Ask HN: Sorry, we can't find "www.a.com". Why?

by gsivil on 8/15/2011, 6:12 AM with 5 comments

I have not checked all the one-letter domains, but it seems that they are not available. Do we know why?

  • by slipstream on 8/15/2011, 6:22 AM

    There are some active single-letter domains, e.g. http://x.org

    See for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-letter_second-level_doma...

  • by jackpirate on 8/15/2011, 6:18 AM

    whois says:

       Domain Name: A.COM
   Registrar: RESERVED-INTERNET ASSIGNED NUMBERS AUTHORITY
   Whois Server: whois.iana.org
   Referral URL: http://res-dom.iana.org
   Name Server: No nameserver
   Status: serverDeleteProhibited
   Status: serverTransferProhibited
   Status: serverUpdateProhibited
   Updated Date: 29-dec-2010
   Creation Date: 01-dec-1993
   Expiration Date: 08-dec-2011
    No idea why they'd be reserved though.

  • by michaelpinto on 8/15/2011, 7:09 AM

    Even back in the day it was hard to get a one letter one. That's why I had to settle for a two letter one: http://vm.com

  • by nodata on 8/15/2011, 7:24 AM

    iirc two characters was the original minimum length for a hostname.

  • by mikeknoop on 8/15/2011, 7:24 AM

    Paypal has x.com