information ccTLDs Could Have Devastating Consequences To Your Global Business

[News]

Two-letter country-specific domain extensions like .au for Australia and .cn for China are known as country-code top-level domains (“ccTLDs”) and they have been in existence for years. There are 243 listed, and of the 184 that are actively allowing registration, 84 are unrestricted— meaning anyone from anywhere can simply register names. In fact, the past few years have demonstrated that the sale of ccTLDs can be very lucrative for financially struggling governments, raising millions fairly quickly without a lot of effort.

We have seen some of these domain extensions become rather popular because the assigned country code mirrors widely recognized words or symbols. Examples include Libya’s “.ly”, which is used as an adverbial/adjectival suffix in English, and the island nation of Tuvalu’s “.tv”, which has become the home for video content for both major corporations and small businesses. Telecommunications firm Neustar bought Columbia’s “.co” domain name in a $109 million dollar deal because “.co” is much more widely recognized as an abbreviation for company...

Read More

 

[HeyNow]

It's what I've been saying all along, and getting posts deleted here and elsewhere. When the third-world country's ccTLD becomes unreliable because, hey, most third-world countries are not stable, then the fantasyland meanings and marketing of those ccTLDs becomes transparent, weak, and known for what it truly is: Fool's Gold.

Go ahead, keep regging .TVs like they really mean "television."
Go ahead, keep regging .COs like they really mean "company."

The chickens will eventually come home to roost.

 

[Kate]

Building a business on Gaddafi-era .ly or .sy domain is pure madness. I am not even saying that something bad 'could' happen, because it has already happened in the past. Not doing research can be deadly.

 

[jmcc]

Well the article does mention the .SY and .LY situations but the reality is that most people in the US are focused on .COM sa being their ccTLD. This means that apart from the major ccTLD players, like .DE and .UK, ccTLDs and their regulations are unknown to US domainers. It would be best if domainers and businesses did their research before making what could be an expensive mistake. However that does not mean that all ccTLDs are problematic.

Regards...jmcc

 

[Kate]

However that does not mean that all ccTLDs are problematic.

Certainly not. But going with .ly/.sy was just asking for trouble. .ly in particular has a checkered history, people need to do their homework. Other ccTLDs are poorly run. Or downright corrupt.

But .com is not without risk too.
Kentucky was seizing gambling domains a few years ago, and a guy from Spain had his domain suspended because he runs a tour company that offers trips to Cuba - he has no connection with the US whatsoever ! Yup, in the land of the free. By the way .us is subjected to censorship, you can't register anything you like. .com is more relaxed but you never know with Uncle Sam.

Many ccTLDs are still restricted, expensive, bureaucratic or just untrustworthy. For example some African TLDs have been down for weeks, some are still neglected/misconfigured. So many foreigners still go for .com. Cheap, reliable, efficient and out of reach of authoritarian governments.