<s>
In	O
the	O
Domain	B-Protocol
Name	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
(	O
DNS	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
a	O
vanity	B-Protocol
domain	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
domain	O
name	O
whose	O
purpose	O
is	O
to	O
express	O
the	O
individuality	O
of	O
the	O
person	O
on	O
whose	O
behalf	O
it	O
is	O
registered	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Vanity	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
may	O
be	O
compared	O
with	O
vanity	O
car	O
registration	O
plates	O
,	O
which	O
similarly	O
identify	O
their	O
owner	O
as	O
an	O
individual	O
and	O
not	O
just	O
someone	O
relying	O
on	O
another	O
organisation	O
's	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
subdomain	B-Protocol
of	O
an	O
ISP	O
's	O
domain	O
that	O
is	O
aliased	O
to	O
an	O
individual	O
user	O
account	O
is	O
a	O
vanity	B-Protocol
domain	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sun	O
iPlanet	B-Application
Messaging	I-Application
Server	I-Application
uses	O
msgVanityDomain	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
a	O
domain	O
name	O
for	O
e-mail	O
use	O
which	O
is	O
not	O
fully	O
hosted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
uses	O
apply	O
primarily	O
to	O
regular	O
domain	O
names	O
registered	O
at	O
the	O
highest	O
allowed	O
level	O
rather	O
than	O
subdomains	B-Protocol
(	O
although	O
,	O
technically	O
speaking	O
,	O
a	O
second-level	O
domain	O
is	O
actually	O
a	O
subdomain	B-Protocol
of	O
its	O
top-level	O
domain	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
vanity	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
are	O
operated	O
for	O
or	O
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
individuals	O
,	O
they	O
typically	O
will	O
not	O
offer	O
the	O
full	O
complement	O
of	O
services	O
an	O
organisational	O
domain	O
name	O
(	O
or	O
rather	O
,	O
the	O
host	B-Device
that	O
it	O
points	O
to	O
)	O
would	O
be	O
expected	O
to	O
honour	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
DNS	B-Protocol
record	O
may	O
contain	O
only	O
an	O
MX	O
record	O
identifying	O
a	O
mail	B-Protocol
server	I-Protocol
accepting	O
e-mail	O
for	O
that	O
domain	O
(	O
which	O
may	O
itself	O
be	O
an	O
e-mail	O
forwarding	O
server	O
)	O
and	O
an	O
A	O
record	O
identifying	O
a	O
shared	O
web	O
hosting	O
service	O
only	O
offering	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
(	O
which	O
may	O
itself	O
be	O
a	O
URL	O
redirection	O
service	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
well	O
as	O
being	O
easily	O
remembered	O
,	O
vanity	B-Protocol
domains	I-Protocol
(	O
especially	O
when	O
registered	O
at	O
the	O
highest	O
level	O
allowed	O
by	O
the	O
registrar	B-Application
)	O
offer	O
the	O
advantage	O
of	O
personal	O
mobility	O
;	O
they	O
continue	O
to	O
be	O
associated	O
with	O
a	O
person	O
even	O
when	O
that	O
person	O
switches	O
service	O
providers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
top-level	O
domain	O
can	O
become	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
vanity	B-Protocol
URL	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
