Significance of .co.uk, .com etc

[seb brown]

What is the reasoning behind the .co.uk, .com, .org, .net etc on the end of all web addresses? Why are there lots of different types and what do they all mean? I know .co.uk is a site from the UK, and .jp from Japan etc, but who decides which one goes for each site, and why bother having all the types? Is .com from the USA, or is it just a universal one? If you make your own website, can you decide which one you want on the end? Who invented .com, .co.uk?

[ajmmac]

within reason u can decide what u have at end of ur web address--ur right about .co.uk--but uk companies could also be .com--its kinda universal or international--.org is usually a charitable organsation or something that is not a funtioning/trading company say a club or society--.net as far as i know would be a site that also offers web connection (internet service provider like freeserve or bt etc)think i knew at one time who inveted them but can't remember--most developed over time to serve their specific purposes--for eg the net grew out of its early use by academic institusions so they generally used .ac.uk for a uk institusion--hope this helps and is not too erroneous--any mistakes i am sure someone else will gladly amend

[Pinotage]

The domain name is an internet address and must be unique. Thats why there are lost of them. You read then from right to left. There are basically 2 types, generic and country codes.

Addresses within the 2 character ISO country codes are assigned by that country,and they can decide how many divisions there are within that and who can use them, e.g. only educational establishements can use .ac.uk. The country may restrict usage of their country code to their citizens or let anyone register.

The generic ones, i.e. without a 2 character country code at the end were originally intended to be for the US, but anyone can register a .com, .org or .net address, hoever .gov, .mil .edu etc are restricted to US .

Its a big subject, and has changed over the years as a result of the explosion in internet usage. Its currently administered by IANA - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, see www.iana.org for more information, and if you wantt o register your own name as a domain, you can see if its available at www.register.com. I've just checked and www.sebbrown.com is available; fancy your email address as [email protected]?

[jenstar]

There is actually a .us country code for the USA, though it doesn't seem to be used much.