.im is the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
country code
A country code is a short alphanumeric identification code for countries and dependent areas. Its primary use is in data processing and communications. Several identification systems have been developed.
The term ''country code'' frequently re ...
top-level domain
A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domain name, domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the DNS root zone, root zone of the nam ...
(
ccTLD) for the
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
. It is administered by the
Government of the Isle of Man and managed on a day-to-day basis by Domicilium, an offshore Internet Service Provider based on the Isle of Man.
On July 1, 2006, .im registration was made available to anyone in the world, including one, two, and three letter domains directly under .im, which opens up the possibility of .im
domain hacks. The domain has gained popularity among companies who produce
instant messaging
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...
(IM) software with names registered by
Adium,
ejabberd,
Coccinella,
Gitter,
Meebo, Pandion,
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...
,
Prosody,
Trillian, and
Yahoo!
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...
among others. It is also used by the website
elgooG. .IM is also used in German-, French- and Italian-speaking countries (i.e. Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Switzerland, France, Italy and part of Belgium) for Real Estate purposes (Immobilien in German, Immobilier in French, Immobiliare in Italian). The abundance of available short names has also made the domain popular for personal use.
Currently, domain registrations cost £40.00 per year for domains of three letters or more, although they can be purchased much more cheaply through resellers. Premium domains with two character names are available for £495.00, and premium domains with one character names are available for £995.00.
Second-level domain names
* .ac.im, reserved for academic institutions
* .co.im and its third-level subdomains:
** .
ltd.co.im
** .
plc.co.im
* .com.im
* .gov.im, reserved for the
Government of the Isle of Man
* .net.im, intended for network operators and others in networking or the online space
* .org.im, intended for nonprofit organisations
See also
*
.uk
References
External links
IM Domain RegistryDomicilium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Im
Country code top-level domains
Communications in the Isle of Man
Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members
sv:Toppdomän#I