Template:Short description Template:Use Philippine English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox top level domain
.ph is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the Philippines.
The official domain registry of the .ph domain is dotPH Domains Inc.<ref name="about-dotph">"dotPH FAQ" Template:Webarchive, "dotPH website". Retrieved on May 1, 2017.</ref> dotPH holds and maintains the database of PH domain names, specifically .ph, .com.ph, .net.ph, and .org.ph.<ref>"Domain Name Service Agreement" Template:Webarchive "dotPH Policies". Retrieved on Aug 11, 2020.</ref><ref name="dotph-releases-iph">"dotPH releases world's first anonymous domain"Template:Webarchive, "dotPH News". Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref><ref name="i-ph-site">i.ph WebsiteTemplate:Webarchive defunct. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref> Its domain name registrars are not only individuals, businesses, and organizations in the Philippines, but also those in other parts of the world.<ref name="about-dotph" />
The PH domain is currently administered by José Emmanuel "Joel" Disini,<ref name="ph-whois">".ph Whois information", Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Retrieved on May 1, 2017.</ref> who is also dotPH's current CEO.<ref>Disini, Joel. "About Me", jed.i.ph. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref><ref>"Gov't. ICT Services Criticized"Template:Webarchive, "dotPH News". Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref> Disini has been the domain administrator since Jon Postel assigned him the domain in 1990.<ref name="phildac-whitepaper">The PH Domain and the Need for Policy Reforms. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref><ref name="jed-i-ph-winthrop">Disini, Joel (June 8, 2005). "My Reply To Winthrop Yu On His PICS Letter" Template:Webarchive, jed.i.ph. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref> The domain is sponsored by the PH Domain Foundation,<ref name="ph-whois" /> a social outreach arm of dotPH which was also founded by Disini together with a group of IT professionals in August 1999.<ref name="phdf-profile">"PH Domain Foundation Profile/Background" Template:Webarchive, PH Domain Foundation website. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref>
In 1994, the administration of the .gov.ph domain was sub-delegated to the Government of the Philippines.<ref name="phildac">Whitepaper of PhilDAC</ref> In like manner, .edu.ph was sub-delegated to the Philippine Network Foundation, Inc. (PHNET).<ref>PHNET website</ref>
Aside from being the registry, dotPH sells domains and web-related services such as web hosting, co-location, private registration and e-mail forwarding.<ref name="dotPH-website">dotPH website. Retrieved on May 1, 2017.</ref><ref>dotPH Services Template:Webarchive. Retrieved on June 13, 2013.</ref> dotPH also offers a free referral service which connects Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises with a network of over 300 accredited professional Filipino web designers.<ref>dotPH Web Design Services Template:Webarchive. Retrieved on May 1, 2017.</ref> It formerly offered a free blogging service through .i.ph domains.<ref name="dotph-releases-iph" /><ref name="i-ph-site" />
HistoryEdit
Birth of the .ph registryEdit
In 1989, Joel Disini founded the Email Company (EMC), one of the earliest Internet service providers in the Philippines.<ref name="phdf-news">Garcia, Jing (July 1, 2001). "A Day In The Life Of Joel Disini", Manila Standard Business Sunday column. Quoted in full at the PH Domain Foundation Template:Webarchive website. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref><ref name="cargonews">Mallari, Rene (July 1, 2000). "Doing It Hard" Template:Webarchive, Cargonews Asia. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref> At that time most networks (including EMC) were connected to the Internet via UUCP. Disini's network had a UUCP connection to UUNET. This network connection, along with Disini's credentials as a Computer Science and Electrical Engineering graduate of Caltech and five-year experience in Macintosh Networking & Communications software development in Cupertino, California, became Jon Postel's basis for delegating the .ph domain to him.<ref name="jed-i-ph-winthrop" /> The .ph country code top-level domain was officially delegated on September 14, 1990.<ref name="ph-whois" /> Since then, .ph domains have been commercially available to the public.<ref name="phildac-whitepaper" /><ref>"EMC Company Profile" Template:Webarchive, EMC website. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref>
In 1994, the PHNET wide-area network, a project funded by DOST, completed its development and was able to connect the Philippines to the rest of the world by establishing TCP/IP connections to the U.S. using 64 kbit/s international leased lines.<ref>PHNET's history Template:Webarchive, Philippine Network Foundation, Inc. website. Retrieved on May 30, 2008.</ref>
At this point, the PHNET Foundation wanted to take over the administration of the .ph domain registry. Protracted negotiations took place, and eventually the responsibility of administrating the .edu.ph and .gov.ph domains were transferred to the PHNET Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology, respectively.<ref name="phildac-whitepaper"/>
At that time domain fees ranged from Php 450 to Php 1,350.<ref name="phildac-whitepaper" /> Domains registered during this period had no expiration and therefore had no renewal rates, thus the label lifetime domains.<ref name="lifetime-domains">"Manage Lifetime Domains" Template:Webarchive, "dotPH website". Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref> However, a fee was charged for modifications to these domains. Lifetime domains were non-transferable, and were only valid for the lifetime of the original Registrant.
