.invalid

invalid
Introduced1999
TLD typeReserved top-level domain
StatusReserved to prevent conflict and confusion
Intended useWhen necessary to show an address guaranteed to be invalid
Actual useSession Initiation Protocol, for identity protection; address munging e.g. on Usenet
DocumentsRFC 2606, 3325

The name invalid is reserved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet.[1]

Reserved DNS names

In 1999, the Internet Engineering Task Force reserved the DNS labels example, invalid, localhost, and test so that they may not be installed into the root zone of the Domain Name System.

The reasons for reservation of these top-level domain names is to reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion.[1] This allows the use of these names for either documentation purposes or in local testing scenarios.

Purpose

This top-level domain is sometimes used as a pseudo domain name in Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) to convey either an error condition or in use of privacy protection. A notable instance of this usage is in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) where the domain name anonymous.invalid in a SIP URI indicates hiding of a caller's identity.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b D. Eastlake; A. Panitz (June 1999). Reserved Top Level DNS Names. Network Working Group. doi:10.17487/RFC2606. BCP 32. RFC 2606. Best Current Practice 32. Updated by RFC 6761.
  2. ^ C. Jennings; J. Peterson; M. Watson (November 2002). Private Extensions to the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for Asserted Identity within Trusted Networks. Network Working Group. doi:10.17487/RFC3325. RFC 3325. Informational. Updated by RFC 5876 and 8217.