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Internet Architecture Board statement on the registration of special use names in the ARPA domain
statement-iab-statement-on-the-registration-of-special-use-names-in-the-arpa-domain-00

Document Type IAB Statement
Title Internet Architecture Board statement on the registration of special use names in the ARPA domain
Published 2017-03-30
Metadata last updated 2023-08-09
State Active
Send notices to (None)
statement-iab-statement-on-the-registration-of-special-use-names-in-the-arpa-domain-00

30 March 2017

The IAB has noted some controversy in respect of possible registrations of names using the mechanisms defined in RFC 6761.

The IAB observes that there is a distinction to be made between creating an entry in the Special-Use Domain Names registry where that entry prevents the name from being registered in the DNS and creating an entry in the Special-Use Domain Names registry where that name is intended to be resolved using the DNS protocol.

Through the IAB, the IETF is in a position to specify names beneath the top-level domain ARPA, which is designated as the Address and Routing Parameter Area domain. This is not a general purpose registry, but it is set aside for technical infrastructure established by IETF standards. All names registered in the Special-Use Domain Names registry that are intended for use via the DNS protocol are found beneath the ARPA top-level domain.  Other names in the Special-Use Domain Names registry are intended for exclusion from DNS resolution. An entry in the Special-Use Domain Names Registry that does not require DNS resolution does not require the registrant to control the relevant name in the DNS.

In the view of the IAB, when placing any name in the Special-Use Domain Names registry with the intention that it be used with the DNS protocol, such an entry must be within a domain under the control of the body making the registration. For the IETF, an appropriate domain for such names would be ARPA, as long as those names meet the conditions in RFC 3172.