TLD .net
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
.net is one of the original top-level domains listed in RFC 1591 (but not mentioned in the earlier RFC 920, so it was added to the original TLD list in between the early proposal and the final implementation), originally intended for network providers. For a time, an attempt was made to keep registrations limited to ISPs and the like, but eventually (a bit later than .com) it was opened up so that anybody could register it, and has sometimes been used by companies who couldn't get their desired name in .com. It is operated by Verisign, along with .com.
It predates by many years the Microsoft framework named .NET.
