Single-letter second-level domains are domain names in which the second-level domain consists of only one letter, such as x.com. In 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved all single-letter and single-digit second-level domain names in the top-level domains com, net, and org, and grandfathered those that had already been assigned. In December 2005, ICANN considered auctioning these domains.
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On December 1, 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved the remaining single-letter and single-digit domain names. The few domains that were already assigned were grandfathered in and continued to exist.
The assigned domains in this group are the following:
| Domain | 1993 Owner | Current Owner |
|---|---|---|
| i.net | INet Solutions Ltd | Future Media Architects |
| q.com | JG | CenturyLink |
| q.net | Privately owned | Qwest |
| x.com | Weinstein & DePaolis | X Commerce |
| x.org | The Open Group | X.Org Foundation |
| z.com | HomePage.com | Nissan Motors |
As of August 2011 only three domains, i.net, x.com and x.org host a web site. q.com is active but redirects to centurylink.com.
There are a few single-letter second-level domains not listed under country code top-level domains. These TLDs are not controlled directly by IANA and national registrars may decide whether to allow single-letter domains or not. An example is u.tv for Ulster Television. Although some registrars allow these one character domains, most charge either 5 or 4 figure fees. An example of this is the $50,000 price tag on a single letter domain at the Samoan NIC.
Two-letter .com domain names were never reserved and it was possible for anyone to register them in the very early years of the Internet (from 1985 to 1998). Since 1998 all variations of the 26 × 26 = 676 .com domains have been registered and they can only be obtained by buying them from the previous owner. In 1997 American Airlines was the first company to buy a two-letter domain AA.com on the secondary market, followed in 1998 by Hennes & Mauritz HM.com and Deutsche Bank DB.com.
Some two letter .com domains are also used as national country codes which are promoted through the private London Based Domain registration company CentralNic:
Most of these domains were registered by CentralNic between 1996 and 1998 at a time they were available for registration to anyone; some, like gr.com (already registered in 1994) were acquired later.
There are also 26 × 10 = 260 less prominent .com two letter domains with a combination of letters and numbers:
Two-letter domains with other extensions are less prominent but they are also used by notable companies and organizations:
In most TLDs such as fr, info, two-letter domains are not available.
Only three of the 26 possible single-letter domains have ever been registered, all before 1992. The other 23 single-letter .com domains were registered January 1, 1992 by Jon Postel, with the intention to avoid a single company commercially controlling a letter of the Alphabet.
Many but not all .com two-letter domains are among the most valuable domains.
While it is widely believed that the domains business.com and sex.com have been the most valuable domain transactions, prominent two-letter domains have only been sold after nondisclosed transactions handled by specialized broker and law firms.
The value of the LG Group (the South Korean electronics conglomerate formerly known as Lucky Goldstar) purchase of LG.com was never published. LG Group missed the first sale of the domain in 2008 from the original owner the chemical company Lockwood Greene to the British ex- professional footballer Andy Booth, who had used it to launch a footballing website known as LifeGames.[1] They bought it one year later, in 2009, for a significant amount.[2] Following the purchase LG Group changed worldwide marketing to LG.com, which is now their central internet address for all countries. All national LG Country domains like "LG.de" or "LG.com.mx" redirect to "LG.com".
The value of the initially secret November 2010 Facebook purchase of FB.com was revealed two months later to be $8.5 million.[3]
Most well known international companies missed the opportunity to register the Internet address that matched their company initials. This is due to the fact that two letter domains were among the very first domains to have been registered, mostly by Internet-savvy technology corporations or by private individuals living in the USA where the Internet was first established.
The French fashion house Louis Vuitton missed the registration of LV.com matching their well known "LV" monogram. In 2004 the address LV.com was for sale by its owner Manifest Information Service but LVMH tried to get it via a domain law suit. As two letters can have many different significations the National Arbitration Forum denied the transfer of the domain.[4] The failed lawsuit was followed by financial negotiations. The British insurance company Liverpool Victoria then became aware of the case; its new president Mike Rogers stepped in and in August 2007 outbid the world's largest luxury brand.
Due to late understanding of the internet many major corporations missed the registration or the acquisition of the internet address matching their two letter company initials. A notorious example is "CA.com" which was first registered february 9 1996 by Computer Answers and in 2000 acquired by CA Technologies. It is now impossible for the Crédit Agricole or the department store C&A to get the domain name. Another example is "DB.com" which was first registered december 13 1997 by The Internet Company and in 1998 acquired by Deutsche Bank. It is now impossible for Deutsche Bahn or Dun & Bradstreet to get the domain.
With the 2005 announcement that registration of the remaining single-letter names might become available, some companies have attempted to establish a right to the names by claiming to own trademark rights over single letters used in such a context. U Magazine, a college oriented publication, has gone so far as to re-brand its Web site as "U.com" (with a ™ sign) in online logos and captions—even though it does not operate a web site at that URL. They sent a letter to ICANN attempting to gain priority for registration of this name.[5] Other companies actually use their trademarks in commerce. G.com,[6] which operates a search engine at www.search-g.com, has succeeded in registering its trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO).[7]