CIRA: An unknown but essential part of Canada’s internet |
You probably have no idea what the Canadian Internet Registration Authority is or what it does, but you should.
Known as CIRA, it’s a non-profit organization that strives to maintain and promote a Canadian online presence, provide internet technical assistance and security, analyze Canadian internet trends and activities, and provide free advice on topics ranging from cybersecurity to buying gifts online. It also funds projects to educate youth and bring the internet to disadvantaged groups, which are often in isolated parts of Canada.
CIRA was founded by volunteers in 1980, and its mandate was to provide a vital domain name service. Every internet address in the world has a domain name, such as Google or Amazon, followed by a period and a top-level domain or TLD, which can denote the purpose of the website, such as .com for commerce, .net for an internet provider, or .org for an organization. A TLD can also denote a country of origin, and .ca is Canada. CIRA is the organization that registers, assigns and oversees all of........