X-Archive-name: ca-domain-faq X-Maintainer: Ed Hew , X-Frequency: bi-monthly X-Version: 2.0.6d X-Original: Rayan Zachariassen, Nov 22, 1987 X-Revised: Thu Jun 22 02:13:21 EDT 2000 CA Domain FAQ The original compilation of questions and answers was written by Rayan Zachariassen, Nov 22, 1987. The Internet today is vastly different from what it was in the 80's. This FAQ has been re-written and updated to reflect those changes as they currently apply to the CA Domain, and continues to be maintained by Ed Hew who replaced Rayan in his position on the CA Domain Committee in Feb 1992, while we continue to await the the transition phase to CIRA. It is intended to assist you with issues you may encounter during your subdomain registration process. Comments, suggestions, or new questions, should be sent by electronic mail to registry@cs.utoronto.ca. CA Domain application issues: ---------------------------- Q: Is there a web-based application form I can use that will send my application directly to a CA Domain Committee member? A: Yes. The anchors to authorized liaisons are listed at the cdnnet web site. You can apply via the CA Registry interface using URL: http://www.registry.ca/ca.regform.html Q: How can I update my *existing* CA subdomain registration? A: The request must come from one of the currently listed contacts. If that's you, send your request via email to the CA Registrar directly or ask the liaison who's been looking after you to do it for you. If that is not possible, a responsible party for the organization may send the Registrar a signed letter on the organization's letterhead requesting and validating the change. One of the listed contacts may request an update via either URL: DNS (nameservers) only update: http://www.registry.ca/ca.regform-dns.html Full form update: http://www.registry.ca/ca.regform-update.html Other CA Domain committee members may implement similar web forms; you can check their references via cdnnet. There is currently no cost to update your CA subdomain records. Q: How do I transfer my CA subdomain to another organization? A: A CA subdomain may not be "transferred" from one organization to another. One of the listed contacts may request de-registration of the existing subdomain. Any organization may then submit a new application form for the subdomain, subject to availability at that time, respecting the current regulations. Q: All this is very complicated and technical! A: Yes, by nature obtaining a subdomain and connecting it to the Internet requires a reasonable understanding of what you're doing and how to implement it. Actually read the documentation! Be familiar with establishing networks and connectivity, and with the CA Domain regulations. Ask your chosen CA liaison for help with your subdomain application. Ask your chosen Internet Service Provider for help with your connectivity. Or you may contract someone who knows all this well to do it all for you. Q: Subdomain? Domain? What's the difference? A: In context, a CA "sub"domain is a "domain" under the CA Top Level Domain. While not technically precise, the terms are often interchanged these days. Q: All I want to do is put up a web site ... A: You'll either need to register a subdomain of your own for your web site to live under, or contract a "web hosting" service provider to set up web pages for you under their subdomain if you don't have one. Q: I want to register "http://www.foobar.on.ca" A: No, you don't. You want to register a subdomain (eg: foobar.on.ca) and then you can establish whatever hosts and services you may want thereunder such as web servers, mail servers, news servers, etc. Q: Do I qualify for "foobar.ca"? A: Maybe. Please read the "application-form" document which tells you exactly how an organization can qualify for a federal vrs. provincial vrs. municipal level subdomain. Please remember to include the necessary supporting information with your application - it typically can't be processed and registered without that. Q: Are there any fees? Where do I find out about them? A: Be careful not to confuse "application fees" with "registration fees" or with anything else. There are no "registration" or "annual maintenance" fees at this time. A liaison may however require an "application" fee to offset the cost of the resources necessary to permit them to donate their time and expertise in helping you secure a subdomain registration. Check your liaisons "procedure" file for specific details. All this is expected to change when CIRA actually begins operations. Q: Who should I apply to?? Who should I to connect to? A: It's up to the subdomain holder to decide how they're going to connect to various networks including the Internet. You may apply directly to any CA Domain Committee member who will agree to handle your application. Commercial service providers and regional networks may extend registration services to their customers and include the registration cost in their other fees or may charge it separately. CA Domain Committee members (liaisons) may set their own specific fees. The current CA Registry "application-form" document lists the members. Choose a liaison you're comfortable with and depending on your geographic location and/or affiliation. Q: Can I reach a CA Domain Committee member by phone? A: You may or may not be able to make special arrangements - ask via email. CA Domain committee members typically work for a living the same as anyone else, and thus can only devote their personal time for CA Domain duties as it may be available. Remember, the CA Domain is still an all-volunteer effort. It's not like there were actually people paid to be somewhere at certain times to do any of these things! Q: What qualifies as an organization within the framework of the rules for registering a subdomain? A: