.tel
Encyclopedia
The domain name .tel is a top-level domain
(TLD) in the Domain Name System
(DNS) of the Internet
. It was approved by ICANN
as a sponsored top-level domain
, and is operated by Telnic. Telnic announced in January 2011 that over 300,000 domains had been registered since the start of general availability on March 24, 2009.
The domain's purpose is to provide a single name space for Internet communications services. Subdomain registrations serve as a single point of contact for individuals and businesses, providing a global contact directory service by hosting all types of contact information directly in the Domain Name System, without the need to build, host or manage a traditional web service. Additionally, as of July 2010, every tel domain acts as an OpenID
and an increasing number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) clients can address a tel domain name directly. The TLD implementation also supports the hCard
micro-format.
, Microsoft Outlook
, iPhone
, Android and some third party VoIP softphone clients. With the introduction of support for OAuth
in July 2010, however, new third-party clients and services are available to tel registrants for publishing records to their domains securely, including the possibility of editing information offline via SMS
gateways. The control panel is an open source application, and can be changed or completely replaced by registrars, as the application programming interface
s required to manage tel information in the DNS were released by Telnic in October 2008.
When viewed over the Web, all tel domains point directly to a Telnic proxy webpage that is populated on the fly presenting the respective domain name owner's contact data stored within the DNS system. tel domains can also be accessed without opening a browser on many devices through open source applications or through direct DNS lookups.
s, tel information is stored directly within the Domain Name System
(DNS), within the actual domain name record, as opposed to the DNS simply returning details (such as IP address
es) of the machines on which information can be found.
As Telnic has enabled the DNS records to be encrypted using 1024-bit encryption and stored in sub-folders which are hidden until paired with a public private key handshake with individuals, there is protection from spammers. As tel also supports any type of contact information, concierge services like temporary email addresses, temporary telephone numbers and so on can all be utilized for additional protection of public information.
Furthermore, during General Availability, anyone is able to register any name (assuming that it is available for registration) without paying a premium price.
The information held under the .tel domain will be no more accurate or trustworthy than any other user defined data held in the DNS system. It will be down to individual .tel owners to choose what they wish to store there.
As with all other gTLDs, trademark owners can utilize the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
(UDRP) to claim trademarked domains back.
domain, which was also approved by ICANN in the same round.
However, tel is about publishing contact data: phone numbers, SIP
addresses and so on directly in the DNS
, not on html
-based websites., whereas the focus of the .mobi domain is providing web sites and other content formatted specifically for the user interface available on mobile phones and other mobile devices.
) also submitted an application for the tel TLD, but had a different intent. This proposal involved telephone number style numeric identifiers. Alternative viewpoints claimed that this either complemented or conflicted with Telephone Number Mapping
(ENUM). Purely numeric identifiers have now been approved for release by Telnic and will be released later in 2011, with the restriction that single-digit tel domains be withheld in order to avoid confusion with ENUM.
Top-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
(TLD) in the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(DNS) of the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. It was approved by 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 a sponsored top-level domain
Sponsored top-level domain
A sponsored 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....
, and is operated by Telnic. Telnic announced in January 2011 that over 300,000 domains had been registered since the start of general availability on March 24, 2009.
The domain's purpose is to provide a single name space for Internet communications services. Subdomain registrations serve as a single point of contact for individuals and businesses, providing a global contact directory service by hosting all types of contact information directly in the Domain Name System, without the need to build, host or manage a traditional web service. Additionally, as of July 2010, every tel domain acts as an OpenID
OpenID
OpenID is an open standard that describes how users can be authenticated in a decentralized manner, eliminating the need for services to provide their own ad hoc systems and allowing users to consolidate their digital identities...
and an increasing number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) clients can address a tel domain name directly. The TLD implementation also supports the hCard
HCard
hCard is a microformat for publishing the contact details of people, companies, organizations, and places, in HTML, Atom, RSS, or arbitrary XML...
micro-format.
