The top-level domain (TLD) is the highest level of domain names in the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS) 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 fully qualified domain name. For example, in the domain name www.fedex.com, ‘.com’ is the TLD.
Now coming to the specific TLD “.fedex”, top-level domains can be either generic (gTLD) like “.com”, “.org” or “.net”, or they can be country code (ccTLD) like “.uk” for the United Kingdom, or “.ca” for Canada. However, “.fedex” does not fit into either category, and as far as the current information available, there is no TLD by the name of “.fedex” as per the records of Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the entity that oversees global IP address allocation and DNS management.
In recent years, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has allowed companies to apply for brand-specific TLDs (known as Brand-TLDs) such as “.google”, “.apple”, etc. This might make one hypothesize that “.fedex” is a Brand-TLD. However, according to the list of applied-for TLDs published by ICANN, as well as data from the IANA’s Root Zone Database, FedEx has not applied for or been granted a “.fedex” TLD.
ICANN maintains a TLD Application Status page, where visitors can see all domain extensions that have been applied for. As of the time of this writing, FedEx seems not to have applied for a .fedex brand domain extension, a fact that is easily checked using the search feature on ICANN’s page.
It’s worth noting that not all brands choose to apply for their own TLD, because of costs (application fees can run about $185,000, per ICANN), as well as the logistics involved in migrating an established web presence to a new domain extension.
In summary, at the moment, there’s no TLD “.fedex”. Though theoretically, in the future, if FedEx decides to apply for this TLD, we could potentially see websites with this domain.
(Sources used: IANA.org, ICANN.org)
Sources:
1. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. “Root Zone Database”. IANA. Retrieved from https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
2. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). “New gTLD Current Application Status”. ICANN. Retrieved from https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results
3. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. “Top-Level Domain Application Fee & Billing”. Retreived from https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/historical-documentation/cost-considerations-04oct09-en.pdf.
