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    • .ky

    Country-code top-level domainsDNSSEC

    Overview

    • .ky is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the Cayman Islands.
    • Introduced on 3 May 1995. The code was chosen after other possible options had already been allocated.
    • The domain is administered under the authority of the Cayman Islands' Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg). The registry operations are handled by GoDaddy (following its acquisition of Uniregistry's registrar business).
    • Registrations are available directly at the second level or at third level beneath designated second-level names.

    History

    • April–May 1995: IANA received the request to establish .ky; delegation date recorded as 3 May 1995.
    • 1995–2002: The .ky registry was operated by Clint Mole, initially as a government employee and later under contract with Domain Name Trust (DNT).
    • 2002–2003: The Cayman Islands government established the Information and Communications Technical Authority (ICTA); IANA/ICANN redelegated .ky to ICTA in June 2003.
    • 17 December 2014: A new logo representing the three Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman) was approved as Uniregistry prepared to take on the namespace.
    • January–March 2015: OfReg/ICTA announced a partnership with Uniregistry; Uniregistry became the exclusive accredited retail registrar for .ky on 2 March 2015.
    • September 2015: Prior residency/company-address restrictions were removed and the domain was opened for global registration.
    • February 2020: GoDaddy announced acquisition of Uniregistry's registrar business, inheriting the exclusive .ky retail relationship.
    • The Cayman Islands has also won the bid to be awarded the .cym domain in a future expansion of the top-level domain space.

    Usage and Audience

    • Intended for entities connected with the Cayman Islands; used by businesses, organisations and individuals with Cayman ties.
    • Structure allows registrations at second level (example: example.ky) and at third level under common second-level labels such as:
      • com.ky
      • org.ky
      • net.ky
      • edu.ky (restricted to educational institutions)
      • gov.ky (restricted to governmental entities)
    • Adoption levels are modest: approximately 6,500 active registrations reported in March 2021 and the namespace passed the 8,000 mark by 2024.
    • The TLD has some potential for "domain hack" uses (words ending in -ky) but is described as relatively unused overall.

    Registration Rules

    • The .ky domain was previously limited to residents and registered companies with a local address; that restriction was removed in September 2015 and .ky is now an open-use ccTLD.
    • Registrations can be made at the second level or at the third level under the designated second-level domains listed above.
    • OfReg's Rights of Use terms prohibit use of .ky domains for:
      • display, sale, marketing or distribution of pornographic material or alcohol
      • gambling or the promotion of gambling
      • bulk distribution of unsolicited e-mail (spam)
      • defrauding, abusing, annoying, threatening or harassing any person
    • Dispute policy: UDRP is used for resolving domain disputes.

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • Brand association: .ky clearly identifies a connection to the Cayman Islands and can be used by organizations that want Cayman branding.
    • Market presence: the TLD is relatively small in usage compared with major gTLDs, with modest numbers of active registrations; this can affect visibility and perceived prevalence.
    • Registry/marketing changes (Uniregistry partnership, later GoDaddy acquisition) have influenced retail access and promotion of the TLD.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • Redelegation to ICTA (2003) marked a key governance transition from an individual operator to a government-established authority.
    • Partnership with Uniregistry (2015) opened the TLD to global registration and introduced a new visual identity (logo designed by Darren Cornwell).
    • GoDaddy's acquisition of Uniregistry's registrar business in February 2020 transferred the exclusive retail relationship for .ky to GoDaddy.
    • The Cayman Islands won a future allocation for the .cym string in ICANN's expansion process (not the .ky ccTLD itself but a related outcome for the territory).

    Operator

    Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg)

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       KY

organisation: Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg)
address:      P.O. Box 2502
address:      Grand Cayman KY1-1104
address:      Cayman Islands (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Acting Executive Director ICT
organisation: Utility Regulation and Competition Office (OfReg)
address:      P.O. Box 10189
address:      Grand Cayman KY1-1002
address:      Cayman Islands (the)
phone:        1-345-946-4282
fax-no:       1-345-945-8284
e-mail:       sonji.myles@ofreg.ky

contact:      technical
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Tucows.com, Co.
address:      96 Mowat Avenue
address:      Toronto ON M6K3M1
address:      Canada
phone:        +1 (416) 535-0123
e-mail:       trs-ops@tucows.com

nserver:      NS01.TRS-DNS.COM 2620:57:4001:0:0:0:0:1 64.96.1.1
nserver:      NS01.TRS-DNS.INFO 185.159.198.3 2620:10a:80ab:0:0:0:0:3
nserver:      NS01.TRS-DNS.NET 2620:57:4002:0:0:0:0:1 64.96.2.1
nserver:      NS01.TRS-DNS.ORG 185.159.197.3 2620:10a:80aa:0:0:0:0:3
ds-rdata:     38821 13 2 7fc55d2cabba85a2ca6831aca0565a64d7ad91e4861b114f317392b680dc6cbc

whois:        whois.kyregistry.ky

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://uniregistry.com

created:      1995-05-03
changed:      2025-05-15
source:       IANA

    Registrars