Typically, an organization will be a corporation, partnership or proprietorship (registered or not), society, institution, association or the like, but there is no requirement that it be a legal entity except when it wishes to register at the federal level. Remember though that the legal status of the organization often directly affects the level it may register at. For example, computer clubs or SIGs that can act responsibly should have little trouble being accepted. An organization may itself be a member of other organizations (for example, trade associations). Typically, the parent organization is the one that should register and manage a zone for its member organizations, delegating authority to it's components or divisions. Q: What is a "legal entity"? A: The CA Registrar advises that it's a person or corporation, which is an important point to consider when wanting multiple subdomains. Q: Can we register multiple subdomains? A: The CA Domain currently permits one subdomain each for the registered english and french forms of the organizations legal name where there are both. You are also free to register in any domain you wish outside CA, in addition to being under CA. There are now many sites also registered under COM, ORG, NET, and others. A registration under the CA domain does not cancel or affect any other registrations. Given appropriate software, there is no technical reason to not have multiple domain names. Q: How do personal or private sites fit into the picture? A: The CA Domain does not currently register individuals or families this time. The intent for such sites is that they either gather together in associations (or clubs, etc.) which can register a domain, or hang off of registered domains using existing addressing kludges. We hope that the problem of assigning electronic addresses to individuals will be accommodated when CIRA commences operations. In the interim most people in this situation either use an address provided by a commercial service provider or declare that they have an unregistered proprietorship and apply at the municipal level. Q: How do I know which municipality names are valid, if we wish to register at that level? A: If your organization is in or near a city, assume the name of that city is available for you to register under. City abbreviations are now allowed when approved by the municipality, as described in the "application-form" document. Q: Will the capitals in XyzABC.on.CA be in capital letters? A: DNS is case insensitive. Use whatever case you want. We'll record the case you provide in your application, but it really doesn't matter. [We track applications and registrations all in lower case; the exception is the index which ultimately reflects the case you asked for.] Q: How do I find mail forwarders? A: If you're not setting up and managing your own mail hosts under your subdomain, you may ask a friend to MX for you, or contract that service with a competent third party such as your Internet service provider. Q. What is an "MX" ? A: It's "Mail eXchange" DNS resource record, but if you really need to ask that, you're best advised to either: - refer to your operating system networking documentation, take a good 5-day course on networking, and then read and understand a good DNS reference book. or - contract a competent party to establish and maintain your nameservers. Q. Can you recommend a good book on how DNS works? A: DNS and BIND, Paul Albitz & Cricket Liu, (O'Reilly & Associates) ISBN# 1-56592-512-2 Q. How do I specify an "operating name" or "trade name"? A: If the legal name of the organization were "ABC Consultants Inc." and the operating (aka "trade") name were "Fnorblegnizz", then: Organization: ABC Consultants Inc. o/a Fnorblegnizz The name portion of the subdomain may be directly from either. See the "application-form" document for the name-derivation rules. Q. How do I specify our Canada Trademark? A: In the "Organization" field: Organization: Your-TM in full (TM), Legal name of organization in full Remember to provide the CIPO TMA (registration) number if justifying registration at the federal level with that Canada trademark. Remember that by its very nature, a trademark can only be used in full - it may NOT be abbreviated. See the "application-form" document for details. Q: What is the "Description" of the organization there for? A: It's for people who browse through databases or the pathalias maps. Feel free to use that space for a 5-line commercial for your organization. Q: What are the minimum mandatory fields to complete? A: Your application can't be processed until you properly and fully complete all of the following fields: Subdomain: Organization: Type: Description: Admin-Name: Admin-Title: Admin-Postal: Admin-Phone: Admin-Mailbox: Tech-Name: Tech-Title: Tech-Postal: Tech-Phone: Tech-Mailbox: If you have not designated a specific party for your technical responsibilities, complete the "Tech-" fields the same as your "Admin-" fields. Also remember that your direct Internet connectivity cannot and will NOT work until you provide valid contents for: NS1-Hostname: NS1-Netaddress: NS2-Hostname: NS2-Netaddress: and you set up your listed nameservers to respond properly when queried. Q. What are the IP addresses, and how would I find these out? Q. What goes in the NS* fields? A: You would either know what you set them to if you're responsible for your nameservers, or you would obtain that information from whoever you have contracted for that service. Q. Can I apply for and register a CA subdomain and arrange for my connectivity at a later date? A: Yes. Simply select "No direct Internet connectivity" on the web-based application form and leave your NS* fields blank. If you're submitting via email, simply leave your NS* fields blank. You may update those whenever