The top-level domain (TLD) “.pt” is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Portugal. According to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organization responsible for managing and coordinating the Internet’s Domain Name System, a top-level domain (TLD) for any given URL forms the last segment of the domain and follows directly after the last dot.
The “.pt” TLD is administered by the Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN), a non-profit private institution under the Ministry of Education of Portugal, which is recognized by the Portuguese government as the national research and education networking organization.
The “.pt” domain became operational on June 30, 1988, as a ccTLD designated for use by entities connected with Portugal. Usage of the “.pt” domain was initially very strict, and only companies, organizations, and individuals residing in Portugal or holding Portuguese copyrights could register a “.pt” domain.
However, since 2012, the regulations have been relaxed, allowing for any individual or entity within the European Union to register a “.pt” domain. Besides the general “.pt” domain, there are also second-level domains under “.pt” used for specific types of organizations. These include “.com.pt” for commercial organizations, “.edu.pt” for educational institutions, and “.gov.pt” for government organizations.
The technical management of the .pt domain is conducted with regard to international best practices for DNS management, recommended by entities such as ICANN, RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens), DNS-OARC (DNS Operations, Analysis, and Research Center), and CENTR (Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries).
According to reports, as of late 2020, there have been more than 100,000 registrations under “.pt”, reflecting its growing popularity and utilization among Portuguese-speaking Internet users and entities.
In terms of its technical features, .pt domain registration requires DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) which adds security to the Domain Name System. RFC 3833 from Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a document that discusses threats to the Domain Name System (DNS) and DNSSEC as a relevant security mechanism for addressing these threats. Moreover, the .pt domain uses the EPP (Extensible Provisioning Protocol), a flexible and extensible protocol that enables the provision and real-time management of multiple Internet services.
Sources:
- ICANN, Managing the Domain Name System https://www.icann.org/
- Foundation for National Scientific Computing (FCCN) https://www.fccn.pt/
- RFC 3833 – Threat Analysis of the Domain Name System (DNS) https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3833/
- DNS-OARC, DNS Operations, Analysis, and Research Center https://www.dns-oarc.net/
- CENTR, Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries https://www.centr.org/
