Summary of Domain Rules & Regulations

.CA Rules

Applicants who meet CIRA's Canadian Presence Requirements may register an unlimited number of domain names.

The following is a summary of CIRA's rules & regulations and is not intended to replace CIRA's official documents.

Acceptable Characters for .CA Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• two (2) to fifty (50) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)
• Unincorporated place names in Canada (e.g. unincorporated areas, landmarks, geographical features)

Characters not accepted by CIRA

• Single-character names are reserved for future use.
• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols(e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '
• Incorporated place names in Canada and their abbreviations (e.g. municipality & province/territory names)
• Obscene names
• Names reserved by the CIRA registry including all existing country code top level domain (ccTLD) two letter names as recognized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and all the existing generic top level domain (gTLD) three letter names (examples of reserved names: .com.ca, .org.ca, .net.ca, .edu.ca, .gov.ca, .int.ca, .mil.ca, ca.ca, co.ca, domain.ca, firm.ca, gov.ca, gouv.ca, edu.ca, internet.ca, int.ca, net.ca, nom.ca, nui.ca, rec.ca, store.ca, tm.ca, www.ca, village.ca, hamlet.ca, town.ca, city.ca and ville.ca)

Acceptable Levels of .CA Domain Names

Example of Levels

• example.ca
  second level (national level) - has just the .CA at the end
• example.on.ca
  third level (provincial level) - has the 2 letter provincial code plus the .ca at the end.
  .ab - Alberta
  .bc - British Columbia
  .mb - Manitoba
  .nb - New Brunswick
  .nl - Newfoundland & Labrador
  (formerly .nf - Newfoundland)
  .ns - Nova Scotia
  .nw - Northwest Territories
  .nu - Nunavit.on - Ontario
  .pe - Prince Edward Island
  .qc - Quebec
  .sk - Saskatchewan
  .yk - Yukon
• example.ottawa.on.ca
  fourth level (municipal level) - has the municipality name in full (or valid abbreviation) plus the provincial code and .ca at the end

.COM Rules

Acceptable Characters for .COM, .NET, And .ORG Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• One (1) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

.INFO Rules

Acceptable Characters for .INFO Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '
• Obscene names

.BIZ Rules

.biz names can only be used for a bona fide business or commercial use. Registering a domain name solely for the purposes of (1) selling, trading or leasing the domain name for compensation, or (2) the unsolicited offering to sell, trade or lease the domain name for compensation does not constitute a "bona fide business or commercial use" of that domain name.

The .biz registry has issued guidelines that .biz domain names are not intended for wholly personal or non-commercial purposes.

Acceptable Characters for .BIZ Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '
• Obscene names

.US Rules

1. Applicants who meet one of the following Nexus Categories may register an unlimited number of .US domain names.
   Nexus Category 1 - An individual who is:
   • United States citizen
   • United States permanent resident
   Nexus Category 2 - A U.S.-based organization or company
   • A U.S.-based organization or company formed within one of the fifty (50) U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or any of the United States possessions or territories, or organized or otherwise constituted under the laws of a state of the United States of America, the District of Columbia or any of its possessions or territories or a U.S. federal, state, or local government entity or a political subdivision thereof.
   Nexus Category 3 - A foreign entity or organization
   • A foreign entity or organization that has a bona fide presence in the United States of America or any of its possessions or territories who regularly engages in lawful activities (sales of goods or services or other business, commercial or non-commercial, including not-for-profit relations in the United States). Please select the country below:
   • Entity has an office or other facility in the United States. Please select the country below:
2. Initial .US registrations are for a minimum term of two (2) years to a maximum term of ten (10) years.
3. Nameservers for all .US Registrations must be located in the United States (Required by the US Department of Commerce).

Acceptable Characters for .US Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '
• All numbers five digits and higher (reserved by the .US Registry)
• All numbers in the format five digits-four digits (zip codes)(reserved by the .US Registry)
• All telephone numbers including toll-free numbers (reserved by the .US Registry)
• Tagged domain names—all labels with hyphens in the third and fourth character positions (e.g. "bq--kn2n4h4b") (reserved by the .US Registry)
• Obscene names

.CN Rules

.CN domains may be registered for one (1) to five (5) years.

Acceptable Characters for .CN Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

Registrants may not register or use a domain name that is deemed by CNNIC to:

1. Be against the basic principles prescribed in the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China ("PRC");
2. Jeopardize national security, leak state secrets, intend to overturn the government, or disrupt of state integrity of the PRC;
3. Harm national honor and national interests of the PRC;
4. Instigate hostility or discrimination between different nationalities, or disrupt the national solidarity of the PRC;
5. Violate the PRC's religion policies or propagate cult and feudal superstition;
6. Spread rumors, disturb public order or disrupt social stability of the PRC;
7. Spread pornography, obscenity, gambling, violence, homicide, terror or instigate crimes in the PRC;
8. Insult, libel against others and infringe other people's legal rights and interests in the PRC; or
9. Take any other action prohibited in laws, rules and administrative regulations of the PRC.

.MOBI Rules

.MOBI domains may be registered for two (2) to ten (10) years. Renewals are from one (1) to ten (10) years.

Acceptable Characters for .MOBI Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three (3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

.mobi websites must comply with rules set out by the dotMobi registry:

1. Domains that operate a site at www.example.mobi must also implement a site at example.mobi
2. Requests for URIs consisting only of "example.mobi" or "www.example.mobi" must result in a response that is encoded in a format the device supports or valid XHTML-Mobile Profile 1.0 or later released version [XHTMLMP], where "example" stands for any domain name
3. Do not use frames (standard or inline) unless the target client is known to support them.

.CO Rules

There are no special requirements to register .CO domain names. .CO domains may be registered for one (1) to five (5) years. Renewals are from one (1) to five (5) years.

.CO is a global and uniquely recognisable domain available to the general public. .CO is understood to mean “company”, “corporation”, “commerce,” "content," among others.

Acceptable Characters for .CO Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Two(2) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name or take the third and fourth position, eg. “ab--cd.co” ).

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

.TV Rules

There are no special requirements to register .TV domain names. .TV domains may be registered for one (1) to ten (10) years. Renewals are from one (1) to ten (10) years.

.TV domain names provide an instant association with video and rich media content. A .TV domain can be registered by anyone, anywhere in the world.

Acceptable Characters for .TV Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three(3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

.WS Rules

There are no special requirements to register .WS domain names. .WS domains may be registered for one (1) to ten (10) years. Renewals are from one (1) to ten (10) years.

An abbreviation of “website,” .WS has become a popular alternative to .COM. The .WS domain is globally accessible domain and can be registered by anyone, anywhere in the world.

Acceptable Characters for .WS Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Four(4) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '

.CC Rules

There are no special requirements to register .CC domain names. .CC domains may be registered for one (1) to ten (10) years. Renewals are from one (1) to ten (10) years.

.CC is a popular extension among niche markets, special interest groups and communities. .CC domains can be registered by anyone, anywhere in the world.

Acceptable Characters for .CC Domain Names

Acceptable characters

• Three(3) to sixty-three (63) characters
• Letters a through z (non-case sensitive)
• numbers 0 through 9
• Hyphens (but cannot start or end your domain name)

Non-acceptable characters

• Accents of any kind
• Spaces
• Special characters/symbols (e.g. & ! @ # $ % ^ * ( ) ? " ) '