.gb
| Introduced | 24 July 1985 |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Country code top-level domain |
| Status | Unused (reserved) |
| Registry | JANET (Jisc) |
| Intended use | Entities connected with Great Britain (the United Kingdom) |
| Actual use | Fallen into disuse in favour of .uk |
| Registration restrictions | No registrations presently being taken |
| Structure | Government sites formerly found under hmg.gb |
.gb is a reserved Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom, derived from Great Britain.
The domain was introduced with RFC 920[1] in October 1984 that set out the creation of ccTLD generally using country codes derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1 list. However, the .uk domain had been created separately a few months before the compilation of this list.[2] Consequently, .gb was never widely used. It is no longer possible to register under this domain.
.gb was used for a number of years, mainly by British government organisations and commercial e-mail services using X.400-based e-mail infrastructure. This simplified translating between DNS domains and X.400 addresses, which used "GB" as a country code.[3]
With the demise of X.400 e-mail and IANA's general aim of one TLD per country, use of .gb declined; the domain remains in existence, but it is not currently open to new domain registrations.
As of 2024, there are at least three subdomains resolving through DNS (although none serve a website): hermes.dra.hmg.gb, delos.dra.hmg.gb, and dfhnet.dra.hmg.gb.[4][5][6] They were originally owned by the Defence Research Agency,[7] which became the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 1995 and was split into QinetiQ and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in 2001; the websites became defunct some time thereafter.[8]
As of November 2022[update], Central Digital and Data Office's (see Cabinet Office) intention is to inform ICANN early in 2023 that the UK wishes to retire .gb.[9]
References
- ^ J. Postel and J. Reynolds (October 1984), Request for Comments: 920, Network Working Group
- ^ Milton Mueller (2002), Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 79, ISBN 9780262632980
- ^ Crepin-Leblond, Olivier M. J. (2003). "International E-mail Accessibility". Archived from the original on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
- ^ "DNS lookup for hermes.dra.hmg.gb". Retrieved 7 March 2016 – via Google Apps Toolbox.
- ^ "DNS lookup for delos.dra.hmg.gb". Retrieved 7 March 2016 – via Google Apps Toolbox.
- ^ "DNS lookup for dfhnet.dra.hmg.gb". Retrieved 7 March 2016 – via Google Apps Toolbox.
- ^ Gollman, Dieter, ed. (November 1994). "A Consideration of the Modes of Operation for Secure Systems". Computer Security – ESORICS 94. Brighton: Springer-Verlag. p. 335. ISBN 978-3-540-58618-0.
- ^ "DERA". DERA. Archived from the original on 17 May 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
- ^ Eden, Terence (15 November 2022). "Is it time to retire the .gb top level domain?". Central Digital and Data Office Blog. UK Government. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
External links
- IANA .gb whois information
- JANET(UK) website Archived 21 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Last accessible copy of www.dra.hmg.gb in the Internet Archive
- Official country code for Britain = GB or UK? Email discussion on GB domain (2002) with historical zonefiles.
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