Here is new one on me.
A domain name that doesn’t expire until the next century.
The domain name is Smithsonian.us and it is as you would expect owned by the Smithsonian Institution of Washington.
The domain is not registered through a registrar, but instead is still showing as being registered through NeuStar the company that operates the .US registry under license of the United States Government.
I didn’t know that a domain name could be registered without a domain name registrar, but that appears to be the case.
What happens if the United States doesn’t renew Neustar’s contract to operate the .US registry one day?
Of course no one could argue that this particular domain should be owned by anyone else other than the Smithsonian Institution.
Maybe .US domains are different.
Networksolutions.com was offering a 100 year registration a couple of years ago but that again is at the registrar level nto the registry level.
Here is the whois record:
Domain Name: SMITHSONIAN.US
Domain ID: D689335-US
Sponsoring Registrar: NeuStar Reserve Account A
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 10010
Registrar URL (registration services): whois.neustar.us
Domain Status: serverTransferProhibited
Registrant ID: 10063-FEDSMI
Registrant Name: Mignon Erixon-Stanford
Registrant Organization: Smithsonian Institution
Registrant Address1: 900 Jefferson Dr. SW
Registrant Address2: MRC 0433
Registrant City: Washington
Registrant State/Province: DC
Registrant Postal Code: 20560
Registrant Country: United States
Registrant Country Code: US
Registrant Phone Number: +1.2023574243
Registrant Facsimile Number: +1.2027862638
Registrant Email: erixonm@oit.si.edu
Registrant Application Purpose: P1
Registrant Nexus Category: C21
Administrative Contact ID: NEUSTAR
Administrative Contact Name: Neustar, Inc.
Administrative Contact Address1: 46000 Center Oak Plaza
Administrative Contact City: Sterling
Administrative Contact State/Province: VA
Administrative Contact Postal Code: 20166
Administrative Contact Country: United States
Administrative Contact Country Code: US
Administrative Contact Phone Number: +1.5714345757
Administrative Contact Facsimile Number: +1.5714345758
Administrative Contact Email: support@neustar.us
Administrative Application Purpose: P1
Administrative Nexus Category: C21
Billing Contact ID: NEUSTAR
Billing Contact Name: Neustar, Inc.
Billing Contact Address1: 46000 Center Oak Plaza
Billing Contact City: Sterling
Billing Contact State/Province: VA
Billing Contact Postal Code: 20166
Billing Contact Country: United States
Billing Contact Country Code: US
Billing Contact Phone Number: +1.5714345757
Billing Contact Facsimile Number: +1.5714345758
Billing Contact Email: support@neustar.us
Billing Application Purpose: P1
Billing Nexus Category: C21
Technical Contact ID: NEUSTAR
Technical Contact Name: Neustar, Inc.
Technical Contact Address1: 46000 Center Oak Plaza
Technical Contact City: Sterling
Technical Contact State/Province: VA
Technical Contact Postal Code: 20166
Technical Contact Country: United States
Technical Contact Country Code: US
Technical Contact Phone Number: +1.5714345757
Technical Contact Facsimile Number: +1.5714345758
Technical Contact Email: support@neustar.us
Technical Application Purpose: P1
Technical Nexus Category: C21
DNSSEC: unsigned
Name Server: SI-NAMES1.SI.EDU
Name Server: SI-NAMES2.SI.EDU
Created by Registrar: .US Reserve
Last Updated by Registrar: NEULEVELCSR
Last Transferred Date: Wed Feb 06 13:51:38 GMT 2008
Domain Registration Date: Fri Mar 21 13:06:59 GMT 2003
Domain Expiration Date: Mon Mar 20 23:59:59 GMT 2102
There are a relatively small number of domains that are held directly with an “inhouse” registrar by the registry.
This and other topics are potentially open for discussion and debate in the newly formed .us Stakeholder Council
Some more details here:
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20150126_bringing_multistakholderism_home_dot_us_and_stakeholder_council/
and here:
http://www.neustar.us/ustld-stakeholder-council/
Hundreds of .us domains like this one. e.g.:
ope.us
ihs.us
ojp.us
ins.us
usn.us
opm.us
irs.us
ots.us
epa.us
ita.us
ibb.us
tva.us
eop.us
esa.us
eda.us
rrb.us
osc.us
In 100 years we most likely won’t use domains. “We”, as a collective term for humanity. Enjoy the Big Game 😀
Neustar allowed a one time fee for lifetime registrations at $395. You’ll see a lot of government city ownership at this price point. he method of doing this seems to be to register them for a while.
Can’t wait for the 2102 drop.
This is new to me too… Our software products will not display this expiry date because of what I thought was a “sanity” check for expiry dates. Have to update all of them this week.