.llc

Overview

• .llc is a proposed generic top-level domain (gTLD) introduced through ICANN's New gTLD Program.
• The string is intended to serve limited liability companies (LLCs) and related uses.

History

• .llc was submitted as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program with multiple applicants competing to operate the registry.
• Notable timeline items from source material:
  • June 2013: Dot Registry LLC initially failed evaluation due to financial questions; it later requested and passed extended evaluation.
  • June 2014: A Community Priority Evaluation (CPE) panel decided that Dot Registry LLC did not qualify as a community applicant, scoring 5 out of 16 points (14 required), meaning the applicant would need to resolve contention by other means (e.g., private or ICANN auction).

Usage and Audience

• The target audience for .llc is businesses organized as limited liability companies.
• One applicant (Dot Registry LLC) proposed restricting registrations to United States companies legitimately registered with Secretaries of State or equivalent state agencies, positioning .llc as a U.S.-focused namespace for officially registered LLCs.

Registration Rules

• Specific registration policy details (allowed characters, registration periods) are not provided in the source.
• Applicant-proposed rules from the source:
  • Dot Registry LLC planned a U.S.-only eligibility restriction tied to official state-level company registration records.
  • Some applicants submitted Public Interest Commitments (PICs) as part of their applications (e.g., Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. and Donuts/Foggy North, LLC).

Notable Cases or Examples

• Applicants and contenders mentioned in source material include:

  • Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. (filed many applications, including .llc)
  • Dot Registry LLC (community application; proposed U.S.-only registrations; failed CPE)
  • Top Level Design (submitted multiple applications including .llc)
  • STRAAT Investments (parent company of .co Internet; applied for .llc; Neustar indicated as back-end provider for their string)
  • Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.)
  • Donuts (Foggy North, LLC) — submitted a Public Interest Commitment
  • Afilias
  • myLLC GmbH
  • LLC Registry, LLC (withdrawn)

• Outcome-related note: Because the Dot Registry community application did not pass the CPE, that applicant must pursue other resolution mechanisms to obtain the string if it remains in contention.

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

domain:       LLC

organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
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:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
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:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
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:      A0.NIC.LLC 2a01:8840:26:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.36.9
nserver:      A2.NIC.LLC 2a01:8840:29:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.39.9
nserver:      B0.NIC.LLC 2a01:8840:27:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.37.9
nserver:      C0.NIC.LLC 2a01:8840:28:0:0:0:0:9 65.22.38.9
ds-rdata:     25591 8 2 93c8b54bd9413a06dc25a32304b423342fd3273ca6785071c4bd18a2d8b04819

whois:        

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

created:      2018-02-16
changed:      2025-09-04
source:       IANA