In an effort to improve the security and stability of the global domain name system (DNC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has proposed the creation of a new top-level domain (TLD) for internal use.
The aptly named .internal TLD has emerged as a replacement for 1.9.168.xx IPv4 addresses by providing a designated space for private enterprise use and for device vendors.
The decision comes after the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) reviewed 35 different candidate strings and narrowed them down to .internal and .private before finally deciding on the aforementioned.
New .internal TLD proposed to replace 192.168.xx
Neither is perfect, according to a statement from I CAN. The main concerns are that .internal can be confused with .int, a TLD reserved for intergovernmental treaty organizations, and that .private suggests a level of privacy. Neither was considered serious enough for the organization to override the suggestions, but the connotation of greater privacy led to it landing on .internal.
Although ICANN’s board has yet to approve the creation of .internal, the organization is asks the community for feedback.
ICANN also emphasized that operators who choose private namespaces, such as .internal, must take the costs involved into account. The proposal recommends using subdomains of publicly registered domain names, which eliminates these costs.
An ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) advisory from September 2020, when this project started to gain traction, it appears that in addition to network operators and routers, companies providing IoT devices, captive portal networks and other software vendors may also want to take advantage of the proposed TLD.
The same notice confirms that different instances of the .internal domain will have different meanings in separate contexts or networks, just the same as we have become accustomed to with 192.168.xx
As the process unfolds, the internet landscape continues to evolve and the adoption of controlled TLDs could help create more controlled spaces for internal communications, services and resources.