.ly

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.ly

Introduced	1988
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	LYNIC
Sponsor	General Post and Telecomunications Company
Intended use	Entities connected with  Libya
Actual use	A random smattering of sites
Registration restrictions	Third-level subdomains have varying restrictions
Structure	Registrations have been made directly at the second level as well as at the third level beneath various second level labels
Documents	Regulations
Dispute policies
Website	nic.ly

.ly is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Libya.

It was apparently at one point open for registrations globally, directly at the second level, and there is a smattering of sites in it, some taking advantage of meanings of "ly" in various languages and place names as a suffix, as in ita.ly. These are known as domain hacks. There are not very many sites actually in Libya that use this domain^[1].

Currently, a lydomains.com site that formerly offered .ly domains for sale is abandoned and cybersquatted; according to the official registry site (nic.ly) it is no longer authorized as a registrar. The registry site promises that there will be multiple authorized registrars in the future, but at present only one, telephone carrier LTT.LY, exists.

LTT Libya Telecom & Technology does not offer a means of registering domains online, but LTT's site listed one reseller, Libyan Spider Network, which offered second and third-level .ly domains. Recently on 28th of May, 2008 LTT the authorised reseller signed a contract with four more companies to become authorised resellers of the .ly domains in addition to Libyan Spider Network, these being: Alshamel for Computer Services, BT Servers (Benghazi), Digital Group for Telecom and Information, and Libo Hosting Co. Later LibyaOnline was added as a new authorised .ly reseller on LTT's authorised .ly resellers page^[2].

Second-level domains are sold at a substantially higher price: three times that of third-level .ly domain registrations.

According to the registration site, "any .LY domain names may be registered, except domains containing obscene and indecent names/phrases, including words of a sexual nature; furthermore domain names may not contain words/phrases or abbreviations insulting religion or politics, or be related to gambling and lottery industry or be contrary to Libyan law or Islamic morality."

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

• .com.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.

Domain hacks

Many Libyan domains were reserved for English words that end with suffix "ly", such as sil.ly. As the annual fee for .ly domains remains high ($150 a year) there are still plenty of domain names left available on the domain prime market as well as some popular can be bought on the domain secondary market - the result of the domain name speculation.

In November 2008 Libyan Spider, an official .ly registrar, has halved the registration fee down to $75 a year in hopes to boost its sale considering the great success of .me roll-out in Montenegro in the summer of 2008^[3].

Two popular URL shortening services are registered in the .ly domain: bit.ly, the default service used by Twitter, and ow.ly, a service used by default by the HootSuite Twitter client webservice.

External links

• IANA .ly whois information
• Libyan Spider Network
• Digital Group for Telecom and Information

References