This note explains what a Domain name is, why an organisation needs one of its own, how it should be used, and how Intonet can help you. A Domain name represents an Internet address or a group of addresses.
All Internet addresses have to be registered with a registration authority.
There are many authorities, mostly localised on a national basis. The U.S authority is an exception, in so far as addresses registered with it are widely regarded as having a global rather than national connotation. However registration with any authority gives the same protection by ensuring that the name is unique in the whole of the Internet and is accessable to the whole world. Registration gives exclusive use to its owner for the period of registration which is renewable indefinitely. The registration of a Domain name does not of itself, give its owner an active presence on the Internet, but what it does provide, is a permanent platform for subsequent exploitation of the Net.