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    • .ly

    Country-code top-level domains

    Overview

    .ly is the Internet country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Libya. Introduced on 23 April 1997, it is administered via the NIC.LY registry (LYNIC) on behalf of the Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Company. Registrations are available directly at the second level and at the third level beneath several designated second-level labels. The namespace is used by Libyan entities as well as international registrants, notably for URL shortening and English-language domain hacks that end in "-ly".

    History

    • Delegation and introduction:
      • IANA delegated registration authority for .ly in April 1997; the zone was introduced on 23 April 1997.
      • Initial delegation involved Khalil Elwiheishi at Alshaeen for Information Technology (IANA redelegation report cited from 2004).
    • Registry and operation:
      • Administered by LYNIC/NIC.LY on behalf of the Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology Company (also referenced as General Post and Telecommunication Company).
    • Notable operational events:
      • NIC.LY's main site was reportedly defaced during the weekend of 20 August 2011 amid the Battle of Tripoli; widely used third-party services such as bit.ly were not affected.
      • DNSSEC: .ly supports DNSSEC (noted as enabled since 2021).
    • Zone statistics:
      • Registered domains: 15,156 (data point dated 16 October 2017).

    Usage and Audience

    • Primary audience:
      • Entities and the general public of Libya, including governmental, educational, commercial, medical and non-profit organizations.
    • Secondary/global usage:
      • International users exploit .ly for memorable domain hacks ending in "-ly" and for URL shortening services.
      • Well-known examples include bit.ly (URL shortener) and former services such as musical.ly (which later became part of TikTok).
    • Market dynamics:
      • The annual registration fee and domain-name speculation have led to a secondary market for desirable short or catchy .ly names.

    Registration Rules

    • Registry and process:
      • Managed by NIC.LY/LYNIC; recognized registrars are appointed to handle registrations.
      • Registrations generally processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
    • Eligibility and documentation:
      • Applicants must provide domain name details and supporting legal documents such as company name or trademark registration when required.
      • Registrants bear responsibility for ensuring the name does not infringe third-party rights.
    • Restrictions and content policy:
      • Domain names must not be obscene, scandalous, indecent, or contrary to Libyan law or Islamic morality.
      • Case example: the vb.ly shortener (registered in 2009) was seized by Libyan authorities in October 2010 for non-compliance with Libyan law on adult material.
    • Technical and syntactic rules:
      • Length: minimum 1 and maximum 63 characters.
      • Characters: English character set only; letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens (-) are allowed.
      • Must begin and end with a letter or number; cannot begin or end with a hyphen.
      • Strings shorter than four characters at the top level require local presence; such short names must be registered through Libya Telecom & Technology to guarantee local presence.
    • Pricing and term:
      • A registration fee of USD 75 per domain is noted; minimum registration period is one year.
    • Second-level labels (open to third-level registrations):
      • .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

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • Brand positioning and memorability:
      • .ly is popular for domain hacks and short, memorable names (helpful for branding and URL shortening).
    • Market and cost effects:
      • The relatively high annual fee (reported at $75/year) and scarcity of short, memorable names have contributed to domain speculation and activity on the secondary market.
    • Trust and usage:
      • Several reputable URL-shortening services (notably bit.ly) have used .ly, which has raised the TLD's visibility internationally. The registry maintains content restrictions and may seize or remove domains that violate Libyan law.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • bit.ly: One of the most widely known URL shorteners using the .ly ccTLD.
    • musical.ly: An example of a domain hack using .ly (service later became part of TikTok).
    • vb.ly seizure (October 2010): The vb.ly URL shortening service was seized by Libyan web authorities for violating Libyan law regarding adult content; a blogger later reported this as the only known seizure by nic.ly as of 2014.
    • NIC.LY site defacement (August 2011): The registry's website was reportedly defaced during unrest in Libya, though major third-party services using .ly remained operational.

    Operator

    General Post and Telecommunication Company

    Whois

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

domain:       LY

organisation: General Post and Telecommunication Company
address:      Al Zawia St.
address:      GPTC Tower
address:      Tripoli
address:      Libya

contact:      administrative
name:         Marwan K. Maghur
organisation: General Post and Telecommunication Company
address:      Al Zawia St.
address:      GPTC Tower
address:      Tripoli
address:      Libya
phone:        +218 91 2123880
fax-no:       +218 21 3614170
e-mail:       maghur@gmail.com

contact:      technical
name:         Khaled Esheh
organisation: Libya Telecom and Technology
address:      Alshut Road
address:      P.O. Box 91612
address:      Tripoli
address:      Libya
phone:        +218 21 3400020
fax-no:       +218 21 3400039
e-mail:       k.esheh@ltt.ly

nserver:      DNS.LTTNET.NET 62.240.36.9
nserver:      DNS1.LTTNET.NET 62.68.42.9
nserver:      NS-LY.AFRINIC.NET 196.216.168.24 2001:43f8:120:0:0:0:0:24
nserver:      PCH.LTT.LY 2001:500:14:6067:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.67
nserver:      PHLOEM.UOREGON.EDU 128.223.32.35 2001:468:d01:20:0:0:80df:2023
ds-rdata:     62311 8 2 08e9ac56f605a728d048c803787ab044b0c81caea2031eac9edea77150a1bdbe

whois:        whois.nic.ly

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://wsm.ltt.ly/

created:      1997-04-23
changed:      2024-11-04
source:       IANA

    Registrars