The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has officially reserved the top-level domain “.INTERNAL” for private-use applications. This decision follows years of technical evaluations, public consultations, and inter-organizational discussions.

The recommendation to set aside a private-use domain was first made by ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) in September 2020 through their report SAC113. The SSAC identified the need for a dedicated domain that would never be publicly delegated, aimed at preventing potential DNS conflicts and enhancing network security. ICANN’s Board later initiated a multi-step process, including public comment periods, to evaluate the best approach for implementing this recommendation. The culmination of this process is the reservation of “.INTERNAL.”

Impact on DNS and future applications: The reservation of “.INTERNAL” is intended to provide a standardized and conflict-free namespace for network administrators and other users who require a domain name for internal or private purposes. This move directly addresses the longstanding issue where the uncoordinated use of private-use names could lead to DNS conflicts and vulnerabilities.

Despite some concerns raised during public consultations—particularly regarding the length and meaningfulness of the “.INTERNAL” string—the ICANN Board determined that this reservation was necessary to address the risks identified in SAC113. The decision is not expected to have significant fiscal impacts on ICANN, nor introduce new security, stability, or resiliency issues within the DNS.