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.ly

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.ly
Introduced23 April 1997[1]
TLDtypeCountry code top-level domain
StatusActive
RegistryNIC.LY
SponsorGeneral Posts and Telecommunications Company
Intended useEntities connected withLibya
Actual useA smattering of sites with various connections, both Libyan and foreign; URL shorteninge.g.,bit.ly
Registered domains15,156 (16 October 2017)[2]
Registration restrictionsThird-level sub-domains have varying restrictions
StructureRegistrations have been made directly at the second level as well as at the third level beneath various second level labels
DocumentsRegulations
DNSSECYes (since 2021)
Registry websitenic.ly

.lyis theInternetcountry code top-level domain(ccTLD) forLibya.

Registration[edit]

A.ly registration is the process of registering a userdomain namewithin the ccTLD for Libya. The.ly domain, introduced in 1997,[1]is administered by the registry LYNIC on behalf of theGeneral Post and Telecommunication Company.[citation needed]This domain is mainly for the use of the general public of Libya.

LYNIC appoints recognized registrars to offer.ly domain names, and these registrars perform all the domain registration tasks on behalf of LYNIC.Libya Telecom & Technology(ltt.ly) is one of the pioneers that offer.ly domains to companies and organizations. Sub-domains are also provided within the.ly domain, at the second and third levels beneath various second levels.

According to the registration site, registered.ly domain names must not be "obscene, scandalous, indecent, or contrary to Libyan law or Islamic morality".[3]

LYNIC registers domain names on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants may apply for domains with a registration fee of $75 for each domain. Before registration, the domain name, company name, trademark registration, and other legal documents must be provided. In addition, the.ly domain names being registered should not violate any rules set forth by the registrar. Domain names may be registered for a minimum of one year.

Applicants may register domains online or through official registrars list.[4]After completing the registration process, anemailis sent to the applicant's billing contact address. The.ly domain name becomes active within a few minutes of that email notification.

Second-level domains[edit]

The second-level domains which are open to third-level registrations are:

  • .ly— commercial services
  • .net.ly— Internet-related services
  • .gov.ly— government and ministries
  • .plc.ly— state-owned companies
  • .edu.ly— educational and training institutions
  • .sch.ly— schools
  • .med.ly— health-related services
  • .org.ly— non-profit organizations
  • .id.ly— individuals.

Strings shorter than four symbols long are to be registered only through Libya Telecom and Technology to guarantee that registrants have local presence.

History[edit]

IANA delegated registration authority for.ly toKhalil Elwiheishiat theAlshaeen for Information Technology[5]in April 1997.[1]

During the weekend of 20 August 2011 at the start of theBattle of Tripoli,the main nic.ly registration site appeared to have been defaced by hackers on the side of theNational Liberation Army,[6]though other sites such as bit.ly remained unaffected.[7]

Domain hacks[edit]

ManyLibyandomainswere reserved forEnglishwords that end with thesuffix"ly", such as name.ly,musical.ly(nowTikTok) and sincere.ly, so-calleddomain hacks.As the annual fee for.ly domains remains high ($75 a year), many domain names remain available on the domain prime market, and some popular ones can be bought on the domain secondary market, the result of thedomain name speculation.

Many popularURL shorteningservices are registered in the.ly domain:brief.ly,adf.ly,bit.ly(former default for use onTwitter),ow.ly(default for use onHootsuite), and 3.ly.

In October 2010, the domain of "sex-positive"URL shortening service vb.ly, which had been registered in 2009 by American journalistViolet Blueand Ben Metcalfe, was seized by the Libyan web authorities for not being compliant with thelaw of Libya.ALibya Telecomspokesman stated to Blue: "Pornography and adult material aren't allowed under Libyan Law... Therefore, we removed the domain."[8]According to one blogger, as of 2014 this was the only known domain seized by nic.ly, and it was seized only after several failed attempts to contact the registrant.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcLibyan Spider Announcements, 29 July 2004.Archived26 November 2010 at theWayback Machine
  2. ^"NIC.LY – Libya ccTLD..."Retrieved16 October2017.
  3. ^"Regulations..."nic.ly.Archivedfrom the original on 30 May 2021.Retrieved30 May2021.
  4. ^"Libya Telecom & Technology Tripoli Dealers".Ltt.ly. Archived fromthe originalon 12 April 2010.Retrieved10 May2014.
  5. ^IANA Report on the Redelegation of the.ly Top-Level Domain,October 2004
  6. ^Staff report (22 August 2011)."Hackers Disfigure Top Libyan Registry Domain with Anti-Gadhafi Messages".International Business Times.Retrieved24 August2011.
  7. ^Grannell, Craig (22 August 2011)."Nic.ly website defaced by hackers; Concern for 'unstable' short URLs could speed uptake of Twitter's t.co"..net Magazine.Retrieved24 August2011.
  8. ^Horn, Leslie (6 October 2010),"Libya Seizes URL Shortener Vb.ly",PC Magazine,archivedfrom the original on 10 October 2010,retrieved10 October2010
  9. ^"The.ly domain space to be considered awesome".hack.ly. Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2015.Retrieved29 November2018.

External links[edit]

IANA.ly whois information

Domain registrars[edit]