.ly is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Libya.
Registration
A .ly registration is the process of registering a user domain name within the ccTLD for Libya. The .ly domain, introduced in 1997, is administered by the registry LYNIC on behalf of the Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Company (formerly 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 those 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 the official registrars list. After completing the registration process, an email 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. though other sites such as bit.ly remained unaffected.
Domain hacks
Many Libyan domains were reserved for English words that end with the suffix "-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, such as bit.ly (formerly default for use on Twitter). 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.