q.Digital, Inc.
r.nf LibReddit instance
s.co Snap Inc. URL shortcut to Snapchat's download page
s.de Sparkasse URL shortcut for sparkasse.de
t.co X Corp. Twitter's official URL shortcut
t.ly t.ly URL Shortener
t.me Telegram URL shortcut for Telegram
u.ae United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates' Government portal
u.to u.to URL Shortener
v.me Visa Inc. URL shortcut for Visa
v.org V Foundation[5]
w.org WordPress Redirects to wordpress.org, has some assets for wordpress.org (under s.w.org)
w.wiki Wikimedia Foundation The official Wikimedia Foundation URL Shortener
x.ai xAI Homepage URL
x.company X Development Homepage for X Development
x.team Shortcut to X Careers, a service at X Development
y.gy y.gy URL Shortener and QR Code Creator
y.org YMCA of the United States Shortcut to YMCA

Many other single-letter second-level domains have been registered under country code top-level domains. The list of country code top-level domains which have been identified to allow single-letter domains are:

  • .ac
  • .af
  • .ag
  • .ai
  • .am
  • .bo
  • .by
  • .bz
  • .cm
  • .cn
  • .co
  • .cr
  • .cx
  • .cz
  • .de
  • .dk
  • .fm
  • .fr
  • .gd
  • .gg
  • .gl
  • .gp
  • .gs
  • .gt
  • .gy
  • .hn
  • .hr
  • .ht
  • .ie[6]
  • .im
  • .io
  • .is[7]
  • .je
  • .kg
  • .ki
  • .kw
  • .la
  • .lb
  • .lc
  • .ly
  • .md
  • .mg
  • .mk
  • .mp
  • .ms
  • .mw
  • .mx
  • .mu
  • .nf
  • .np
  • .nz
  • .pe
  • .ph
  • .pk
  • .pl
  • .pn
  • .pr
  • .pw
  • .ro
  • .sh
  • .st
  • .tc
  • .tl
  • .tt
  • .to
  • .tv
  • .ua
  • .vc
  • .vg
  • .vn
  • .vu[8]
  • .ws


Non-ASCII single-character domains

Single-character non-ASCII second-level domains also exist (as seen below), also known as Internationalized domain names (IDN), these domains are actually registered as their Punycode translations (which are more than a single character) for DNS purposes. ICANN oversees a process for determining registration rules that involves wide-ranging stakeholder input and assorted Working Groups. In the case of .com domains, decisions are then implemented by Verisign, the contracted backend operator for the .com registry. The result is a list of 96,957 codepoints allowed for IDN registrations.[9] As mentioned above, some additional domains previously-registered are "grandfathered" and remain active. Many gTLDs also allow IDN registration.[10]

These 96,957 distinct IDN characters eligible for registration in .com are the essential building-blocks of languages worldwide. A single letter domain does not provide the context found in a longer string or group of words. They may appear similar to one another or to other English / Latin characters; due to this potential for confusion, browsers have restricted the characters that may be rendered and will display the restricted characters in their Punycode form. They are sometimes used as pictorial symbols and memorable links.

Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Punycode Domain + TLD Usage Registration Date / Registrar (WHOIS entry)
ꓸ.com xn--8m8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 15 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓮ.com xn--ym8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊠.com xn--967c.com 01 January 2020 / Name.com, Inc.
ᗅ.com xn--upe.com Former StrongestBrands URL shortcut 26 December 2015 / Name.com, Inc.
Ꭺ.com xn--g9d.com 18 February 2015 / Name.com, Inc.
Ậ.com xn--zkg.com 2-5.org 18 April 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
𐊡.com xn--b77c.com 26 Shirts' official URL shortcut 06 July 2019 / Name.com, Inc.
𐊂.com xn--f67c.com
— — — —
ꓚ.com xn--em8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊢.com xn--c77c.com
— — — —
ꓓ.com xn--6l8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓰ.com xn--0m8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊤.com xn--e77c.com erikw.com 30. April 2018 / NameCheap, Inc.
— — — —
𐊥.com xn--f77c.com Nick Davenport IQinternet.net & DBSTrust.com, UK 29 April 2020 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
— — — —
ꓖ.com xn--9l8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
ꮐ.com xn--29d.com
— — — —
ꓧ.com xn--rm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 08 July 2018 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓲ.com xn--2m8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊦.com xn--g77c.com 29 April 2018 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
Ī.com xn--5ea.com 2-5.org 09 April 2021 / Google LLC
ḷ.com xn--mhg.com 26 July 2017 / Internet Domain Service BS Corp
ㆲ.com xn--3jk.com 3 December 2022 / GoDaddy, LLC
— — — —
ꓙ.com xn--dm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓗ.com xn--bm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓡ.com xn--lm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓟ.com xn--jm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊰.com xn--q77c.com Mahdi Taghizadeh's official URL shortcut 16 April 2018 / NameCheap, Inc.
— — — —
ƞ.com xn--gia.com virtual collectible / digital asset 28 December 2020 / Dynadot LLC
ꓠ.com xn--km8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊪.com xn--k77c.com 10 May 2018 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
ꚡ.com xn--ez8a.com NES Natural Endocrinology Specialists 10 February 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
ӧ.com xn--h6a.com ӧ's homepage. 09 November 2014 / Name.com, Inc.
ꓳ.com xn--3m8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
〇.com xn--w6j.com Started by Cancer, Memorial 28 February 2006 / DomainSite, Inc.
𐊫.com xn--l77c.com Simon Young Institution.co.uk official shortcut 28 April 2020 / CSL Computer Service Langenbach GmbH d/b/a joker.com
ᩅ.com xn--rnf.com 11 August 2018 / Dynadot LLC
ዐ.net xn--72d.net NOC of the Internet 14 January 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
ᴩ.com xn--w8f.com 25 December 2011 / Name.com, Inc.
— — — —
ꓣ.com xn--nm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊯.com xn--p77c.com 27 April 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
ꓢ.com xn--mm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
ꜱ.com xn--i38a.com 15 November 2013 / Name.com, Inc.
ꕷ.com xn--vq8a.com Landlord Insurance Startup Steadily URL shortcut 04 June 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
ꓔ.com xn--7l8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
ፐ.com xn--v6d.com Crypto Chain University's official URL shortcut 10 December 2014 / Tucows Domains Inc.
ţ.com xn--rga.com don Pablo donPabloNow.com official shortcut 18 February 2021 / NameCheap, Inc.
— — — —
ꓴ.com xn--4m8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐋊.com xn--h87c.com 10 May 2018 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
— — — —
ꓦ.com xn--qm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
ꛟ.com xn--508a.com Veritas Home Buyers official URL shortcut 10 February 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
ꓪ.com xn--um8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
— — — —
ꓫ.com xn--vm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
☓.com xn--33h.com Herbert R. Sim's official URL shortcut 03 February 2005 / Tucows Domains Inc.
— — — —
ꓬ.com xn--wm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
𐊲.com xn--s77c.com AnaptysBio's official URL shortcut 02 March 2018 / Name.com, Inc.
— — — —
ꓜ.com xn--gm8a.com virtual collectible / digital asset 18 July 2017 / Dynadot LLC
ꛉ.com xn--j08a.com The Trusted Home Buyer official URL shortcut 05 May 2021 / Google LLC
— — — —
𐋇.com xn--e87c.com 21 January 2018 / Google LLC
𓂺.com xn--hu7d.com virtual collectible / digital asset 11 January 2019 / Dynadot LLC
ㆺ.com xn--ckk.com iSellSquares.com Homepage 27 February 2020 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
☺.com xn--74h.com Daniel Früh's official URL shortcut 03 June 2004 / DomainSite, Inc.
ツ.com xn--bdk.com 29 June 2019 / NameSilo, LLC
ッ.top xn--9ck.top virtual collectible / digital asset 27 January 2016 / Dynadot LLC
シ.top xn--xck.top virtual collectible / digital asset 28 February 2022 / Dynadot LLC
ꙮ.com xn--xx8a.com 17 October 2018 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
ʘ.com xn--lpa.com 17 July 2015 / Name.com, Inc.
ʢ.com xn--vpa.com don Pablo donPabloNow.com official shortcut 27 February 2022 / NameCheap, Inc.
ư.com xn--yia.com 19 August 2018 / GoDaddy.com, LLC
ॐ.com xn--q3b.com 19 April 2001 / Name.com, Inc.
৬.com xn--67b.com Shortcut to AIEDGE 17 September 2021 / Sav.com, LLC
ৎ.com xn--c7b.com 10 Corp Ltd. & eMedia.Team 14 March 2023 / NameCheap, Inc.
ௐ.com xn--0mc.com 15 August 2020 / NameCheap, Inc.
தீ.com xn--rlc0d.com 17 January 2019 / Google LLC
தீ.இந்தியா xn--rlc0d.xn--xkc2dl3a5ee0h 06 April 2021 / Dynadot LLC

