Information on the .US domain

[Brant Cheikes]

I recently found out about a new top-level domain, called .US,
designed for those of us who don't "fit" in the standard domain naming
scheme.  I got some information from the domain administrator, which
I'm passing on for those interested.  I'm currently investigating the
idea of registering manta as manta.phl.pa.us.  Anyway, here's the
scoop:

To: brant at linc.cis.upenn.edu (Brant Cheikes)
Subject: Re: query re .US domain 
Date: Mon, 18 Jul 88 14:59:20 PDT
From: Ann Westine <westine at venera.isi.edu>


Revised Jul 15, 1988

             US Domain Policy and Procedures - January 1988
             ----------------------------------------------


1.  What is the US Domain and who is eligible to register?

        The US domain is a new Top Level domain created for people in
        the United States who have computers at home, or small local
        corporations who would like to register their host
        geographically.  A large corporation with offices all over the
        world would probably want to register with .COM.

2.  How do you register a host in the US Domain?

        Send a message to the US Domain Registrar (Westine at ISI.EDU).
        She will send you a US Domain Questionnaire to fill out.

3.  How is the Naming Scheme going to be set up for the US Domain
    and it's subdivisions?

        The US Domain is set up geographically, that is, states, cities,
        etc.  The state codes are those assigned by the US Postal
        Service, and the city codes are Western Union's "City Mnemonics"
        code that we will send to you.  Another alternative for the city
        code it to use the full name of your city.

        For example:  fernwood.mpk.ca.us  (or)
                      fernwood.menlo-park.ca.us

4.  Who will administer the US Domain and its subdivisions?

        For now we will administer all of the US Domain and its
        subdivisions.  The US Domain is just getting started and we want
        to be careful about what names get used and how control is
        allocated until some usage patterns are established.  We will
        run the servers for all the US domains.  At some future point we
        will hand off the administration of individual states to
        appropriate responsible people, probably in the state they
        administer.

5.  How will the US Domain affect hosts in UUCP, CSNET and BITNET Zones?

        If a host is registered in UUCP, BITNET, or CSNET Zone, it
        doesn't need to register in the US domain, unless it wants to be
        registered geographically.  Only hosts on the internet can act
        as forwarding hosts.  Hosts on systems such as CSNET, UUCP,
        BITNET, etc., must register their hosts with an internet host.
        This is necessary because when messages for your host arrive at
        the internet host it will need to know where to forward them.
        MX records are necessary.

6.  Can I manage a Domain Group?

        If you want to keep tabs on users in a certain group and to
        register them say under "Houston" in the TX.US domain,
        (joe at ACADEM.HOUSTON.TX.US) with "ACADEM" as the group you would
        be managing, this would be ok.  But you can't manage all
        "HOUSTON" or all "TX", just your group.  Also, you would have to
        see that all the hosts in your group are registered with us, and
        that each name is unique.  If your hosts are not directly on the
        internet we will need an MX record for each host pointing to an
        internet host for forwarding.

7.  Can a host be in both the US Domain and another domain (like .EDU
    or .COM)?

        No.  A host should have a single name.  It is possible to have
        "nicnames" for a brief period while a host name change is in
        progress.
-- 
Brant Cheikes
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Computer and Information Science
Internet: manta!brant at phlsun.prepnet.com, UUCP: {bpa,drexel}!manta!brant