View source for .ky

{{Short description|Internet country code top-level domain for the Cayman Islands}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox Top level domain
|name=.ky
|image=DotKy domain logo.png
|introduced=3 May 1995
|type=[[Country code top-level domain]]
|status=Active
|registry=[[GoDaddy]]
|sponsor=Utility Regulation and Competition Office
|intendeduse=Entities connected with the [[Cayman Islands]]
|actualuse=Gets some use in Cayman Islands
|restrictions=None after 2015, anyone can register a domain.
|structure=Registrations are made directly at second level, or at third level beneath several second-level names
|document=[https://www.ofreg.ky/ict/domain-policies Policies]
|disputepolicy=[[UDRP]]
|website=[https://uniregistry.com/ky Registry site]}}

'''.ky''' is the [[Internet]] [[country code]] [[top-level domain]] ([[ccTLD]]) for the [[Cayman Islands]]. The code was chosen as other possible options had already been allocated. Registration was limited to residents and registered companies in the Cayman Islands with a local address, but this restriction was removed in September 2015. The Cayman Islands also has the [[ISO 3166-1-alpha-3|international three-letter code]] CYM and has won a bid to be awarded the [[.cym]] domain<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-mid-wales-11683239 |title=Wales loses to Cayman Islands in battle for .cym domain |publisher=[[BBC]] |accessdate=2010-12-07 |date=2010-11-04}}</ref> in a future expansion of the top-level domain space.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/strategy-faq.htm New gTLDs — Frequently Asked Questions]{{spaced ndash}}[[ICANN]], June 2011</ref>

==Second level domains==
Registrations are permitted directly at the second level, or at the third level beneath these names:

* com.ky
* org.ky
* net.ky
* edu.ky (restricted to educational institutions)
* gov.ky (restricted to governmental entities)

== History ==
[[IANA]] received a request to establish the .ky ccTLD in April 1995. From 1995 to 2002, the .ky ccTLD registry was operated by an individual, Clint Mole, initially as an employee of the Cayman Islands government, but then later under contract with a company Domain Name Trust (DNT). In 2002, the Cayman Islands government established the Information and Communications Technical Authority (ICTA) and contacted [[ICANN]] requesting that administrative operation be changed to ICTA. In June 2003, IANA and ICANN concluded that the .ky ccTLD should be redelegated to ICTA.<ref>{{cite web |title=IANA Report on Redelegation of the .ky Top-Level Domain |url=https://www.iana.org/reports/2003/ky-report-30jun03.html |publisher=ICANN |access-date=16 December 2020}}</ref>

In January 2015 the Cayman Islands ICTA announced a partnership with Uniregistry for the operation of the .ky name extension. [[Uniregistry]] became the exclusive accredited registrar to retail .ky names on 2 March 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-17 |title=Registering a domain name |url=https://www.ofreg.ky/ict/registering-a-domain-name |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217170025/https://www.ofreg.ky/ict/registering-a-domain-name |archive-date=2022-12-17 |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=OfReg.ky}}</ref>

In February 2020 [[GoDaddy]] announced that it had acquired Uniregistry's registrar business and with it the exclusive .ky deal.<ref>{{Cite press release |last=Inc |first=GoDaddy |title=GoDaddy Acquires Uniregistry's Registrar, Marketplace & Portfolio |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/godaddy-acquires-uniregistrys-registrar-marketplace--portfolio-301003011.html |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Identity ==
=== Logo ===
The logo was designed by [https://www.irregularactivity.co.uk/ Darren Cornwell] and approved on 17 December 2014 as Uniregistry took on the .ky [[Domain name|namespace]]. It's a representation of the islands based on their [[Geography of the Cayman Islands|geographical dimensions]] (the largest island being Grand Cayman, the next being Cayman Brac and finally Little Cayman). The blue was chosen to represent the sea that surrounds the islands.

== See also==
* [[Internet in the Cayman Islands]]
* [[Internet in the United Kingdom]]
* [[.uk]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ky.html IANA .ky whois information]
* [https://uniregistry.com/ky .ky domain registration website]
* [https://www.ofreg.ky/ OfReg]

{{UK top-level domains}}
{{CcTLD|state=collapsed}}
{{Cayman Islands topics}}
{{Americas topic|Internet in }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:KY}}
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1995]]
[[Category:Country code top-level domains]]
[[Category:Communications in the Cayman Islands]]


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{{Compu-domain-stub}}

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