PH Domain Foundation and dotPHEdit
In August 1999 Disini and the technical people at EMC formed the PH Domain Foundation. It sought to promote the Internet and free unlimited email services in rural areas.<ref name="phdf-profile"/> It also took charge of the domain selling business<ref>Lewel, John (September 9, 1999). "Philippine Domain Registry Adopts Quicker Policy" Template:Webarchive, asia.internet.com. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref> and the management of the .ph domain registry.<ref name="ph-whois"/>
On October 1, 1999, the PH Domain Foundation launched a fully automated online system for domain registration. It also launched a flat .ph domain space, enabling people to register domains like "domainname.ph".<ref name="web-dot-com">"PH Domain Foundation launches flat domain space, automated registration", Manila Bulletin, October 21, 1999. Quoted in full on Internet Toolbox Vol. 11, November 1–15, 1999 series at the Web Dot Com Website Development Philippines site (Web Archive copy). Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref><ref name="asia-internet-com-flat-ph">Rajendran, Joseph (October 20, 1999). "DotPH Introduces Flat Domain Names" Template:Webarchive, asia.internet.com. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref> Lifetime domain registration was halted, and all domains registered after October 1 subsequently carried expiration dates. These domain owners had to pay a fee to renew their domains.<ref name="lifetime-domains" />
At around this period, the "for-profit" business and technical side of the PH Domain Foundation became identified as dotPH. Activities related to domains and the business were now attributed to dotPH, such as the resolution on the dispute between Yahoo! Philippines and another Philippine company,<ref>"Yet Another Yahoo! Dispute: Yahoo! Philippines wins dispute against local company", Financial Times Limited, May 22, 2001. Retrieved on January 2, 2014.</ref> the launching of the automated online registration system,<ref name="asia-internet-com-flat-ph" /> and even the administration of the .ph domain registry itself. To this day, dotPH is the official domain registry of the Philippines.<ref name="dotPH-website"/>
Other developmentsEdit
In 2000, dotPH developed a system called the Shared Registry System (SRS) which enabled domain name registrars and ISP's to manage domains and accept registrations on their own website by connecting to the dotPH registry backend. This is done by downloading and installing on their server a module that does the actual communication with the registry backend using an XML-based protocol.<ref>"Registrar Program – Setup Your Registration Page" Template:Webarchive, "dotPH website". Retrieved on May 31, 2008.</ref>
dotPH also became one of the first Philippine websites to accept online credit card payments.<ref name="about-dotph"/>
Through the years, dotPH has expanded its offerings to more than just domain names. Becoming a Google Cloud Partner in 2016 allowed dotPH to offer cloud and collaboration solutions in addition to services such as web hosting, SSL certificates and website builders.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
dotPH currently uses the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), the most widely used protocol for communicating between Domain Registries and Registrars, to process domain registrations and renewals.