View source for .cc

{{short description|Internet country-code top level domain for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands}}
{{for multi|information about various licenses|Creative Commons|the source code file extension ".cc"|C++}}
{{original research|date=May 2011}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox Top level domain
| name=.cc
| image=Verisign-dotcc-logo.svg
| image_size=150px
| introduced=13 October 1997
| type=[[Country code top-level domain]]
| status=Active
| registry=eNIC (a [[VeriSign]] company)
| sponsor=Island Internet Services
| intendeduse=Entities connected with [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]]
| restrictions=None
| structure=Registrations permitted at second level
| document=[http://www.enomcentral.com/terms/agreement.aspx Registration agreement]
| disputepolicy=[[UDRP]]
| website=[https://www.verisign.com/domain-names/cc-domain-names/ Verisign .cc Registry]
| actualuse=See [[#Usage|usage]]
}}

'''.cc''' is the Internet [[country code top-level domain]] (ccTLD) for the [[Cocos (Keeling) Islands]], an [[Australia]]n territory. 

== Management ==
It is administered by an [[United States|American]] company, [[VeriSign]], through a subsidiary company, eNIC, which promotes it for international registration as "the next [[.com]]". 

The .cc domain was originally assigned to eNIC in October 1997 by the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]]; eNIC manages the TLD alongside SamsDirect Internet.<ref>{{cite web |title=S. Hrg. 107-1100 - Icann Governance |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CHRG-107shrg87255/CHRG-107shrg87255 |website=GovInfo.gov |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=1 July 2023 |date=14 February 2001}}</ref>

== Registration ==
Registration is made directly at second-level.

=== Second level domains ===

=== gov.cu.cc, com.cc, net.cc, edu.cc, org.cc===
A number of second-level domain names are also maintained by [[Council of Country Code Administrators|CoCCA]], including "com.cc", "net.cc", "edu.cc", and "org.cc".

===cc.cc, co.cc, cu.cc, cz.cc===
These are not official hierarchies of .cc, but domains held by companies who offer no charge [[subdomain]] registration.

=== co.cc ===
The co.cc URL has been known to host [[spammer]]s, who create [[spam blog]]s, or "splogs", often with nonsense names. 

Due to such spamming, in July 2011 [[Google]] removed over 11 million .co.cc websites from its search results. 

Legitimate sites (per Google's Webmaster Guidelines) on the .co.cc subdomain could send a reconsideration request to Google to have their specific site excluded from the ban.<ref>{{cite news |date=2011-07-06 |title=Google dumps all 11+ million .co.cc sites from its results |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/06/google_cans_11m_dot_co_dot_cc_sites/ |work=The Register}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://searchengineland.com/google-delists-all-co-cc-domains-from-index-83931 |title=Google Delists All CO.CC Domains From Index |publisher=Searchengineland.com |date=2011-07-01 |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seroundtable.com/co-cc-google-removal-13644.html |title=Google Bans A Complete Subdomain From Index: co.cc |date=July 2011 |publisher=Seroundtable.com |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=10735eb11a40c0c8&hl=en |title=Google Discussiegroepen |access-date=2012-06-17}}</ref>

The abundance of cheap .co.cc domains had also been used by those who sold [[rogue antivirus|fake "anti-virus" programs]].<ref>{{cite web |author=David Talbot |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37718/ |title=The Perfect Scam |website=[[MIT Technology Review]] |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |access-date=2012-06-17 |archive-date=29 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129003309/http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37718/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From 2012 to 2014, the co.cc website and [[Name Server|name servers]] were not online. There was no formal statement by the company, but they did stop accepting new registrations some time before they closed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/11/15/2215256/free-registrar-cocc-goes-the-way-of-the-dodo |title=Free Registrar co.cc Goes the Way of the Dodo |website=slashdot.org |date=2012-11-15 |access-date=2012-11-15}}</ref>

In 2018, co.cc was listed for sale for US$500,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://co.cc |title=This domain name CO.CC is for sale}}</ref> As of 2019, co.cc is registered to and in use by another entity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://co.cc |title=Cobra Browser}}</ref>

== Usage ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=November 2025}}
The [[Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus]] also uses the .cc domain, along with .nc.tr. 

[[Google]] treats .cc as a [[generic top-level domain]] (gTLD) because "users and website owners frequently see [the domain] as being more generic than country-targeted."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Managing multi-regional and multilingual sites |url=https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192 |publisher=Google Support |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005224021/https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/182192 |archive-date=5 October 2019 |access-date=5 Oct 2019}}</ref>

The TLD is preferred by many cricket and cycling clubs, as well as churches and [[Christianity|Christian]] organizations, since "CC" can be an abbreviation for "[[Christian Church]]" or "[[Catholic Church]]". 

Some open-source/open-hardware projects, such as the [[Arduino]] project, use a .cc for their home pages, since "CC" is also the abbreviation for "[[Creative Commons]]", whose [[Creative Commons licenses|licenses]] are used in the projects. 

Business owners in Southern Massachusetts are rapidly adopting [[Cape Cod]] CC domains for local identity. [[Canadian Club]] whiskey has also used .cc domains for marketing purposes.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} 

It is also used for some [[community college]]s, though other domains, such as [[.edu]], are more popular.

== Issues ==
In 2016, the [[Anti-Phishing Working Group]] stated that the .cc, [[.com]], [[.pw]], and [[.tk]] domain names account for 75% of all malicious domain registrations.<ref name="crime">{{Cite web |last=Judah |first=Jacob |date=2023-11-02 |title=How a tiny Pacific Island became the global capital of cybercrime |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/11/02/1082798/tiny-pacific-island-global-capital-cybercrime/ |accessdate=2023-11-10 |website=[[MIT Technology Review]] |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[.au]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.verisigninc.com/en_US/products-and-services/domain-name-services/whois/index.xhtml VeriSign .cc whois database lookup]

{{Australia top-level domains}}
{{ccTLD|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cc}}
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1997]]
[[Category:Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries members]]
[[Category:Country code top-level domains]]
[[Category:Science and technology in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands]]

[[he:סיומת אינטרנט#טבלת סיומות המדינות]]
[[sv:Toppdomän#C]]