you are ready. Q. How do I add subdomains _under_ the one I have registered? A: Once a subdomain is registered and authority is delegated to the listed nameservers, the organization is at liberty to install whatever DNS Resource Records (RR's) it pleases for its zone of authority, including delegating authority to its own subdomains. Q. As a consultant, may I submit applications for my clients? A: Yes. Please ensure that you have your clients' authorization to do so and that you provide all the proper application information and supporting documentation. Don't forget that as the application submitter and contact you're responsible for any fees relating to each application. Q. Is there a way to become a "Registrar"? A: The CA Domain Registrar apparently isn't adding any new committee members pending the long-delayed transition to CIRA. CIRA is expected to accept applications from those who wish to become "Registrars", and will publish that information once they begin operations. Until then, applications may be submitted through one of the authorized liaisons listed at URL: http://www.cdnnet.ca/registry.html Q. "whois" on the "no-real-clue.ca web site" doesn't show my update! A: Instead of using unrelated third party databases of questionable quality, why not simply query the authoritative CA Domain whois server at cdnnet.ca? Q. Where is the CA Domain whois server, how do I use it? A: Example: whois -h whois.cdnnet.ca subdomain-to-search.ab.ca Q. How long to process the application before I send it? A: It is impossible to process an application until it's actually received as plain text in the proper format. Remember to generate and submit an electronic copy if you want anything to be done. Q. I sent in my cheque a long time ago .... A: Has it actually been issued? Was it correctly made out and signed? Is it still sitting on someone's desk in your offices? Did you send it to the correct address for the liaison handling your application? Did you send a "mystery cheque" with absolutely no useful clues as to what subdomain application it's for? Identify and correct the problem. If in doubt, ask your liaison. Q: I called a company with a name that sounds like they might register me under the CA Domain. They told me they're the *only* ones who can. A: A bona-fida CA Domain Committee member would make no such claim! You may be dealing with a third-party organization which can only submit their applications via the actual CA Domain Committee. That's fine as long as there is no misrepresentation and they satisfy your needs. Please refer to the CA Domain "application-form" document or the top level CA Domain web site at www.cdnnet.ca for a definitive list of committee members who can actually process your application directly. All other parties may only submit via a real CA Domain committee member. Q: Why haven't I heard back from my liaison? A: You likely have a connectivity problem. Four things to check: 1/ Is your email actually getting to the desired party, or should you be correcting a problem indicated by the error message that was sent back to you? 2/ Does the mail host you provided have all necessary DNS records in place so that it can be handed email for you? 3/ Did you provide a broken address to use to contact you? 4/ Does the address you provided still work? Try sending your query from a different network. Q: Is is possible to appeal these regulations? A: You can write to the CA Domain Registrar however we have been advised that major changes to the regulations cannot be made pending the transition to CIRA, that CIRA reserves the right to implement what was agreed on back in 1996-97. Q: When will the regulations be relaxed? A: When CIRA finally gets ready and takes over. See the CIRA proto-FAQ for details. Q: What's up with CIRA? Why are they not doing anything? A: Please ask the CIRA Board of Directors. If that doesn't work, refer to the CIRA proto-FAQ posted to the can.domain USENET newsgroup for known information. ** Note the recent CIRA announcement forwarded to the can.domain newsgroup. Pathalias and DNS issues: ------------------------ Q: How does this affect our UUCP (pathalias) map entry? A: Over the years, DNS has replaced pathalias as the email routing method of choice. The pathalias (aka UUCP) global mapping project is being terminated by the end of the year 2000. A final Canadian archive issue will be generated this summer with CA subdomain registrations be automatically mapped to that point. More complex entries should be sent to no later than July 7th for inclusion. Q: Do I automatically get a UUCP map entry if I registered under something *other* than .CA (such as .com)? A: No. Domains other than CA do NOT cause automatic map entry generation. Those records are kept in the U.S. and are thus outside of our jurisdiction. If you are registered outside of .CA, you should submit your own map entry if you want pathalias to work for you. Q: UUCP? pathalias? I'm confused! A: UUCP refers to the Unix-to-Unix-CoPy program. Translation: a traditional connectivity method. "pathalias" refers to the program that is used by "smart-mailers" without access to DNS to build their connectivity database from the UUCP/Connectivity Maps so that they can route email from sites with no access to DNS. Q: DNS? A: "DNS" means "Domain Name Service". If you're on the directly connected Internet, you may choose to make nameservice records available to those who have the ability to query for them and determine email routing based on what they find. Many sites have this ability, some don't. If you have DNS records, you or the party you asked to set them up will know about them, otherwise you likely have none. -- Ed Hew CA Domain Registry liaison, Ontario, UUCP, and unaffiliated organizations. http://www.registry.ca/path-reg.html ,