.geo
Encyclopedia
.geo was a generic top-level domain
proposed by SRI International
to be used to associate Internet resources with geographical locations, via a system of "georegistrars" and "georegistries" with hierarchical addresses representing locations in a grid encircling the Earth
. These addresses are not intended to be typed in directly by end-users (and hence are "messy" strings like acme.2e5n.10e30n.geo) but rather, would be used "behind the scenes" by software looking things up by location (possibly driven by GPS positioning in mobile devices).
A number of schemes have been proposed or implemented in an attempt to classify Internet sites geographically; many of them do not require anything special in DNS (e.g., the GeoURLhttp://geourl.org initiative). The .geo proposal can, hence, be criticized as making unnecessary use of a top level domain where it might have been implemented using subdomains elsewhere (perhaps within .arpa
, the domain allocated for infrastructure lookups), or with non-DNS methods such as "meta" tags in Web sites.
.geo was proposed to ICANN
as part of the first round of new top level domains in 2000, but failed to gain approval, and there has not been any noticeable activity regarding this proposal for several years.
Generic top-level domain
A generic top-level domain is one of the categories of top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet....
proposed by SRI International
SRI International
SRI International , founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in Menlo Park, California, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later...
to be used to associate Internet resources with geographical locations, via a system of "georegistrars" and "georegistries" with hierarchical addresses representing locations in a grid encircling the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. These addresses are not intended to be typed in directly by end-users (and hence are "messy" strings like acme.2e5n.10e30n.geo) but rather, would be used "behind the scenes" by software looking things up by location (possibly driven by GPS positioning in mobile devices).
A number of schemes have been proposed or implemented in an attempt to classify Internet sites geographically; many of them do not require anything special in DNS (e.g., the GeoURLhttp://geourl.org initiative). The .geo proposal can, hence, be criticized as making unnecessary use of a top level domain where it might have been implemented using subdomains elsewhere (perhaps within .arpa
.arpa
The domain name arpa is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is used exclusively for technical infrastructure purposes...
, the domain allocated for infrastructure lookups), or with non-DNS methods such as "meta" tags in Web sites.
.geo was proposed to ICANN
ICANN
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Marina del Rey, California, United States, that was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly...
as part of the first round of new top level domains in 2000, but failed to gain approval, and there has not been any noticeable activity regarding this proposal for several years.