.army

Overview

• .army is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) introduced under ICANN's New gTLD Program.
• The string is intended for military-themed use but was proposed as a broad, generic TLD available to legitimate registrants.
• The registry/manager is identified as Demand Media / Rightside (United TLD Holdco Ltd.).

History

• Application announced on Reveal Day (13 June 2012) and ultimately succeeded.
• A Registry Agreement was signed with ICANN on 6 March 2014.
• .army was delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 4 June 2014, completing its delegation.
• During the application process the string received Government Advisory Committee (GAC) Early Warnings and review by the Independent Objector.

Usage and Audience

• The applicant described .army as a broad, generic TLD with inclusive registration policies.
• Intended audience includes military-themed registrants but second-level registrations were to be offered to "all legitimate registrants."
• The TLD was categorized in discussions as government/military-focused, and similar applications included strings such as .navy and .airforce.

Registration Rules

• The registry planned to make second-level registrations broadly available and did not propose limiting registrant eligibility.
• The operator reserved the right to "reserve and hold back certain strings" at launch.
• Commitments and protections expressed by the applicant included:
  • adherence to ICANN-required registration policies and the Registry Agreement;
  • strict policies and enforcement to address illegal or abusive activity, including takedown remedies;
  • remediation of inaccurate WHOIS data (including possible suspensions);
  • rigorous Terms of Use prohibiting illegal or abusive activity;
  • limitations on domain proxy and privacy services;
  • published policies defining abusive activity;
  • a Domain Protected Marks List (DPML) and commitments to work with governments to block government-related trademarks.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Multiple national governments (United States, Australia, India) issued GAC Early Warnings expressing concern that .army could be confusingly similar to official government or military entities and could negatively affect public trust, military services, or national safety.
• The Independent Objector initially raised concerns that the TLD might mislead users into thinking domains were associated with national armies, but later accepted the application after the applicant described a suite of protection mechanisms and commitments to work with governments and trademark holders.
• These government warnings and the IO review underscore reputational and trust considerations for brands and organizations using the string.

Notable Cases or Examples

• GAC Early Warnings were issued by the United States, Australia and India recommending withdrawal unless concerns were addressed.
• The Independent Objector reviewed .army (alongside .navy and .airforce), noted initial concerns, and was later reassured by the applicant's proposed safeguards.
• Key milestones: Registry Agreement signed 6 March 2014; delegation to the Root Zone on 4 June 2014.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       ARMY

organisation: Dog Beach, LLC
address:      c/o Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      V0N0.NIC.ARMY 2a01:8840:1e:0:0:0:0:59 65.22.28.59
nserver:      V0N1.NIC.ARMY 2a01:8840:1f:0:0:0:0:59 65.22.29.59
nserver:      V0N2.NIC.ARMY 2a01:8840:20:0:0:0:0:59 65.22.30.59
nserver:      V0N3.NIC.ARMY 161.232.14.59 2a01:8840:f8:0:0:0:0:59
nserver:      V2N0.NIC.ARMY 2a01:8840:21:0:0:0:0:59 65.22.31.59
nserver:      V2N1.NIC.ARMY 161.232.15.59 2a01:8840:f9:0:0:0:0:59
ds-rdata:     5296 8 2 e3738fdaf25d7707191eb37c73924358896e8d046b8d5ddf4d40664abe87296b

whois:        whois.nic.army

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2014-05-29
changed:      2023-09-12
source:       IANA