.kp

Infobox Top level domain
name=.kp
background=#f0fff0


introduced=2007
type=Country code top-level domain
status=Active
registry=
sponsor=Korea Computer Center
intendeduse=Entities connected with North Korea
actualuse=Hardly used at present
restrictions=Not yet available for registration
structure=
document=
disputepolicy=
website=http://www.kcce.kp

.kp is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). It was created on 24 September 2007. [ [http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-11sep07.htm Preliminary Report for Special Meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors, 11 September 2007] ]

Usage

As of 2008, there are two known sites active in this domain. The IP addresses for both of these sites resolve to [http://ipberlin.com Internet Provider Berlin] in the German capital.
*The Korea Computer Center (Europe) at http://kcce.kp/, which contains a number of pages about the organization, in German, and http://www.kcce.kp, which displays a simple message stating that .kp domain registration will be available soon.
*A copy of the official North Korean governmental portal Naenara at http://www.naenara.kp (also available at http://www.kcckp.net).

Internet in North Korea

North Korea has no private Internet service providers.

According to national leader Kim Jong-Il, "I'm an Internet expert too. It's all right to wire the industrial zone only, but there are many problems if other regions of the North are wired." [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299757,00.html North Korea's Kim Jong Il: I'm an Internet Expert] , Fox News, Oct 2007]

Access is rare and limited; Reporters Without Borders once described the nation as "the world’s worst Internet black hole" [ [http://www.rsf.org/int_blackholes_en.php3?id_mot=260&annee=2007 Reporters sans frontières, "13 worst enemies of the Internet"] ] as "Internet officially does not exist in the world’s most isolated country, but a handful of privileged people are allowed to go online through the phone system or via satellite." [ [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=7244 Reporters sans frontières. "The Internet Under Surveillance: North Korea"] ]

The government's own sites are not in the ".kp" domain and all are hosted outside Korea; the korea-dpr.com address resolves to "DINAHOSTING",a Spanish provider;and the IP location is Germany. [ [http://www.whois.com.tw/web/KOREA-DPR.COM_/ Global Whois] ]

ee also

*Communications in North Korea
*Internet censorship
*List of Korea-related topics

References

External links

* [http://www.iana.org/root-whois/kp.htm IANA .kp whois information]
* [http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-2-17aug07.htm ICANN 2007 announcement of a request to delegate .kp domain]