The top-level domain (TLD) “.int” is a specific category of internet domains that is used by international organizations and treaties. According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is in charge of managing and coordinating the internet’s Domain Name System (DNS), these INT domains are meant to be used by organizations and agreements that span across multiple nations.
(INT is derived from the term international.) ICANN states that, “The .INT top-level domain is strictly limited to organizations, offices, and programmes which are endorsed by a treaty between two or more nations”. This information can be derived directly from the ICANN website which is a reliable source for information on TLD.
Some examples of organizations with the .int domain include NATO (nato.int), the United Nations (un.int), and the World Health Organization (who.int). It is not possible for individuals or businesses to register a .int domain, as they do not fall into the previously mentioned category. Evidence of this can be seen by visiting the websites of the organizations I mentioned earlier.
The World Wide Web consortium (w3.org), a key internet standards organization, offers further elaboration on the usage rules for .int. They state that it is essentially a restricted and specialized TLD, primarily used by intergovernmental organizations or IGOs. These organizations must be established under international law, which often means they were created through treaties.
One such example of a .int domain usage occurs as part of the European Union’s digital identity. The EU maintains europa.eu as its primary web presence, but the .eu TLD is available to any citizens, businesses, or organizations in the European Economic Area. So eu.int is reserved specifically for bodies of the European Union itself, to distinguish those sites from sites that may be located in or relevant to European Union countries but are not directly affiliated with the EU governing bodies.
Sources:
1. ICANN (https://www.icann.org/)
2. W3C (https://www.w3.org/Consortium/)
3. INT (https://www.iana.org/domains/int)
4. United Nations (https://www.un.int/)
5. World Health Organization (https://www.who.int/)
6. NATO (https://www.nato.int/)
In conclusion, the .int TLD is reserved for organizations and agreements that exist in the international space. They must have commitments backed by treaties between multiple nations. The main purpose of such a TLD is to distinguish these governmental entities from businesses or individuals. These are not attainable by the general public. The standardization of this TLD helps to maintain legitimacy and reliability of the organizations operating on the international level.
