single-letter domain names

November 17, 2005 2:02 AM

So, it appears that x.com (paypal) and z.com (Nissan) exist - but according to the specification, they are "reserved for future use"... How did this happen? Why are Nissan and PayPal excempt from the rules?
posted by SharQ to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Those domain names were registered (and since maintained) prior to ICANN restricting the registration of single letter domain names in 1993.

The idea was that if the .com registry became too full or too large that domains could then be registered in the third level (NAME.a.com, NAME.b.com, etc.) Obviously, with the .net, .org and other TLDs, this was never necessary.

So, to answer your question - they are not above the rules, they just got there before the rule existed.
posted by FlamingBore at 2:36 AM on November 17, 2005

Compare to RFC 2606's example.com, example.org, and example.net.
posted by Plutor at 4:30 AM on November 17, 2005

You missed Q.com (qwest).

In a similar situation, the UK blocks 2-letter names, but they have bt.co.uk.

x.com was founded in 1999. I presume they named the company after they got the domain. (Then they got bought by Paypal.)
posted by smackfu at 6:24 AM on November 17, 2005

smackfu - it's more likely that the domain was purchased from a third party, but anything is possible.
posted by FlamingBore at 9:14 AM on November 17, 2005

I miss the days when I could type x.com for paypal instead of paypal.com. It was easier to type.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:56 AM on November 17, 2005

An old co-worker of mine, Eric Ziegast, registered z.com way back when he was an engineer at UUnet. I think he sold it to a radio station in the mid-90's. I remember him telling me part of the deal was they had to let him keep [e-mail] and forward his email. Nissan must have bought it at some point.

This geek girl thought he was dreamy.
posted by Sorcia at 10:48 PM on November 17, 2005