A unique name that forms the basis of the uniform resource locators (URLs) that people use to find resources on the Internet (e.g., web pages, email servers, images, and videos). The domain name itself identifies a specific address on the Internet that belongs to an entity such as a company, organization, institution, or individual. For example, in the URL https://www.icann.org/public-comments, the domain name icann.org directs a browser to the ICANN organization’s domain. The rest of the URL directs the browser to a specific resource on the www server within ICANN’s domain (in this case, the Public Comments page on the ICANN org website).
A domain name consists of two or more textual segments separated by dots. For example, in the domain name icann.org, the first part of the name, icann, represents a second-level domain within the top-level domain org. Domain names can also have more than two segments, as in bbc.co.uk. In this example, bbc represents a subdomain within the second-level domain co, which resides in the top-level domain uk.
The communications protocol underlying the Internet, IP allows networks of devices to communicate over a variety of physical links. Each device or service on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from other devices or services on the Internet. An IP address is the numerical address and DNS naming uses user-friendly names to locate the devices and services.
Intellectual Property is a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc.
A globally unique identifier given to an autonomous system (AS). An AS is a collection of Internet Protocol (IP) networks operated by one or more network operators. When an Internet user sends a message to an IP address that exists outside the user’s own AS, routers forward the message to the AS in which the address resides. In this respect, the Internet uses ASNs to route messages between autonomous systems in much the same way postal systems use postal codes to route physical mail between geographic regions.
ASNs are allocated to network operators by Regional Internet Registries.