.gb

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.gb
UKERNA
Introduced 1985
TLD type Country code top-level domain
Status retired
Registry UKERNA
Sponsoring organization UKERNA
Intended use Entities connected with 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
Documents
Dispute policies None
Web site None

.gb is a reserved Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the United Kingdom. Introduced at the same time as the UK's other top-level domain (.uk), it was never widely used, and as it is no longer possible to register under this domain, it has since fallen into disuse.

The rule in the Domain Name System is that a top-level domain for a country is derived from the corresponding two-letter code in the ISO 3166-1 list. Accordingly the correct code for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is GB, and the .gb top-level domain was therefore delegated.

The pre-existing JANET Name Registration Scheme had used "UK" as a country code, so the UK also applied to Jon Postel of IANA for the .uk TLD. This was granted, and all UK domain names are now issued as .uk, rather than .gb.

.gb was used for a number of years, mainly by UK 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.[1]

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 open to new subdomain registrations.

One .gb subdomain still exists in the DNS (as of 2006): dra.hmg.gb, belonging to Her Majesty's Government's former Defence Research Agency. However, the domain is no longer used.

[edit] External links

 v • d • e Country code top-level domains
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Reserved/unassigned:  .eh  .kp  .me  .rs  .um      Allocated/unused:  .bv  .gb  .sj  .so      Phaseout:  .su  .tp       Deleted/retired:  .cs  .dd  .zr
See also: Generic top-level domains
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