Born alongside .com in 1985, .net and .org rank among the internet’s oldest inhabitants. The original usage restrictions — “network-related organizations” for .net, “nonprofits” for .org — have long since become vestigial, yet each has traced a distinct trajectory of relevance.

.org drew global attention in 2019 when its registry operator PIR (Public Interest Registry) was nearly sold to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm. The prospect of a nonprofit domain’s governance passing into for-profit hands triggered worldwide backlash, and ICANN ultimately blocked the sale. The incident served as a reminder that domain governance carries the character of a public good.

.net, meanwhile, has undergone a quieter decline. Once favored by ISPs and infrastructure companies, it has settled into the perception of “the fallback when .com is taken.” Registration numbers hold steady, but cases where .net is chosen as a first preference have become rare.

Both are converging on a shared ecological niche: “still in use, but no longer chosen.” They will not go extinct, yet new specimens scarcely emerge — perhaps this is what twilight looks like for classic species.