.ly is the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
country code top-level domain
A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It ...
(ccTLD) for
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern por ...
.
Registration
A .ly registration is the process of registering a user
domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protoc ...
within the ccTLD for Libya. The .ly domain, introduced in 1997,
[Libyan Spider Announcements, 29 July 2004.]
is administered by the registry LYNIC on behalf of the
General Post and Telecommunication Company. 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".
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. After completing the registration process, an
email
Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail
The mail or post is a s ...
is 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
The second-level domains which are 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.
Strings shorter than four symbols long are to be registered only through Libya Telecom and Technology to guarantee that registrants have local presence.
History
IANA delegated registration authority for .ly to
Khalil Elwiheishi at the
Alshaeen for Information Technology in April 1997.
During the weekend of 20 August 2011 at the start of the
Battle of Tripoli, the main nic.ly registration site appeared to have been defaced by hackers on the side of the
National Liberation Army, though other sites such as bit.ly remained unaffected.
Domain hacks
Many
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern por ...
n
domains were reserved for
English words that end with the
suffix
In linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and com ...
"ly", such as name.ly,
musical.ly (now
TikTok) and sincere.ly, so-called
domain 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 the
domain name speculation.
Many popular
URL shortening services are registered in the .ly domain:
brief.ly,
adf.ly,
bit.ly (former default for use on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
),
ow.ly (default for use on
Hootsuite), and 3.ly.
In October 2010, the domain of "
sex-positive" URL shortening service vb.ly, which had been registered in 2009 by American journalist
Violet Blue and Ben Metcalfe, was seized by the Libyan web authorities for not being compliant with the
law of Libya. A
Libya Telecom spokesman stated to Blue: "Pornography and adult material aren't allowed under Libyan Law ... Therefore, we removed the domain." 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.
References
External links
IANA .ly whois information
Domain registrars
NicLy.ly domainregistrar (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ly
Country code top-level domains
Communications in Libya
Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members
sv:Toppdomän#L