The domaincom is atop-level domain (TLD) in theDomain Name System (DNS) of theInternet. Created in the first group of Internet domains in March of 1985, its name is derived from the wordcommercial,[2] indicating its original intended purpose for subdomains registered by commercial organizations. Later, the domain opened for general purposes.
The domain was originally administered by theUnited States Department of Defense, but is today operated byVerisign, and remains under ultimate jurisdiction of U.S. law.[3][4][5] The.com domain is also more commonly used than the more specific.us by American businesses and enterprises.[6] Verisign registrations in the .com domain are processed viaregistrars accredited byICANN. The registry acceptsinternationalized domain names.
The domain was one of the original TLDs of the Internet when the Domain Name System was implemented in January 1985, the others beingedu,gov,mil,net,org, andint.[7] It has grown into the largest top-level domain,[8] and has lent its name to thedot-com bubble, the era of the late 1990s during which excessive speculation in Internet-related concepts and companies led to rapid growth in the use and adoption of theInternet.
The domaincom was one of the first set of top-level domains when the Domain Name System was first implemented for the Internet on January 1, 1985.[9] The domain was administered by the U.S. Department of Defense, but the department contracted the domain maintenance toSRI International. SRI created DDN-NIC, also known as SRI-NIC, or simplythe NIC (Network Information Center),[10] then accessible online with the domain name nic.ddn.mil. Beginning October 1, 1991, an operations contract was awarded to Government Systems Inc. (GSI), which sub-contracted it toNetwork Solutions Inc. (NSI).[11]
On January 1, 1993, theNational Science Foundation assumed responsibility of maintenance, as com was primarily being used for non-defense interests. The NSF contracted operation toNetwork Solutions (NSI). In 1995, the NSF authorized NSI to begin charging registrants an annual fee for the first time since the domain's inception. Initially, the fee was US$50 (equivalent to $103 in 2024) per year, with US$35 going to NSI, and US$15 going to a government fund. New registrations had to pay for the first two years, making the new-domain registration fee US$100. In 1997, theUnited States Department of Commerce assumed authority over these first seven generic TLDs. It is currently operated by Verisign, which had acquired Network Solutions. Verisign later spun off Network Solutions' non-registry functions into a separate company that continues as a registrar. In theEnglish language, the domain is often spelled with a leading period and commonly pronounced asdot-com, and has entered common parlance this way.
Although com domains were initially intended to designate commercial entities,[12] the domain has had no restrictions for eligible registrants since the mid-1990s. With the commercialization and popularization of the Internet, the domain was opened to the public and quickly became the most common top-level domain forwebsites,email, and networking. Manycompanies that flourished in the period from 1997 to 2001—the time known as the "dot-com bubble"—incorporated the labelcom into company names; these became known as dot-coms ordot-com companies. The introduction of domainbiz in 2001, which was aimed at companies that failed to register a suitable com-domain name, intended to make customers realize that they had arrived at a legitimate business website, although it did not achieve widespread use.[13]
Although companies anywhere in the world can registercom domains, many countries have a second-level domain with a similar purpose under their country code top-level domain (ccTLD), such as Australia (com.au), China (com.cn), Greece (com.gr), Israel (co.il), India (co.in), Indonesia (co.id), Japan (co.jp), Mexico (com.mx), Nepal (.com.np), Pakistan (.com.pk), South Korea (co.kr), Sri Lanka (com.lk), United Kingdom (co.uk), and Vietnam (.com.vn).
Many non-commercial sites and networks use com names to benefit from the perceived recognizability of a com domain. However, the registration statistics show varying popularity over the years.[8]
In December 2011, Verisign reported that approximately 100 million com domains were registered.[14] According to the Domain Name Industry Brief published in March 2020, which publishes every quarter, com domain registration totaled 145.4[15] million. As of March 2009, Verisign reported that 926 accredited registrars serve the domain.[14]
On November 29, 2012, the U.S. Department of Commerce approved the renewal of the com Registry Agreement between Verisign, Inc., andICANN. Through this agreement, Verisign managed the com registry until November 30, 2018.[16]
