Editing Top-level domain (section)

==Pseudo-domains==
{{Main|Pseudo-top-level domain}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2018}}

Several networks, such as [[BITNET]], [[CSNET]], and [[UUCP]], existed that were in widespread use among computer professionals and academic users, but were not interoperable directly with the Internet and exchanged mail with the Internet via special email gateways. For relaying purposes on the gateways, messages associated with these networks were labeled with suffixes such as [[.bitnet]], [[.oz]], [[.csnet]], or [[.uucp]], but these domains did not exist as top-level domains in the public [[Domain Name System]] of the Internet.

Most of these networks have long since ceased to exist, and although UUCP still gets significant use in parts of the world where Internet infrastructure has not yet become well established, it subsequently transitioned to using Internet domain names, and pseudo-domains now largely survive as historical relics. One notable exception is the 2007 emergence of [[Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication|SWIFTNet]] Mail, which uses the swift pseudo-domain.<ref>{{cite web |title=SWIFTNet Mail now available |publisher=SWIFT |date=16 May 2007 |url=https://www.swift.com/about_swift/press_room/swift_news_archive/home_page_stories_archive_2007/mail_now_available.page |access-date=3 January 2010 |archive-date=29 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629013837/http://www.swift.com/about_swift/press_room/swift_news_archive/home_page_stories_archive_2007/mail_now_available.page |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The anonymity network [[Tor (network)|Tor]] formerly used the top-level pseudo-domain [[.onion]] for [[onion services]], which can only be reached with a Tor client because it uses the Tor [[onion routing]] protocol to reach the hidden service to protect the anonymity of users. However, the pseudo-domain became officially reserved in October 2015.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7686 |title=The ".onion" Special-Use Domain Name |last1=Appelbaum |first1=Jacob |last2=Muffett |first2=Alec |date=October 2015 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |issue=RFC 7686}}</ref> [[i2p]] provides a similar hidden pseudo-domain, .i2p,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Naming and Address Book - I2P |url=https://geti2p.net/en/docs/naming |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=geti2p.net}}</ref> and [[Namecoin]] uses the .bit pseudo-domain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dot-Bit |url=https://www.namecoin.org/dot-bit/ |access-date=2024-10-25 |website=www.namecoin.org}}</ref>