Project94

In 2012, the Public Interest Registry (PIR) initiated Project94, in which 94 one- and two-letter domains in the top-level domain org, that had been traditionally reserved, are awarded to qualifying organizations.[11]

Market value of single- or two-letter domains

Only three of the 26 possible single-letter domains have ever been registered under the .com domain, all before 1992. The other 23 single-letter .com domain names were registered January 1, 1992 by Jon Postel,[12] with the intention to avoid a single company commercially controlling a letter of the alphabet. Many but not all .com two-letter domain names are among the most valuable domain names.

While it is widely believed that the domain names business.com and sex.com have been the most valuable domain name transactions, prominent two-letter domain names have only been sold after nondisclosed transactions handled by specialized broker and law firms.

The value of the LG Corp (the South Korean electronics conglomerate formerly known as Lucky-Goldstar) purchase of LG.com was never published. LG Group missed the first sale of the domain name in 2008 from the original owner the chemical company Lockwood Greene to the dot-com entrepreneur Andy Booth; Booth had used it to launch a footballing website known as LifeGames. LG Corp bought "lg.com" one year later, in 2009. Following the purchase, LG Group changed worldwide marketing to LG.com, which is now their central internet address for all countries. All national LG country domain names like "LG.de" or "LG.com.mx" redirect to "LG.com".

The value of the initially secret November 2010 Facebook purchase of FB.com was revealed two months later to be $8.5 million in cash and the rest in stocks.[13]

IG Group paid $4.7 million in September 2013 to buy IG.com.[14]

GMO Internet, Inc. purchased Z.com for nearly $6.8 million from Nissan, who previously used it for the Nissan Z series cars.[15]

Controversy

With the 2005 announcement that registration of the remaining single-letter names might become available, some companies have attempted to establish a right to the names by claiming trademark rights over single letters used in such a context. U magazine, a college-oriented publication, went so far as to rebrand its website as "U.com" and apply for a trademark registration of the same phrase, before sending a letter to ICANN attempting to gain priority for the domain if it should ever become available in the future.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bill Manning; Eric Brunner; Donald Eastlake (March 2000), I-D draft-ietf-dnsind-iana-dns-01, p. 15, https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-dnsind-iana-dns-01#page-15 
  2. ↑ "i.net domain name is for sale. Inquire now.". https://sell.sawbrokers.com/domain/i.net/. 
  3. ↑ Lumen Technologies (September 14, 2020). "CenturyLink Transforms, Rebrands as Lumen" (Press release). Retrieved October 7, 2022. Lumen is pleased to announce Quantum Fiber, a fully digital platform for delivering fiber-based products and services to residents and small businesses.
  4. ↑ "Q.NET - remembering Desmond Llewelyn". https://q.net/. 
  5. ↑ "The V Foundation for Cancer Research founded by Jim Valvano" (in en-US). https://www.v.org/. 
  6. ↑ One and Two Letter .IE Domains Now Available "The release of short .ie domain names " Dublin, 12 October 2015
  7. ↑ ISNIC Icelandic Domain Rules, Retrieved on 22 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Verisign The World's Shortest Domain Names: How To Get a One Character Domain, Copenhagen, 01 December 2014. Retrieved on 04 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Verisign Registration Rules: Allowed Code Points, Reston VA, 01 July 2011. Retrieved on 06 April 2019.
  10. ↑ Roig, Jonathan. "TLD Search". https://WeirdOneCharacterDomainSuperstore.com/search. 
  11. ↑ Project 94
  12. ↑ "ICANN Establishes Forum on Allocation Methods for Single-Letter and Single-Digit Domain Names" (in en). https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2007-10-16-en. 
  13. ↑ Transaction of the FB.com domain
  14. ↑ "IG.com sells for $4.7 Million". morganlinton.com. http://morganlinton.com/ig-com-sells-for-4-7-million/. 
  15. ↑ Michael Berkens. "Z.com Sold For $6.8 Million Dollars". TheDomains.com. http://www.thedomains.com/2014/11/21/z-com-sold-for-6-8-million-dollars/. 
  16. ↑ "U.com letter" (PDF). icann.org. http://www.icann.org/correspondence/martens-to-jeffrey-12dec05.pdf. 

External links



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