Generic top-level domainsDNSSEC
Overview
.mit is a brand generic top-level domain (gTLD) representing the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Designed to identify MIT and its internal units, .mit is intended for use by the Institute's schools, departments, laboratories, research centers, administrative units, and affiliated academicians.
History
- Applied for as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program (reveal day noted on 13 June 2012).
- Delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 6 July 2016.
- The registry is operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with back-end registry services provided by Afilias.
Usage and Audience
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Primary audience:
- MIT schools, colleges and joint programs
- Academic departments
- Laboratories and research initiatives, alliances, and interdisciplinary centers
- Administrative offices and units
- Academicians (professors, associate/assistant/adjunct professors, lecturers, instructors)
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Intended purposes:
- Strengthen internal identity and cohesion across MIT units
- Improve visibility and accessibility of MIT researchers, labs and programs
- Provide a standardized, trusted namespace for MIT-related content and operations
- Facilitate marketing to prospective students, collaborators and research sponsors
Registration Rules
- Registration is restricted to eligible MIT-affiliated entities and individuals. According to the applicant responses:
- Eligible registrants include schools, colleges and joint programs; academic departments; laboratories; research initiatives and alliances; interdisciplinary centers and programs; administrative offices and units; and academicians (including professors, associate professors, assistant professors, adjunct professors, lecturers, and instructors).
- For at least the first three years of the program, registrations were to be limited to these defined eligible registrants.
SEO and Brand Impact
- .mit is positioned as a branded, institution-specific gTLD to increase MIT's online cohesion and visibility.
- The TLD is intended to:
- Enhance the sense of affiliation and trust for sites clearly associated with MIT
- Serve as a mechanism to help third parties and the public verify legitimate MIT affiliations
- Provide MIT with a tool to proactively protect and manage the MIT brand online
Notable Cases or Examples
- The TLD is a brand gTLD specifically deployed for MIT's internal and external use; the registry model emphasizes controlled, affiliation-based registrations rather than open public registrations.
Operator
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Whois
% IANA WHOIS server % for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org % This query returned 1 object domain: MIT organisation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology address: 77 Massachusetts Avenue address: Cambridge MA 02139 address: United States of America (the) contact: administrative name: Director, Infrastructure Design & Engineering organisation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology address: 77 Massachusetts Avenue address: Cambridge MA 02139 address: United States of America (the) phone: +1 617-253-8400 fax-no: +1 617-258-8736 e-mail: mitregistry@fairwindspartners.com contact: technical name: Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group organisation: Afilias address: 300 Welsh Road address: Building 3, Suite 105 address: Horsham PA 19044 address: United States of America (the) phone: +1 215.706.5700 fax-no: +1 215.706.5701 e-mail: tld-tech-poc@afilias.info nserver: A0.NIC.MIT 2a01:8840:e6:0:0:0:0:17 65.22.236.17 nserver: A2.NIC.MIT 2a01:8840:e9:0:0:0:0:17 65.22.239.17 nserver: B0.NIC.MIT 2a01:8840:e7:0:0:0:0:17 65.22.237.17 nserver: C0.NIC.MIT 2a01:8840:e8:0:0:0:0:17 65.22.238.17 ds-rdata: 65212 8 2 321542533579ca11f6fc95ac23abae16a4dd112eb3785e98c51a47f5b25d2b9d whois: whois.nic.mit status: ACTIVE remarks: Registration information: http://www.mit.edu created: 2016-06-24 changed: 2023-08-04 source: IANA