ICANN reserves .internal for private use at the DNS level

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the reservation of the .internal top-level domain (TLD) for private use, similar to existing IPv4 address blocks designated for internal networks. This decision aims to provide organizations with a dedicated TLD that cannot be accessed on the public internet, thereby preventing conflicts and confusion that arise from the ad hoc creation of private TLDs. Notably, Google has been using .internal for its cloud services to avoid external dependencies and potential collisions with public TLDs. ICANN's decision follows extensive consultations and aims to offer a sanctioned alternative for internal DNS management. While ICANN acknowledges uncertainty about the impact of this decision, it asserts that it will not introduce new security or stability issues. The .internal domain is now recognized as a legitimate option for organizations managing internal networks.

- ICANN has reserved the .internal TLD for private network use.

- The .internal domain is intended to prevent conflicts with public TLDs.

- Google has been using .internal for its cloud services for years.

- The decision follows extensive consultations and aims to provide a sanctioned alternative for internal DNS.

- ICANN believes the new TLD will not introduce new security or stability issues.