A pseudo-top-level domain is a label or name for a computer network that is not participating in the world-wide official Domain Name System and may not even participate in the Internet, but may use a similar domain name hierarchy. Historically the best known large networks in this group were .bitnet, .csnet, .oz, and .uucp, for which many Internet mail forwarders provided connectivity. In addition, newer networks like .exit, .i2p, may be included. (Newest draft of the proposal expired on July 28, 2015 without becoming a standard.) Some domains such as .onion may later become officially recognised.
Although these networks or domain names have no official status, some are generally regarded as having been unofficially grandfathered, and are unlikely ever to be allocated as top-level domains.