The top-level domain (TLD) “.ice” is part of the Domain Name System (DNS). It is on the highest level in the hierarchical DNS structure and is the last segment of a domain name, the part that follows immediately after the “dot” symbol. Typical examples of widely recognized TLDs are “.com,” “.net,” “.org,” and country-specific forms such as “.us,” “.fr,” “.uk,” and others.
However, as of writing this, the “.ice” TLD does not exist within the global DNS structure maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), an organization responsible for global coordination of the Internet Protocol addressing systems and the Autonomous System Numbers used for routing Internet traffic. IANA maintains a complete list of TLDs on its website which anyone can access to check the existence of a TLD.
It’s important to clarify that in recent years, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organization that manages DNS, launched a New gTLD Program and started allowing organizations to apply for new generic TLDs (gTLDs). These can include almost any word or term in any language, thereby dramatically increasing the potential new domain name possibilities. Notable instances from this program include TLDs such as “.google,” “.apple,” or “.amazon.” So while “.ice” is not a TLD currently, it is within the realm of possibility that it could be in the future, subject to ICANN’s approval processes.
Now, a “.ice” domain might indeed exist within what is known as “alternative DNS roots,” which are DNS root systems operated independently from the IANA’s globally recognized DNS root. However, usage of these alternative roots would only be possible within systems specifically configured to use them. Nevertheless, websites using such domains are inaccessible to most Internet users and hence, are often not very useful for practical application.
In summary, while there is currently no existing “.ice” TLD within the global DNS structure, the modern environment surrounding TLDs is changing, thanks to ICANN’s New gTLD Program. Therefore, it’s entirely possible that a “.ice” domain could exist at some point in the future. However, this would be subject to ICANN’s approval and would need to fulfill certain criteria specified by the organization.
Sources:
1. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) – Root Zone Database: https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db
2. ICANN’s New gTLD Program: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/
3. Analysis of Alternative DNS Roots by Steven Bellovin: http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb/papers/dns-alt.pdf