Administration of domains
Telnic started publicly accepting applications for name registrations on February 3, 2009 after a closed Sunrise period for trademark holders. At present, information in .tel can be controlled by the owner through a website control panel that Telnic has created for registrars to provide to their customers, or through free clients for BlackBerryBlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
, Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available both as a separate application as well as a part of the Microsoft Office suite...
, iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, Android and some third party VoIP softphone clients. With the introduction of support for OAuth
OAuth
OAuth is an open standard for authorization. It allows users to share their private resources stored on one site with another site without having to hand out their credentials, typically username and password.OAuth allows users to hand out tokens instead of credentials to their data hosted by a...
in July 2010, however, new third-party clients and services are available to tel registrants for publishing records to their domains securely, including the possibility of editing information offline via SMS
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
gateways. The control panel is an open source application, and can be changed or completely replaced by registrars, as the application programming interface
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
s required to manage tel information in the DNS were released by Telnic in October 2008.
When viewed over the Web, all tel domains point directly to a Telnic proxy webpage that is populated on the fly presenting the respective domain name owner's contact data stored within the DNS system. tel domains can also be accessed without opening a browser on many devices through open source applications or through direct DNS lookups.
Technical overview
In contrast to other top-level domainTop-level domain
A top-level domain is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in lower levels, it is the last part of the domain name, that is, the last label of a...
s, tel information is stored directly within the Domain Name System
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(DNS), within the actual domain name record, as opposed to the DNS simply returning details (such as IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es) of the machines on which information can be found.
As Telnic has enabled the DNS records to be encrypted using 1024-bit encryption and stored in sub-folders which are hidden until paired with a public private key handshake with individuals, there is protection from spammers. As tel also supports any type of contact information, concierge services like temporary email addresses, temporary telephone numbers and so on can all be utilized for additional protection of public information.
Reliability of data
The tel TLD was released to trademark holders only until February 3, 2009, perhaps suggest that the resulting database of contact information can somehow be trusted as the official contact information of the rightful owner of those trademarks. However, after the short period of registrations restricted to trademark holders only (the Sunrise period), anyone willing to pay a premium price was allowed to buy any domain name (the Landrush period) regardless of who owned the trademark.Furthermore, during General Availability, anyone is able to register any name (assuming that it is available for registration) without paying a premium price.
The information held under the .tel domain will be no more accurate or trustworthy than any other user defined data held in the DNS system. It will be down to individual .tel owners to choose what they wish to store there.
As with all other gTLDs, trademark owners can utilize the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy
The Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy is a process established by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers for the resolution of disputes regarding the registration of internet domain names...
(UDRP) to claim trademarked domains back.
Differences from domain mobi
Since some of the services that are expected to use tel domains can be achieved on mobile telephones, there may be overlap with the intended use of the mobi.mobi
The domain name mobi is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System of the Internet. Its name is derived from the adjective mobile, indicating its use by mobile devices for accessing Internet resources via the Mobile Web....
domain, which was also approved by ICANN in the same round.
However, tel is about publishing contact data: phone numbers, SIP
Session Initiation Protocol
The Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
addresses and so on directly in the DNS
Domain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
, not on html
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
-based websites., whereas the focus of the .mobi domain is providing web sites and other content formatted specifically for the user interface available on mobile phones and other mobile devices.
Alternative usage proposal
Pulver.com (operated by Jeff PulverJeff Pulver
Jeffrey L. Pulver is an American Internet entrepreneur known for his work as founder and chief executive of pulver.com. He has written extensively on the need to develop an alternative to government regulation of the applications layer of Voice over Internet Protocol telephony.-Biography:Jeff...
) also submitted an application for the tel TLD, but had a different intent. This proposal involved telephone number style numeric identifiers. Alternative viewpoints claimed that this either complemented or conflicted with Telephone Number Mapping
Telephone Number Mapping
Telephone number mapping is the process of unifying the telephone number system of the public switched telephone network with the Internet addressing and identification name spaces. Telephone numbers are systematically organized in the E.164 standard, while the Internet uses the Domain Name System...
(ENUM). Purely numeric identifiers have now been approved for release by Telnic and will be released later in 2011, with the restriction that single-digit tel domains be withheld in order to avoid confusion with ENUM.