- .nz
Infobox Top level domain
name=.nz
background=#CCF
introduced=1987
type=Country code top-level domain
status=Active
registry=NZ Registry Services
sponsor=Internet Society of New Zealand
intendeduse=Entities connected with NZL
actualuse=Popular in New Zealand
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, including one specifically for geeks
document=
disputepolicy= [http://dnc.org.nz/content/dispute_and_complaint.pdf Dispute and Complaint Process]
website= [http://nzrs.net.nz/ NZ Registry Services]
[http://dnc.org.nz/ Domain Name Commission] |.nz is the
Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD ) forNew Zealand . It is administered byInternetNZ through its subsidiary,NZ Registry Services , with oversight and dispute resolution handled by theDomain Name Commission Ltd . Registrations are processed via authorised registrars. As of March 2008 there were 324,722 registered .nz domains.cite web | title=Monthly .nz Statistics March 2008 | publisher=Domain Name Commission| date=2008-04-30 | url=http://dnc.org.nz/content/2008-03_stats.html | accessdate=2008-05-08]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.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 anatural monopoly (the registry activities) andvertical integration (the registrar and other services) was seen by some as restricting competitioncite web | date=2000-10-20 | title=Review of the Registry/Registrar Structure for the .nz ccTLD (The Hine Report) | url=http://www.internetnz.net.nz/proceedings/tf/archive/wg-domainz-model-review/dmrwg001020report-final.html | accessdate=2008-05-08] 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 toMelbourne IT [cite web | title=Melbourne IT buys NZ domain incumbent | date=2003-08-21 | url=http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/Melbourne-IT-buys-NZ-domain-incumbent/0,139023166,120277573,00.htm | accessdate=2008-05-08] 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. [cite web | title=April 2008 .nz Newsletter | date=2008-04-24 | url=http://dnc.org.nz/content//apr_08_newsletter.pdf | accessdate=2008-05-08]Second-level domains
As is the case with most other English-speaking countries apart from the
USA andCanada , 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 traditionalMāori tribal groups (as well as 'maori.nz') and 'geek.nz' for 'geek s' .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 organisationsModerated
* .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, [http://www.dns.govt.nz DNS.govt.nz] , and there is a government portal at [http://www.govt.nz/ www.govt.nz]
* .iwi.nz — A traditional Māori tribe, hapu, or Taurahere group. Available from [http://www.register.iwi.nz 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 - theNew Zealand Defence Force .Previously used
The Domain archie.nz also existed for an
Archie search engine Server operated by theUniversity 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 [http://sourceforge.net/projects/dnrs/ SourceForge] . The protocol used by this software has
non-repudiation built in to it usingPGP , 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 preventsDomain Hijacking . The protocol was contemporary with EPP, and due to these extra design features is now being ratified as an internet RFC [cite web | title=System for Managing a Shared Domain Registry | date=2008-05-18 | url=http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-nzrs-srs-00.txt | accessdate=2008-06-13] .References
External links
* [http://www.iana.org/root-whois/nz.htm IANA .nz whois information]
* [http://nzrs.net.nz/ NZ Registry Services]
* [http://dnc.org.nz/ .nz Domain Name Commission]
* [http://dnc.org.nz/story/30056-27-1.html List of .nz authorised registrars]
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