.info is a generic top-level domain intended for informative websites, although its use is not restricted. It was a part of ICANN's highly publicized announcement, in late 2000, of a phased release of seven new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). The event was billed as the first addition of major gTLDs to the Internet since the DNS was developed in the 1980s. The seven new gTLDs, selected from over 180 proposals, were meant in part to take the pressure off the overcrowded .com domain.

.info has been the most successful of the seven new domain names, with over 2.4 million domain names registered up to 2005. In addition, over 1 million .info web sites are in active and dedicated use. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 9/11, New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority used the easy to remember mta.info web site to lead users to latest information on schedules and tickets on the city's trains, buses and ferries.

.info is an unrestricted domain, meaning anyone can obtain a second-level domain under .info. You don't have to be a library, for example. As a generic, unrestricted domain name, anyone can use .info for any purpose, similar to .com, .net or .org domains. This is in contrast to a TLD such as .edu or .coop, which comes with criteria.

The launching of .info involved a "sunrise period" for trademark owners followed by a "landrush" open to all. This process came under much criticism for giving trademarks precedence over words that are generic in other contexts; for instance, the Caterpillar construction equipment company was able to get cat.info before anybody else, such as a feline enthusiast, even had a chance, and sex.info went to somebody who had a trademark on a graphical logo including the word "sex".

Although a large number of fraudulent registrations were initially made by registrants who didn't actually own a valid trademark, a challenge procedure later weeded out most of these. Still, after several years, many fraudulent registrations remain in the control of bad faith registrants, and Afilias has yet to mount a final clean-up effort.

In a controversial move, at the last minute before registrations began the names of countries were reserved from registration at the request of ICANN, to the consternation of those who had paid pre-registration fees to attempt to register these names in the landrush. ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives appointed by countries around the world appluaded the move, the first by any major domain to protect the national interests of sovereign nations.

Many .info names have been registered (the most of any of the new TLDs), but some critics say that recognition by the general public is low, and many are hoarded speculatively or used for unsavory purposes such as sites advertised in e-mail spam, although the .biz domain name is most popular for spam.

The .info domain has been operated since its creation by Afilias. In 2003, .info was the first gTLD domain to support IETF standards-based internationalized domain names, as described at .info IDN. Registrations are processed via accredited registrars and internationalized domain names may also be registered (see details).